纪录片《文明》 第15期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（15）

Now we are not supposed to say,

我们不应该说

us amateurs in this field,

我们 这个领域的业余者

we're not supposed to talk about art,

我们不应该讨论艺术

we're not supposed to talk about things like

我们不应该讨论诸如

the birth of a refined sensibility.

精妙鉴赏力的诞生之类的话题

I'm going to do that nonetheless.

尽管如此 我还是要这么做

I don't care how anachronistic¹ it is.

我不在乎这多么不合时宜

With this tiny piece from Brassempouy,

有了这个出自布拉桑普伊的小小物件

it seems to me that we have, right in front of us,

好像在我们面前

the dawn of the idea of beauty.

就是美这一概念诞生的前夕

But beauty is hard to eat.

但美很难理解

The slow growth of civilisations depended, at first,

最初 文明的缓慢发展

on practicalities -

依赖于实践

the domestication² of animals and cereal crops.

动物的驯化和粮食作物的种植

The most ancient wheats were harvested on sites

最古老的小麦大约于一万年前

near the River Jordan about 10,000 years ago.

在约旦河附近被收割

Civilisations started small,

文明社会诞生于小事物

it depended on the invention of needful things -

它依赖于必需品的发明

pottery³ vessels⁴ for cooking, eating and storage.

用来做饭 吃饭和储藏的陶容器

1 anachronistic   

adj.时代错误的

参考例句：

• In remembering historic events,the mistake you tend to make is anachronistic.在记历史事件时，你容易犯的错误是时代错误。
• English public schools are anachronistic.英国的公立学校已经落伍过时了。

2 domestication   

n.驯养，驯化

参考例句：

• The first was the domestication of animals. 第一个阶段是驯养动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In northwestern China, there is no evidence for endemic domestication of any animals. 在中国西北，没有任何当地动物驯化的迹象。 来自辞典例句

3 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》