In the dark of night in July, under police escort, a specially fitted lorry carrying a thousand-year-old tapestry(挂毯；织锦) will leave the town of Bayeux in Normandy. The fragile linen fabric depicting the Norman conquest of England in 1066 will be gently folded into a tailor-made(定制的；量身打造的) and climate-regulated aluminium crate. That crate will then be suspended inside a metal cage, protected from vibration by 12 steel shock-absorbers. The convoy(车队；护航队) and its precious cargo—which was embroidered in England but has been in France ever since(从那时起一直)—will travel by road to the Channel Tunnel, and on to the British Museum in London.
七月的一个深夜，在警方护送下，一辆经过特殊改装的卡车将载着一幅千年挂毯驶离诺曼底的贝叶镇。这幅描绘1066年诺曼征服英格兰的脆弱亚麻织物，将被轻柔折叠放入定制的温控铝箱中。铝箱随后会被悬挂在一个金属笼架内，由12个钢制减震器保护，免受震动。车队及其珍贵货物——这幅挂毯在英格兰绣制，但自那以后一直留在法国——将经公路前往英吉利海峡隧道，最终抵达伦敦的大英博物馆。
The loan of the Bayeux tapestry, for an exhibition opening in September, is a gesture rich in cross-Channel symbolism(富含跨海峡象征意义). In the past London museums have tried but failed to host the work. In 1953, for instance, the V&A asked to display the tapestry to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, only to be told that the French authorities had changed their minds.(例如1953年，V&A博物馆请求展出挂毯以庆祝女王加冕，却被告知法方改变了主意。) The News Chronicle in London reported that the French embassy could not give a reason: “I am sorry, monsieur(先生（法语）). We are lost. First it is yes, no, then yes, then no…and now we are in the dark(蒙在鼓里；一无所知).”
贝叶挂毯的借展将于九月开幕，这是一次充满跨海峡象征意义的姿态。过去伦敦的博物馆曾试图主办这件作品但均未成功。例如1953年，V&A博物馆曾请求展出挂毯以庆祝伊丽莎白二世加冕，却被告知法国当局改变了主意。伦敦的《新闻纪事报》报道称法国大使馆无法给出理由：“我很抱歉，先生。我们不知所措。先是同意，又不同意，然后同意，再不同意……现在我们一头雾水。”
This time the French government, which owns the tapestry, proposed the idea. At a Franco-British summit(峰会；首脑会议) in 2018 President Emmanuel Macron announced the loan, declaring that the tapestry “embodies the link between our two countries”. It was two years after the Brexit vote, and the two nations were drifting apart; the point, says a presidential aide, was to try to bind them through culture.(当时距离英国脱欧公投已有两年，两国关系渐行渐远；总统助手称，此举旨在通过文化将两国联结起来。)
这一次，拥有挂毯所有权的法国政府主动提出了这一想法。在2018年的一次英法峰会上，埃马纽埃尔·马克龙总统宣布了借展，称挂毯“体现了两国之间的联系”。当时距离英国脱欧公投已过去两年，两国关系渐行渐远；一位总统助手表示，此举旨在通过文化将两国联结在一起。
In for the long haul
长期运输