纪录片《文明》 第147期 初次邂逅（1）

Ideas that underpinned¹ an empire.

这些观念构成了整个帝国的基础

The public were fascinated,

公众在沉迷的同时

but also troubled by what they saw.

也对眼见所见感到忧虑

What bothered them was that

他们困惑的是

this was the work of an African society

这些杰出的艺术品来自非洲社会

and almost everybody in the 19th century believed that

而在十九世纪几乎所有人都认为

Africans lacked the technical skills needed to produce great art

非洲缺乏诞生伟大艺术所必须的技术水平

and the cultural sophistication needed to appreciate it.

以及需要欣赏这些所需的文化多样性

It was, in fact, widely believed that the people

事实上 那时的人们广泛认为

of the Dark Continent had no history and no culture

非洲大陆既无历史也无文化

and were incapable² of generating this thing called civilisation³.

更是无法创造文明

These reliefs that so disturbed the Victorians

这些困扰着维多利亚时期人们的雕塑

are the Benin Bronzes.

被称作贝宁青铜器

They're now regarded as one of Africa's greatest treasures.

如今它们被视作非洲最伟大的艺术宝藏之一

Created from the 16th century onwards

自十六世纪其诞生起

in the ancient West African kingdom,

它们便记录着古西非王国

they record Benin's great kings,

贝宁王国的历任国王

her wealth, her military power

所拥有的财富和军事力量

and the history that Africans were supposed to lack.

以及从未被认为存在的非洲历史

I've been coming to see these works of art my whole life.

我的一生中曾多次见过这些艺术品

I was first brought to see them

当我的家人带着我第一次见到它们时

when I was just a little boy by my family.

我还是个小孩

I've spent hours and hours over the years standing⁴ here

这些年我花了无数个小时

looking at them and, as someone born in Africa,

凝视着它们 作为一个在非洲人出生的人

feeling a strong sense of connection to them.

我能感受到与这些艺术品之间的心灵相通

But despite all their beauty,

尽管它们如此美丽

they are to me tragic⁵ works of art,

对我而言却是一件件悲剧性的作品

because they are loaded with a sense of loss.

因为它们的到来承载着惨痛的代价

And that's because today

那是因为今天

they're not in Nigeria among the people

它们无法回到尼日利亚人的手中

whose ancestors made them,

他们的先祖铸造了这些艺术品

they're here in London, in the British Museum.

它们被放置在伦敦的大英博物馆

The Benin Bronzes came to Britain

贝宁青铜器是作为掠夺的战利品

as the spoils of an act of plunder⁶.

而来到英国的

In 1897, British colonial forces attacked Benin City.

1897年 英国殖民者入侵了贝宁城

It was an act of revenge for the ambush⁷

这次侵略是为了报复贝宁人

of an earlier British expedition.

早先伏击了一组英国探险队

They deposed⁸ the King, the Oba Ovonramwen, sent him into exile

殖民者废黜了国王奥翁拉姆文

and burned his palace to the ground.

将他驱逐并将其宫殿毁之一炬

They looted the brass⁹ plaques¹⁰ and statues

他们掠走了曾用于装饰宫墙的

that once decorated the palace walls,

青铜匾和青铜雕像

took them back to London and sold them off.

殖民者将其带回伦敦拍卖掉

Some were put on display in the British Museum.

其中一些被展示在大不列颠博物馆内

1 underpinned   

v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的过去式和过去分词 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• The report is underpinned by extensive research. 这份报告以广泛的研究为基础。
• The statue of Diana was underpinned with charred piles. Diana雕像是建造在炭化了的木桩上的。 来自辞典例句

2 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

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 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

7 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

8 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

10 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。