纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 068湿婆与雪山女神像（8）

 

It was Hinduism's generous capacity to embrace all aspects of life, not least sexuality, that enthused and beguiled¹ the man who collected our sculpture - Charles Stuart, an officer in the East India Company, who so vigorously embraced the values and virtues² of Hinduism that he was nicknamed by his shocked compatriots "Hindoo Stuart". Stuart admired almost every aspect of Indian life. He studied Indian languages and religions, and he even urged English women to wear what he called "sensible and sensual" Indian saris. The memsahibs declined.

As part of his study of Indian cultures, Stuart put together a huge collection of sculpture - our relief was part of it - designed to include "examples of each deity³ as a kind of visual encyclopaedia⁴ of religions and customs". His collection was displayed to the public at his home in Calcutta. It was one of the first serious attempts to present Indian culture in a systematic⁵ way to a European audience. Far from finding Hinduism disconcerting, Stuart saw in it an admirable framework for living, that was at least the moral equal of Christianity, and in 1808 he published his views in a pamphlet, 'Vindication⁶ of the Hindoos':

"Wherever I look around me, in the vast ocean of Hindu mythology⁷, I discover Piety⁸... Morality... and as far as I can rely on my judgement, it appears the most complete and ample system of Moral Allegory the world has ever produced."

印度教包容性，包容生命万象，正是这种包容深深感染了搜集雕像的查尔斯·斯图亚特。作为东印度公司的一名小职员，他对印度教的价值与优点抱有的狂热使同事们大为惊讶，他也因此获得了“印度人斯图亚特”的绰号。斯图亚特欣赏印度生活中的一切，他研究印度的语言与宗教，甚至呼吁英国妇女穿“理性而又性感”的印度纱丽。这自然被太太小姐们拒绝了。

作为其印度文化研究的一部分，斯图亚特搜集了大量雕像，本节文物便是其中之一。他想集齐印度众神，使收藏成为一部宗教与文化的百科全书。这些藏品在他位于加尔各答的家里公开展出，是严肃而系统地向欧洲人展示印度文化的初次尝试。他并不觉得印度教有何令人困惑不安的内容，而是发现其中有值得赞叹、足以与基督教媲美的架构。一八八年，他将自己的观点写成一本小册子出版，名为《印度人的辩护书》：

在印度神话的辽阔大海中，无论何时环顾四下，我都能看到虔诚…道德……我坚信，它是世界上最完整、最丰富的道德寓言体系。

 

1 beguiled   

v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等）

参考例句：

• She beguiled them into believing her version of events. 她哄骗他们相信了她叙述的事情。
• He beguiled me into signing this contract. 他诱骗我签订了这项合同。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

3 deity   

n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)

参考例句：

• Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.许多动物被看作神的化身。
• The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在庙宇壁龛的最深处。

4 encyclopaedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• An encyclopaedia contains a lot of knowledge.百科全书包含很多知识。
• This is an encyclopaedia of philosophy.这是本哲学百科全书。

5 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

6 vindication   

n.洗冤，证实

参考例句：

• There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。
• The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。

7 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

8 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。