被解兔子之谜原是古罗马人造福英伦英语美文

被解兔子之谜原是古罗马人造福英伦英语美文

　　多年来，英国考古学界在究竟是罗马人还是诺曼人向英国引进了兔子这个学术问题上，一直存在着分歧。目前，考古学家发现有证据显示兔子是由罗马人引进到英国的。

　　Years of division among academics over whether the Romans or the Normans introduced rabbits into Britain appears to have been resolved.

　　据英国《每日电讯报》网站4月14日报道，日前，一次在英国诺福克郡的考古发掘发现了距今有2000年历史的兔子骸骨——这是到目前为止在这一地区发掘出的，时间距今最为久远的同类发现。同时这一发现也被人们认为是弄清英国兔子来源的决定性证据。它向人们显示，兔子这种生物是由以前的罗马人为英国带来的。

　　报道说，这些兔子的'遗骨是在诺福克郡赛特福镇附近的林福德发现的。诺福克郡的考古联合会负责人杰恩·鲍文表示：“我们能根据兔子遗骨旁边的陶器碎片将它们的历史追溯至公元1世纪或2世纪。而这些陶器碎片中还包括被用作烹调工具的家用小壶。”

　　此前，有很多人都认为是由法国的诺曼人向英国引进了兔子，以此来满足他们自己吃兔子肉和使用兔子皮毛的需要。而另外一些人则坚持说这种动物是由罗马人带来的，他们还引用古罗马学者瓦罗(Marcus Terentius Varro，公元前116年至27年)的文章，文章中称兔子这种动物是由古罗马军团从西班牙带来的。

　　Years of division among academics over whether the Romans or the Normans introduced rabbits into Britain appears to have been resolved.

　　An archaeological dig in Norfolk has uncovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old rabbit - by far the oldest of its kind found on these shores and regarded as final proof that the creatures are now on the list of what the Romans ever did for us.

　　Many believed that the Normans introduced rabbits for their meat and fur.

　　However, others have always insisted that the creatures were brought in by the Romans, citing Marcus Terrentius Varro (116-27BC) who wrote that the legions brought rabbits from Spain, where they were reared in walled enclosures and then served up as a gourmet dish.