這件有3500年歷史的美索不達米亞文物，蘊含巨大文化價值，30年前它被盜走，如今終於重回伊拉克人手中。

一切都是幻想出來的？
來讀 #BBC新聞 了解為何人們喜歡聽故事

📚Our fiction addiction: Why humans need stories
虛構之癮：為何每個時代人類都需要文學故事

📖A handsome king is blessed with superhuman strength, but his insufferable arrogance means that he threatens to wreak havoc on his kingdom. Enter a down-to-earth wayfarer who challenges him to fight. The king ends the battle chastened, and the two heroes become fast friends and embark on a series of dangerous quests across the kingdom.
一位英俊的國王擁有超人的力量，但性格中存在令人無法忍受的傲慢，注定了一場浩劫即將降臨在他的王國。一位樸實的徒步旅行者上場，向他發起了挑戰。國王結束較量後學到教訓了。之後，兩人英雄相惜，結為好友，在五湖四海一起執行一個個危險使命。

-insufferable: 難以忍受的
-arrogance: 傲慢
-havoc: 浩劫、毀滅
-down-to-earth: 樸實的、腳踏實地的
-chasten:懲戒、磨練、教訓
-embark on: 啟程、展開

🖊The fact that this tale is still being read today is itself remarkable. It is the Epic of Gilgamesh, engraved on ancient Babylonian tablets 4,000 years ago, making it the oldest surviving work of great literature. We can assume that the story was enormously popular at the time, given that later iterations of the poem can be found over the next millennium.
這個故事歷經數千年而不衰，足以說明此乃不凡之作。這就是《吉爾伽美什史詩》（Epic of Gilgamesh），刻在4000年前的古巴比倫泥板上，是現存最古老的偉大文學作品。完全可以假定，這個故事在當時非常受歡迎，因為在之後的一千年裏，這部詩作還有新版本被創作出來。

-remarkable: 非凡的
-engrave: 鏤刻
-enormously: 非常地、極大地
-millennium:千年

📜What is even more astonishing is the fact that it is read and enjoyed today, and that so many of its basic elements – including its heart-warming ‘bromance’ – can be found in so many of the popular stories that have come since.
更讓人吃驚的是，今天居然還有人在閲讀、欣賞這部史詩，而且敘事中許多基本元素都能在之後很多流行故事中見到，包括溫暖人心的兄弟情誼。

-astonishing: 令人吃驚的
-bromance: 「兄弟情」

🗿Although we have no firm evidence of storytelling before the advent of writing, we can assume that narratives have been central to human life for thousands of years. The cave paintings in sites like Chauvet and Lascaux in France from 30,000 years ago appear to depict dramatic scenes that were probably accompanied by oral storytelling.
雖然沒有確鑿證據可以證明，在書寫出現之前就存在講故事的形式，不過完全可以假設，在數千年的時間裡，文學敘事都是人類生活的中心。一些洞穴壁畫就描繪了有可能配合口述故事而出現的戲劇場景，比如來自三萬年前法國肖韋岩洞（Chauvet）和拉斯科岩洞（Lascaux）的壁畫。

-narrative: （文學）敘事
-cave paintings: 洞穴壁畫
-depict: 描繪

專家學者又是如何看待虛構的故事？
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吉爾伽美什史詩第11塊泥板