纪录片《文明》 第182期 进步崇拜（14）

The first French explorers who had arrived in the 1760s regarded the people they found there as the most content on earth.

十八世纪六十年代 第一批到达的法国探险家 把这座岛上的人视为地球上最幸福的人

They seemed, to the European imagination,to be living proof of the idea of the noble savage¹ -a simple people with an unspoiled way of life.

岛上的居民对欧洲人来说 是高贵野蛮人的现实代表 一群简单的 原生态的人

But that is not the Tahiti Gauguin found.

但高更看到的塔希提岛却绝非如此

By the time Gauguin arrived in Tahiti in 1891,this was one of the most tragic² places in the world.

高更1891年到达塔希提岛时 这里是世界上最悲惨的地方之一

Because while a tiny local elite³ had done rather well from the arrival of Europeans,the Tahitian people had been devastated⁴ by war, disease and alcohol.

因为在欧洲人到来之后 尽管一小撮当地精英还混得不错 大部分塔希提人正饱受 战争 疾病和酒精的摧残

The population was a fraction of what it had been and the missionaries⁵ had done their absolute best to stamp out the local culture and religion.

当地人口大幅下降而传教士们在消灭当地文化和宗教方面 也做得相当彻底

Tahiti was no longer a romanticised alternative to European civilisation⁶,it was a classic case study of what European civilisation could do to other societies.

塔希提不再是欧洲文明理想化的替代选择 而是研究欧洲文明扩张 对其他社会影响的一个经典案例

Once he got away from the capital, Papeete,Gauguin discovered that some parts of the old legend still survived.

当他离开首都帕皮提后 高更发现 这个古老传奇的某些部分得以幸存

He found beauty in the landscape...

他发现了如画的风景之美

And in the villages,proof of the island's reputation for the easy availability of women.

而在村庄中 他证实了这座岛上 妇女的廉价与开放

Gauguin quickly found himself a local mistress,a girl of around 13, called Teha'amana, who became his model and his muse⁷.

高更很快给自己找了个当地的情妇 一个十三岁左右的女孩 名叫蒂哈阿玛拉 她也成为了他的模特和灵感源泉

There are many reasons to not like Paul Gauguin.

有很多原因会让人不喜欢保罗·高更

He was a man who spent much of his life wallowing in self pity or else engaged in an endless campaign of self-promotion.

他一生中大部分时间都在自怜自哀 或是在无休止地自我推销

And the relationships that he had with young Tahitian girls is something that we today find deeply disturbing.

如果用今天的道德标准来衡量 他和年轻塔希提女孩之间的关系令人谴责

And yet, for all his faults, the art that he produced here on the islands of the Pacific was radical⁸, vivid and stunningly⁹ beautiful.

然而尽管他有种种缺点 他在这个太平洋岛上 创作出的艺术却是激进的栩栩如生而又惊人的美丽

The way Gauguin used solid blocks of colour was something new in art.

高更大量使用平涂色块 这在艺术上是一种创新

And these images were no mere¹⁰ European fantasy version of a carefree paradise.

这些图像不仅仅是欧洲人幻想中 无忧无虑的天堂

1 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

2 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。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

5 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 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。

7 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 stunningly   

ad.令人目瞪口呆地；惊人地

参考例句：

• The cooks, seamstresses and other small investors are stunningly vulnerable to reversals. 那些厨师、裁缝及其他的小投资者非常容易受到股市逆转的影响。
• The production cost of this huge passenger liner is stunningly high. 这艘船城造价之高令人惊叹。

10 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。