纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 004一对游泳的驯鹿（1）

004: EPISODE 4 - Swimming Reindeer¹对游水的驯鹿

Abstract摘要 :

Swimming reindeer (made around 13,000 years ago). Sculpture carved from mammoth² tusk³, found at Montastruc, central France

猛犸象象牙雕“一对游水的驯鹿”，距今约于一万三千年前，出土于法国中部的Montastruc地区。

MP3听力原文：

What does the past sound like? Of course, when we're as far back in deep time as we are this week, we can have no real idea.

过去的世界聆听起来如何？当然，即使我们像本周一样，努力追溯回宇宙洪荒的远古时代，我们仍旧没能得到任何确切的答案。

We can imagine the unchanging sounds of nature - wind, rain, sea, river - but for us, history is silent.

我们可以想象大自然里永恒不变的声音——风声雨声，或苍海河流的涛声依旧。

But if we can't hear the past, we can certainly see it. I'd like to introduce you to an object that's 13,000 years old, made by one of our ancestors who wanted to show his own world to himself and, in doing so, relayed that world with astonishing immediacy, to us.

然而历史对于我们，却是沉默的。但或许我们无法聆听历史，我们却可以看得到它。我想向你介绍这件拥有一万三千年历史的物品，也许当初我们某一位远古祖先想把自己生存的世界展示给自己，其结果恰好也将那世界以无比亲密、让人惊叹的方式传达给今天的我们。

'You can feel that here's somebody making this, who was projecting themselves with huge imaginative generosity⁴ into the world around, and saw and felt in their bones that rhythm.'

“你可能感受到制作这艺术品的人运用巨大的想象力去感知自己周遭的世界，审视那节奏，并将其融合他们的骨雕作品中去。”

It is, I think, a masterpiece of Ice Age art, and it's also evidence of a huge change in the way in which the human brain was working.

我认为这是一件冰河时代的艺术杰作，同时它也是人类运转方式产生巨大变化的鲜明证据。

'Something, between say 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, happens in the human brain, that allows this fantastic creativity, imagination, artistic⁵ abilities, to emerge.'

“大约在五至十万年前之间，人类大脑产生了变化，允许了这梦幻般的创造力、想象力，审美能力的涌现。”

The swimming reindeer made from mammoth tusk, carved around 10,000 B.C. , and found in France

猛犸象象牙雕“一对游水的驯鹿”，大约在公元前10,000 年完成，出土于法国。

In the last two programmes, we looked at stone tools, which raised the question of whether it's making 'things' that makes us human.

在上次两期节目中，我们介绍了石制工具，并因些提出这个问题：是否制造“物品”使我们人类之所以成为人类呢？

Could you conceive of being human without using objects to negotiate the world? I don't think I can. But there's another question that follows quite quickly once you start looking at these very ancient things.

你能否想象作为人类，却不使用物品去应付这个世界？我不能想象。然而当你再次审视这些非常古老的物品时，却引发了另一个问题。

Our modern human species, 'homo sapiens' ('thinking man' in the Latin), evolved in Africa at least 150,000 years ago.

我们的现在人种“智人”（拉丁语中意为“有思想的人”）是至少约十五万年前，在非洲进化而来的。

But around 50,000 years ago, something dramatic seems to have happened to the human brain, because across the world, humans start to make patterns that decorate and intrigue⁶, to make jewellery to adorn⁷ the body, and representations of the animals that share their world with them.

然后大概就在约五万年前，人类大脑似乎发生在某些戏剧性的变化；因为当时全世界各地的人类纷纷不约而同，开始使用形形色色的装饰性与或满足好奇心的图案，使用珠宝首饰来装饰身体，创造出大自然分享给他们的各种动物的栩栩形态。

1 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。

2 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

3 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

4 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

7 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。