Felix Yusupov anxiously prepared to pick up his dinner guest.

費利克斯·尤蘇波夫焦慮地 準備去接他的晚宴客人。

If all went as planned, his guest would be dead by morning,

如果一切如計畫， 他的客人將活不過早上，

though four others had already tried and failed to finish him off.

不過另外有四個人已經 嘗試過殺害他卻沒有成功。

The Russian monarchy was on the brink of collapse,

俄國的君主政體已經瀕臨崩潰，

and to Yusupov and his fellow aristocrats,

對尤蘇波夫及他的貴族夥伴而言，

the holy man they'd invited to dinner was the single cause of it all.

他們邀請來晚宴的這位神職人員

But who was he,

是唯一的原因。

and how could a single monk be to blame for the fate of an empire?

但，他是誰？

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin began his life in Siberia,

為什麼整個帝國的命運 要怪罪於一個修士？

born in 1869 to a peasant family.

1869 年，格里戈里· 葉菲莫維奇·拉斯普丁

He might have lived a life of obscurity in his small village,

出生在西伯利亞的一個農家。

if not for his conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church

他本來可能會在他的小村子裡 過著無名的一生，

in the 1890s.

但在 1890 年代，他皈依 俄國的東正教堂，改變了一切。

Inspired by the humbled monks that wandered endlessly

這些無止境地從一個聖地漫遊到

from holy site to holy site,

另一個聖地的修士鼓舞了他，

he spent years on pilgrimages across Russia.

讓他花了數年時間在 橫越俄國的朝聖之旅上。

On his travels, strangers were captivated by Rasputin's magnetic presence.

在他的旅途上，拉斯普丁那十分 有吸引力風采讓陌生人著迷。

Some even believed he had mystical gifts of prediction and healing.

有些人甚至相信他有 神秘的天賦，能預測和治病。

Despite Rasputin's heavy drinking, petty theft, and promiscuity,

儘管拉斯普丁會 酗酒、偷竊、雜交，

his reputation as a monk quickly spread beyond Siberia

他身為修士的名聲卻很快 傳到西伯利亞之外，

and attracted both laypeople and powerful Orthodox clergymen.

不僅吸引了未受戒的在家居士， 還吸引有權的東正教神職人員。

When he finally reached the capital, St. Petersburg,

當拉斯普丁終於抵達 首都聖彼得堡，

Rasputin used his charisma and connections

他用他的魅力和人脈

to win favor with the imperial family's spiritual advisor.

贏得了皇室家庭精神顧問的青睞。

In November 1905,

1905 年十一月，

Rasputin was finally introduced to Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

拉斯普丁終於被介紹給 俄國皇帝尼古拉二世。

Nicholas and his wife Alexandra devoutly believed in the Orthodox Church,

尼古拉和他的妻子亞歷山德拉 虔誠地相信東正教堂，

as well as in mysticism and supernatural powers,

以及神秘主義和超自然力量，

and this Siberian holy man had them transfixed.

而這位西伯利亞聖人 讓他們怔住了。

It was a particularly tumultuous period for Russia and their family.

對俄國和他們的家庭而言， 這段時期是特別動亂的時期。

The monarchy was barely clinging to control

在 1905 年的革命之後， 君主政體就快失去控制權了。

after the Revolution of 1905.

他們個人的混亂只是加劇了 他們在政治上的艱難處境：

Their political struggles were only intensified by personal turmoil:

阿列克謝是王位的繼承人，

Alexei, the heir to the throne,

他得到血友病，是一種 可能會致死的血液疾病。

had a life-threatening blood disease called hemophilia.

1912 年，阿列克謝 遭遇嚴重的醫療危機，

When Alexei suffered a severe medical crisis in 1912,

拉斯普丁建議他的父母 拒絕醫生的治療。

Rasputin advised his parents to reject treatment from doctors.

