纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 069瓦斯特克女神雕像（4）

 

But she does have two humanising aspects. Her small head is unexpectedly animated¹, she appears to be looking up and to the side towards something, and her lips are open, as though she may even be speaking. And below her breasts are the only surface detail on the entire body, curved lines of sagging² stone flesh, signs certainly of maturity³, possibly of maternity⁴ - which has led many people to believe that she may be a mother goddess.

We know virtually nothing about the Huastec mother goddess, but we do know that for the conquering Aztecs she was the same being as their own mother goddess, Tlazolteotl. Now you might imagine that all mother goddesses have a pretty straightforward⁵ job-description - ensuring fertility and seeing everybody safely into adulthood⁶ - but as the cultural historian Marina Warner points out, it's often much more complicated than that:

但她也有两处人性化的地方。首先头很小，却出人意料地很有生气，眼睛好像在侧上方看到了什么，嘴唇微启，似乎在诉说着什么。此外是胸部，她身体上唯一被刻画的细节，几道曲线表现了胸部下垂的状态，明显是成熟女性的标记，也可能是母亲的象征。因此很多人认为，她也许是母亲神。

我们对瓦斯特克族的母亲神一无所知，只了解对征服者阿兹特克人而言，她的地位与他们自己的女神特拉佐尔特奥特尔相当。你可能会觉得，所有母亲神扮演的角色都大同小异：确保民族繁衍生息，看顾幼儿成长。但文化历史学家玛丽娜沃纳认为实际情况要复杂一些：

 

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 sagging   

下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
• We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

3 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

4 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

5 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

6 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。