但路易也是凡人 尽管多年健康
he began to suffer from a serious medical problem,
他仍患了一种重病:
an anal fistula.
肛瘘
This was an extremely serious condition
以17世纪的医疗条件来说
in the context of the 17th century.
路易的情况格外糟糕
The risk of it becoming gangrenous,
脱疽 也就是脓液
that the pus would seep into the rest of the body and infect
渗入并感染身体其他部位的
was very great indeed.
可能性很大
Untreated, it would almost certainly have killed the King.
如果不及时治疗 将导致死亡
The only way that it was likely to be cured
唯一的治疗方法
was through invasive surgery.
就是进行入侵性外科手术
Such surgery had had a very poor success rate.
但成功率很低
But Louis instructed his doctors to go ahead.
路易却命令医生继续进行
His senior physician devised a new instrument
他的首席医师发明了
especially for the operation.
一种手术专用工具
The doctors involved in the operation
手术医生
practised on a number of others
预先已经在许多其他病人
who had anal fistulas before hand.
身上实验手术
But it was nonetheless still a very risky operation.
但手术风险仍然很大
In the 17th century,
在17世纪
the doctors were much more likely to kill you than cure you.
医生杀人多于医人
Huge effort was made at Versailles
凡尔赛宫上下
to keep the details of this secret,
尽力对手术保密
because it was felt so likely that the King wouldn't survive,
因为国王很有可能无法存活
that the diplomatic repercussions of this
而由此导致的政治变革
would sweep through Europe.
将会席卷欧洲
He was so stalwart during the operation, he never spoke at all.
他在手术中很顽强 一言不发
Imagine the pain, no anaesthetic.
当时没有麻醉药 痛苦难以想象
This extraordinary self control he had,
路易的自控力超乎寻常
he just gritted his teeth,
他只是紧咬牙关
and conducted himself with great dignity.
表现出超凡的尊严
And that night, he took a counsel meeting. Extraordinary,
那晚他参加了议会会议 很惊人
very pale with a sort of sheen of sweat,
他脸色苍白 汗珠晶亮
but he made it.
但他还是做到了
