精美英文欣赏:乐队暴动猫的审判

"Tomorrow, the verdict is expected in the highly controversial trial of three members of the punk band Pussy¹ Riot,

"明天，将判决极具争议的朋克乐队暴动猫的三名成员，

who have been jailed for staging what they described as a political performance in the main cathedral in Moscow,

她们被监禁，因为在莫斯科主教堂，她们上演了一场有政治倾向的表演，

dedicated² to Christ the Saviour³. Their performance took the form of a prayer to Mary, a standard prayer in many Christian⁴ traditions,

献给基督救世主。她们的表演形式的是为玛丽祈祷，属于许多基督教传统中的一个标准的祈祷，

but the fact that it was a politicised prayer, sung in the context of a cathedral has, as they surely intended,

但事实上，这是一个政治性倾向的祈祷，借一所教堂的背景颂唱，在她们的准备下，

caused huge consternation⁵ both in support of and opposition⁶ to them, not only in Russia but all over the world.

这个祈祷造成了巨大的恐慌，对此有反对、有支持，不仅在俄罗斯，而且在世界各地。

They've undoubtedly⁷ caused offence to some believers, and they have apologised for that.

毫无疑问，她们已经冒犯了一些信徒，她们已经为此道歉。

But they remain unrepentant about the manner and content of their protest and they have attracted high profile supporters,

但是，她们仍然以顽固不化的方式和内容表示抗议，她们已经吸引了高调的支持者，

including another woman whose track record in making artistic⁸ protests in religious form is well known, Madonna.

其中包括另一个女人的唱片，在宗教形式的艺术抗议活动中是众所周知的：麦当娜。

The relationship between religion, in these cases Christianity, and protest is complex and long standing⁹.

各宗教之间的关系，基督教在这种情况下，抗议是复杂而长期的。

It's arguable that the Occupy Protest, which accidentally ended up outside St Paul's Cathedral became newly freighted with religious meaning,

占据抗议在圣保罗大教堂外意外地结束了，竟变得满载着新的宗教意义，这是有争议的。

and therefore more controversial because of its relationship with religion.

它与宗教的关系因此而更具争议性。

I'm not sure there would have been banners saying "what would Jesus do?" if the protest had been outside the Stock Exchange as originally planned.

我不确定，那儿会有标语写着：“耶稣会怎么做？”如果抗议已经按原定计划那般出现在证交所外面。

Reading the closing statements made in court by the members of Pussy Riot I was struck by the religious content of their argument.

暴动猫的成员在法庭做最后的陈述，我被她们论点中的宗教内容震撼。

Their protest is full of Biblical allusions¹⁰, quotations¹¹, and interpretations¹² of religious themes.

她们的抗议全是圣经典故，经文，和宗教主题的诠释。

In some places they have been described as both anarchic and atheist¹³. I found no evidence of either.

在一些地方，她们被描述为无政府主义和无神论者。我却没有发现任何证据，

And so it is not surprising that in order to make a political protest, they went to church to do so.

这并不奇怪，为了做政治抗议，她们去教堂如此做。

They express what one Christian theologian calls in the spirit of Mary Magdalene, ungovernable female energy.

她们表示，一个基督教神学家称抹大拉的马利亚的精神为——放肆的女性能量。

And in doing so they join a procession of women who have embodied¹⁴ protest in every denomination¹⁵ over centuries,

她们这样做是为了参与到过去百年中，每个教派的妇女们，都举行的抗议游行队伍里，

sometimes against the church itself, sometimes in defence of social or political freedoms in the context of church.

在教会的背景下，有时会违背教会本身，有时为社会或政治自由辩护。

The tension is a theological as well as a political one. How far does a church protect public space or sacred space,

这个紧张的局势既是一个神学问题，也是一个政治问题。教会对公共空间或宗教空间的保护要到什么程度，

and what's the difference? What are the limits of human behaviour that are possible within this space,

而它们之间又有什么区别？在这个空间里，哪些对人们行为的限制是合适的，

and how is the distinction between what is holy and profane¹⁶ expressed in a society that values free speech alongside an aesthetic¹⁷ of beauty and peace?

在一个美丽、和平、重视言论自由的社会里怎么区别神圣和世俗？

Different Christian communities come to different conclusions about this and will therefore expect different behaviours but not withstanding the details of this particular case,

不同的基督教教区，会得出不同的结论，因而预期出不同的行为，但不能承受这种特殊情况的细节，

my own theological stance wants to welcome challenge to the faith that I belong to, as part of the commitment to human flourishing building an ever more just and peaceful society."

我自己的神学立场是，愿意迎接信仰的挑战，为了有一个更加公正与和平的社会，我是参与人类的繁荣建设承诺的一员。

1 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

8 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。

9 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。

10 allusions   

暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We should not use proverbs and allusions indiscriminately. 不要滥用成语典故。
• The background lent itself to allusions to European scenes. 眼前的情景容易使人联想到欧洲风光。

11 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

14 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 denomination   

n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位

参考例句：

• The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
• Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。

16 profane   

adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• He doesn't dare to profane the name of God.他不敢亵渎上帝之名。
• His profane language annoyed us.他亵渎的言语激怒了我们。

17 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。