纪录片《文明》 第54期 自视如何（15）

When Romans thought about

当罗马人思考

where the impulse to portraiture¹ came from -

他们绘制肖像的冲动从何而来

even the impulse to painting as a whole -

甚至说绘画的冲动是从何而来的时候

they had a very vivid story to tell

他们有一个很生动的故事

about a young woman who was the creative genius

故事是关于第一幅肖像背后

behind the very first portrait.

一位很有创造天赋的女人

Her lover was going away on a long journey

她的爱人要离家踏上一段长途旅程

and before he went, she got a lamp

在他离开之前 她得到了一盏灯

and she threw his shadow against a wall

她把她爱人的影子投到了墙上

and traced round it to create a silhouette².

沿着影子创造出了一个剪影

She was trying not just to memorialise him,

她不只是在试着纪念他

but to keep his presence in her world.

也是为了让他永远存在于自己的世界里

I think there's something like that going on

我认为关于阿特米多鲁斯的脸

with the face of Artemidorus.

背后也有这种故事

Domestic ware³ and tear,

家用器皿和裂痕

even children's scribbles⁴ on some coffins⁵,

甚至在一些棺材上还有孩童们的涂鸦

suggest that they weren't instantly confined to the grave.

都表明了它们不是立刻就被封入墓穴之中的

For a while, they may have stood in the land of the living,

有段时间 它们可能被竖立在人世间

perhaps in the family home.

也许就在家中

1 portraiture   

n.肖像画法

参考例句：

• I am going to have my portraiture taken.我请人给自己画张肖像。
• The painting of beautiful women was another field of portraiture.人物画中的另一个领域是仕女画。

2 silhouette   

n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓

参考例句：

• I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
• I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。

3 ware   

n.(常用复数)商品，货物

参考例句：

• The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
• Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。

4 scribbles   

n.潦草的书写( scribble的名词复数 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下v.潦草的书写( scribble的第三人称单数 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• The scribbles on the wall must be the work of those children. 墙壁上的涂鸦准是那几个孩子画的。 来自辞典例句
• There are scribbles on the wall. 墙上有胡乱涂写的字迹。 来自辞典例句

5 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白