纪录片《文明》 第135期 艺术的胜利（12）

And though like all the generations of Mughal emperors

尽管和所有莫卧儿时期的帝王

and their successors, he was embattled,

以及他们的后代一样 他的统治也危机四伏

sometimes literally¹ with his son, Jahangir,

有时候是和他儿子贾汉吉尔之间的冲突

he bequeathed to him the sense that the authority

他给他儿子传达的思想是

of the Mughal Empire would be built on art

莫卧儿帝国的权威不仅建立在政府以及军事上

as much as government and military power.

同时也是建立在艺术之上

It would be seen to contemporaries and posterity²

这在当代和后代可以被视为

above all as a civilisation³.

一种文明的象征

Jahangir didn't really need to be told by his father

贾汉吉尔其实并不需要他的父亲来告诉他

how important art was.

艺术有多么重要

In his own right, he was the most intellectually

就他个人而言 他是整个王朝中

and aesthetically⁴ driven of the whole dynasty.

最崇尚文化和美学的人

Well, this is one of the great masterpieces of Mughal painting.

这是莫卧儿帝国时期最伟大的画作之一

But it's also an extraordinary masterpiece

但这也是帝王自鸣得意的

of imperial self-congratulation,

非凡杰作

even by the standards of the World's Seizer,

就算以"世界掠夺者"的标准来判断

that's what Jahangir's name means, the title he gave to himself.

这也是贾汉吉尔自封的称号的意思

He's encircled with a golden halo

他被金色光环包围着

that's the size of a small planet,

光环有一个小行星那么大

and it's giving off these extraordinarily⁵ intense golden glimmer⁶,

还散发着格外耀眼的金色光芒

so fierce that one of the little putti, one of the cupids,

光芒如此刺眼 以至于一个

who's been flown in directly from European art,

从欧洲艺术中直接借鉴过来的小丘比特

has to cover his eyes with his hands

不得不用双手遮住双眼

lest his eyeballs be scalded by the radiation

以免被贾汉吉尔向四周发散的光辉

of Jahangir's magnificence.

刺伤了双眼

The slightly implausible conceit⁷ of the painting

这幅画透露着令人难以置信的自负感

is that Jahangir prefers the company

因为相比于世俗的统治者

of a saintly Muslim holy man to worldly rulers.

贾汉吉尔更喜欢由一位穆斯林圣人陪同在左右

The Sufi sheikh himself has been painted

苏菲派谢赫被画成

with wonderful fustian⁸ simplicity⁹ -

穿着极其简单的厚粗棉料的

a brown coat, perfect candyfloss whiskers there.

棕色上衣 留着棉花糖似的胡须

He's receiving a present from the hands of Jahangir himself,

他正从贾汉吉尔手中接过一件礼物

but of course the hands don't actually touch.

但显然 他们的手并没触碰上

And there is something else

在这幅绝妙的画作中

going on in in this extraordinary painting.

还上演着其他的事

It's also a picture about the competition between Mughal art

这也是一幅关于莫卧儿时期艺术和欧洲艺术

and European art, between East and West.

东方和西方艺术之争的画作

There's an Ottoman sultan who's shown with the Turkish turban

有一位奥斯曼苏丹戴着土耳其头巾

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

3 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

4 aesthetically   

adv.美地，艺术地

参考例句：

• Segmental construction contributes toward aesthetically pleasing structures in many different sites. 对于许多不同的现场条件，分段施工都能提供美观，颇有魄力的桥型结构。
• All isolation techniques may be aesthetically unacceptable or even dirty. 所有的隔离方法都有可能在美观方面使人难以接受，或甚至是肮脏的。

5 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

6 glimmer   

v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光

参考例句：

• I looked at her and felt a glimmer of hope.我注视她，感到了一线希望。
• A glimmer of amusement showed in her eyes.她的眼中露出一丝笑意。

7 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

8 fustian   

n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布

参考例句：

• Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.浮夸的文章掩饰不住这个作者的贫乏情节。
• His fustian shirt,sanguineflowered,trembles its Spanish tassels at his secrets.他身上穿的是件印有血红色大花的粗斜纹布衬衫，每当他吐露秘密时，西班牙式的流苏就颤悠。

9 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。