纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 058日本铜镜（7）

"The mirror in Japanese culture does have several meanings, and some of them may seem contradictory¹. One is that it's an object to ward² off evil spirits. On the other hand it can also attract them, which is why, if you go into a rather traditional household in Japan even today, people often cover up their mirror when they don't use it. They have a cloth that they hang in front of it, because it might attract evil spirits. At the same time, it's a sacred object. In the holiest shrine³ in Japan, in Ise, the holiest of holy parts inside the shrine, that nobody ever gets to see, has one of the three great national treasures, which is indeed a mirror."

In fact, it's the mirror of the great Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu. By ancient tradition, Amaterasu at the dawn of time ordered her grandson to descend⁴ from heaven to rule over Japan, and to help him in this imperial task she gave him a sacred mirror, which would give him and his successors perpetual access to the divine sun. To this day the sacred mirror of Amaterasu is used in the enthronement ceremonies of the Japanese emperor.

在日本文化中，镜子蕴含多重意义，有的甚至彼此抵触。它可以驱邪，同时又会招邪。直到今天，在比较传统的日本家庭里，不使用镜子时还会用布将它遮盖起来，以防招来恶灵。此外它又是神圣的物品。日本最神圣的伊势神宫的内宫禁止任何人进入，那里面藏着日本的三神器之一，其实就是一面镜子……

伊势神宫中的镜子属于日本的太阳女神天照大神。根据古老的传说，在天地创始之初，她派自己的孙子下凡治理日本，为了助他成功，她给他一面神镜，供他和继任者召唤太阳神。如今，这面八咫镜仍是日本天皇登基仪式上不可或缺之物。

1 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

2 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

3 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

4 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。