纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 065泰诺仪式用椅（7）

And there is in fact gold on our duho as well. The wide, gaping¹ mouth, and the straining, boggling eyes of the humanoid head at the front, are emphasised by being inlaid with gold discs, and they add enormously to the frightening power of the object. It was gold like this that made the Spaniards believe that they might find in Hispaniola the treasure they'd been hoping for. But in fact gold like this is found only in the rivers, in small quantities accumulated over many generations. Like the special wood, this rare precious gold marked out the duho as an exceptional object, something able to mediate² between the earthly and the supernatural worlds.

It could also mediate between living leaders. Important visitors would be ceremonially seated on duhos, and Christopher Columbus himself received this honour. But of all the futures³ that could have been foretold⁴ by the Taino chiefs sitting on their duhos, nothing could have matched what actually happened. The Spaniards brought with them smallpox⁵ and typhoid - and even the common cold was catastrophic to the Taino communities, who had no immunity⁶. Those that survived were resettled by the Spanish, so kinship groups were torn apart, and then African slaves were brought in to replace the vanishing local labour-force.

其实都何上也有黄金。凳子前端类人生物大张着的嘴和鼓出的眼睛上都镶嵌着金盘，为它更添几分恐怖。正是这些黄金让西班牙人以为伊斯帕尼奥拉岛上有他们渴求的金矿。但他们的希望落空了：在多米尼加共和国，他们仅仅在河流中发现了黄金，经过几个世纪也才积累下少量。一如特殊的木材，稀有珍贵的黄金突显了都何作为沟通现实世界与灵魂世界媒介的非比寻常。

它也能成为在世的领袖们之间的沟通媒介。尊贵的访客会被邀请坐在都何上参与仪式。哥伦布便曾享受这种待遇。然而，泰诺首领们坐在都何上预言的一切都与未来的实际不相符。西班牙人带来了天花与伤寒，而对于完全不具备免疫力的泰诺人来说，就连普通的感冒都是致命的。幸存下来的人被西班牙人重新安置，亲人被活活拆散。之后，非洲黑奴被引入，以补充当地消失的劳动力。

 

1 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

3 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

4 foretold   

v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She foretold that the man would die soon. 她预言那人快要死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Must lose one joy, by his life's star foretold. 这样注定：他，为了信守一个盟誓／就非得拿牺牲一个喜悦作代价。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

5 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。