阿列克謝的健康狀況改善了， 讓皇室家庭更相信

Alexei's health improved, cementing the royal family's belief

拉斯普丁有魔法療癒力，

that Rasputin had magical healing powers,

讓他在皇家宮廷上的 特權地位更受到保障。

and guaranteeing his privileged place on the royal court.

現今，我們知道那些醫生 開的處方是阿斯匹靈，

Today, we know that the doctors had prescribed aspirin,

這種藥會讓血友病惡化。

a drug that worsens hemophilia.

在這個事件之後， 拉斯普丁做了一個預言：

After this incident, Rasputin made a prophecy:

如果他死了，或皇室家庭拋棄他，

if he died, or the royal family deserted him,

他們很快就會會失去 他們的兒子以及皇冠。

both their son and their crown would soon be gone.

皇室之外的人則對 拉斯普丁有不同的見解。

Outside the royal family, people had mixed views on Rasputin.

一方面，農民把他視為自己人，

On one hand, peasants regarded him as one of their own,

把他們通常不會被聽見的聲音 給放大，讓君主政體聽見。

amplifying their often-unheard voice to the monarchy.

但貴族和神職人員 漸漸開始看不起這個人。

But nobles and clergymen came to despise his presence.

拉斯普丁從來沒有 停止他的可恥行為，

Rasputin never ceased his scandalous behavior,

他們也懷疑他所宣稱的力量，

and they were skeptical of his so-called powers

認為他在讓皇室家庭腐敗。

and thought he was corrupting the royal family.

第一次世界大戰結束時，

By the end of World War I,

他們深信，若要維持秩序，

they were convinced the only way to maintain order

唯一的方法就是 消滅這個聖人騙局。

was to eliminate this sham of a holy man.

帶著這樣的信念，尤蘇波夫 開始策劃暗殺拉斯普丁。

With this conviction,

雖然沒有人知道明確的細節，

Yusupov began to plot Rasputin's assassination.

我們可以根據尤蘇波夫的回憶錄 盡可能推測這個計畫如何進行。

Though the exact details remain mysterious,

他請拉斯普丁吃了數個酥皮點心，

our best guess at how it all unfolded comes from Yusupov's memoirs.

他相信點心中含有氰化物。

He served Rasputin a number of pastries, believing they contained cyanide.

但尤蘇波夫並不知道，

But unbeknownst to Yusupov,

他的共謀者之一改變了心意，

one of his co-conspirators had a change of heart,

把毒藥換成無害的物質。

and substituted the poison with a harmless substance.

拉斯普丁吃了點心卻完全沒有 怎麼樣，讓尤蘇波夫十分震驚。

To Yusupov's shock, Rasputin ate them without ill effect.

絕望之餘，他在近距離 射殺了拉斯普丁。

In desperation, he shot Rasputin at point-blank range.

但拉斯普丁沒有死，打倒 攻擊他的人之後便逃離現場。

But Rasputin recovered, punched his attacker, and fled.

尤蘇波夫和他的共犯去追他，

Yusupov and his accomplices pursued him,

終於對拉斯普丁的額頭 開了一槍，將他殺死，

finally killing Rasputin with a bullet to the forehead

把他的屍體丟到 馬來亞涅夫卡河裡。

and dumping his body in the Malaya Nevka river.

但拉斯普丁的死並沒有讓 君主政權的權力得以穩固，

But far from stabilizing the monarchy's authority,

反而觸怒的農民。

Rasputin's death enraged the peasantry.

正如拉斯普丁所預言，

Just as Rasputin prophesied,

他被謀殺之後沒多久， 皇室家庭也被殺了。

his murder was swiftly followed by that of the royal family.

究竟俄國君主政權的衰落 是受到這位修士詛咒的後果，

Whether the downfall of the Russian monarchy

還是數十年政治緊繃 狀態醞釀出的結果，

was a product of the monk's curse,

我們可能永遠不會知道。

or the result of political tensions decades in the making,

well, we may never know.