纪录片《文明》 第132期 艺术的胜利（9）

holding up the head of the enemy general, Holofernes,

手里拿着敌军将领霍洛芬斯的头颅

she'd just beheaded.

她刚砍下他的头

But Judith had been set up on the Piazza¹ Della Signoria,

但朱迪思被树立在领主广场上

in front of the seat of Florence's government

正对着佛罗伦萨政府

to celebrate chasing the Medici despots out of Florence.

以此来庆祝美第奇家族暴君被赶出佛罗伦萨

So when, almost a century later,

于是某一刻 几乎是一个世纪之后

Cosimo de' Medici became duke,

科西莫.德.美第奇成了公爵

he wanted a statue which would reverse all that,

他想要一件可以扭转一切的雕像

a manly² hero beheading a female monster.

一位男英雄斩落女魔头的头颅

And Cellini, an alpha-male who knew all about bloody³ killings⁴,

而切利尼 一个熟稔血腥屠杀的强势男性

seized his chance.

得到了他的机会

Donatello had cast Judith in pieces,

多纳泰罗用多块青铜铸造了朱迪思

Cellini promised to do the Perseus in one casting.

切利尼则承诺用一块铸造珀耳修斯

"Impossible," Scoffed⁵ the duke.

"绝不可能"公爵嘲笑道

"The liquid bronze won't reach all those extremities⁶."

"青铜液体不可能做出所有四肢"

"Watch me," Said Cellini, who liked talking back to his patrons.

"看我的"切利尼说 他喜欢反驳自己的顾客

Cellini was playing for the highest stakes imaginable,

切利尼下了最不可能赢的赌注

the casting of the Perseus was the moment that was going to

铸造珀耳修斯将会把他从

transform him from a goldsmith, a craftsman⁷, a mere⁸ artisan,

一位金匠 一位手艺人 一位工匠

to whom everybody condescended⁹, into an artist superhero -

变成所有人都敬仰的人物 一位超级艺术家

the real thing.

货真价实

Having set up everything just right,

当一切都准备就绪

suddenly as the melted bronze

融化的青铜正要

was going to be poured, Cellini falls deathly ill

缓缓倒入 切利尼突然病倒了

of a terrible fever.

持续的高热非常严重

So sick, so ill, he's sure he's going to die.

病得如此严重 他很确信自己要死去了

There's an incredible storm.

一场难以置信的暴风雨来临

Wind, rain, the roof is partly removed,

大风和大雨将屋顶掀走了一部分

the cover of the furnace explodes.

熔炉的盖子爆开了

And most fatally, the temperature of the molten bronze

最致命的是 用以浇铸的青铜温度

starts to lower.

开始变低

That word that nobody wants to hear in a foundry - caking.

铸造厂里没有人想听到那个词 烧结

The premature¹⁰ coagulation¹¹ of the alloy¹² starts to be set.

合金过早的凝结开始了

The assistants come running, "Maestro, maestro!"

助理们跑来大叫 "大师 不好了"

Everything is going pear-shaped.

一切都正在变成梨形

The bronze alloy will cool, it won't run to all the extremities

青铜合金马上冷却 来不及灌入

of the mould, and you end up with this little, kind of, dwarfish¹³ homunculus.

四肢的模型 你只能得到这种像侏儒一样矮小的人形

1 piazza   

n.广场；走廊

参考例句：

• Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
• They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。

2 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

6 extremities   

n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地

参考例句：

• She was most noticeable, I thought, in respect of her extremities. 我觉得她那副穷极可怜的样子实在太惹人注目。 来自辞典例句
• Winters may be quite cool at the northwestern extremities. 西北边区的冬天也可能会相当凉。 来自辞典例句

7 craftsman   

n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人

参考例句：

• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
• The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 condescended   

屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲

参考例句：

• We had to wait almost an hour before he condescended to see us. 我们等了几乎一小时他才屈尊大驾来见我们。
• The king condescended to take advice from his servants. 国王屈驾向仆人征求意见。

10 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

11 coagulation   

n.凝固；凝结物

参考例句：

• Blood becomes stickier to help coagulation in case of a cut.割伤的时候，血液会变得更为黏稠以助于凝结。
• Man has been intrigued with blood coagulation.人类一直对血凝感兴趣。

12 alloy   

n.合金，(金属的)成色

参考例句：

• The company produces titanium alloy.该公司生产钛合金。
• Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.青铜是铜和锡的合金。

13 dwarfish   

a.像侏儒的，矮小的

参考例句：

• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。
• Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things and heavenly. 不要再满足于属世的成就，要努力奔向属天的事物。