2023年经济学人 哑剧艺术: 讲述沉默

 

    Culture

    文艺版块

    The Art of Mime¹

    哑剧艺术

    Speaking Silence

    讲述沉默

    Marcel Marceau was a giant of an underappreciated art form.

    马塞尔·马索是一种被低估的艺术形式的巨匠。

    Say “mime” and the name that comes to mind is Marcel Marceau.

    说到“哑剧”，浮现在脑海中的名字就是马塞尔·马索。

    Despite a long history that embraces Greek tragedy and Roman farce², it is a much-derided form of art.

    尽管哑剧有着悠久的历史，涵盖了希腊悲剧和罗马闹剧，但它仍然是一种备受嘲笑的艺术形式。

    Its silent exponents³, clowns you can’t hear coming, are the butt⁴ of a memorably⁵ dismissive sketch⁶ by Gary Larson, an American cartoonist:

    沉默的哑剧表演者，也就是无声无息地到来的小丑，是美国漫画家加里·拉森在一幅速写中嘲笑的对象，这幅速写的轻蔑之意让人难忘：

    "If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around, and it hits a mime, does anyone care?"“如果在森林里一棵树倒下，周围没有人，它砸中了一个哑剧演员，有人会在意吗？”

    Marceau, who was born 100 years ago in March 1923, is an outlier, admired for a rare ability to transform his body.

    马索出生于100年前的1923年3月，他是一个异类，因其罕见的改变身体的能力而受人钦佩。

    Yet he, too, is underappreciated—today synonymous with his most famous creation, a chalk-faced clown called Bip who sported a striped jumper and a crumpled⁷ stovepipe hat topped with a limp red flower.

    然而，就算是他也被低估了——如今他已是他创作的最著名形象的代名词，一个脸上涂满白粉的名叫毕普的小丑，穿着条纹套头衫，头戴一顶皱巴巴的烟囱帽，帽子上是一朵软趴趴的红花。

    First presented in 1947, Bip was part harlequin, part homage⁸ to Charlie Chaplin’s melancholy⁹ bumbler, the Little Tramp.

    毕普于1947年首次亮相，既是一个滑稽角色，也是向查理·卓别林扮演的那个忧郁又笨手笨脚的小流浪汉致敬。

    His sad looks and elastic¹⁰ gestures would become a cliché, aped by every street performer who has wrestled¹¹ with the wind or opened an imaginary door.

    他悲伤的表情和富有弹性的动作会在后来变得俗滥，每一个与空气搏斗或假装开门的街头表演者都会对他进行模仿。

    In fact Marceau was a complex artist, scarred by adolescent upheaval¹².

    事实上，马索是一个复杂的艺术家，青春期时发生的剧变让他伤痕累累。

    He was born Marcel Mangel, into a Jewish family in Strasbourg, and as a child revelled¹³ in drawing and gymnastics.

    他原名是马塞尔·曼格尔，出生在法国斯特拉斯堡的一个犹太家庭，小时候酷爱绘画和体操。

    In 1939, ahead of the invasion by Nazi¹⁴ Germany, his home town was evacuated¹⁵.

    1939年，在纳粹德国入侵之前，人们纷纷搬离了他的家乡。

    At the urging of a cousin he joined the French Resistance, and his enthusiasms proved invaluable¹⁶:

    在一位表亲的敦促下，他加入了法国抵抗运动，他的热情被证明是无价的：

    he altered the documents of Jewish children and posed as a Boy Scout¹⁷ to smuggle¹⁸ others into Spain and Switzerland.

    他篡改了犹太儿童的文件，并伪装成童子军，将其他儿童偷运到西班牙和瑞士。

    (He used mime to encourage the youngsters to stay quiet en route.)（在路上，他用哑剧鼓励孩子们保持安静。）

    He did not manage to save his father, who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and died in Auschwitz.

    他没能救出他的父亲，父亲于1944年被盖世太保逮捕，死于奥斯维辛集中营。

    That year Marceau put on his first public entertainment as a mime, for a crowd of 3,000 American soldiers.

    也是在那一年，马索作为哑剧演员为3000名美国士兵举行了他的首场公共娱乐活动。

    Though his compositions could be intensely funny, they also paid oblique¹⁹ tribute to those who had been silenced during the bloodshed.

    尽管他的作品可能非常有趣好笑，但这些作品也间接地向那些在流血事件中无法发声的人致以了敬意。

    It was a tour of America in 1955-56 that brought him celebrity,1955年至1956年的美国巡演使他声名鹊起，

    and over the next half century he performed in more than 80 countries, clocking up as many as 300 solo shows a year and introducing a global audience to his brand of vivid yet fleeting²⁰ poetry.

    在接下来的半个世纪里，他在80多个国家演出，每年举行多达300场个人演出，向全球观众展示了他独有的鲜活而短暂的诗意。

    Marceau’s subject matter ranged widely: pride, solitude²¹, sin and the pathos²² of old age, as well as adaptations of Nikolai Gogol, Franz Kafka and Voltaire.

    马索的主题十分广泛：傲慢、孤独、罪恶、暮年之悲哀，以及对尼古莱·果戈理、弗兰兹·卡夫卡和伏尔泰作品的改编。

    When he enacted²³ the Earth’s creation his fingers became birds and fish.

    当他扮演地球的生物时，他的手指就变成了飞鸟和鱼。

    In a piece called “The Tribunal” he played defendant²⁴, jury, judge and executioner.

    在一部名为《法庭》的作品中，他扮演了被告、陪审团、法官和刽子手的角色。

    His work for the big screen never quite captured the lyrical expressiveness²⁵ of his stage act.

    他在大银幕上的作品从未完全捕捉到他舞台表演的那种感情丰富的表现力。

    His most notable moment on film came in 1976, uttering the one word spoken in Mel Brooks’s "Silent Movie"—"Non!"他在电影中最引人注目的时刻是在1976年，在梅尔·布鲁克斯的《默片》中，他说出了影片唯一一句台词——“不！”

    Offstage, Marceau was loquacious²⁶ and in demand as a chat-show raconteur²⁷.

    在台下，马索很健谈，是脱口秀中受欢迎的故事大王。

    On it he was a model of lithe²⁸ discipline and an inspiration to other theatre practitioners²⁹, showing how an art form that often favours text and talk could profit from the eloquence³⁰ of the body.

    在台上，他是身体柔软灵活的典范，也是其他戏剧从业者的灵感来源，他展示了一种偏爱文字和对白的艺术形式如何从身体的表现力中获益。

    Reflecting on the power of his chosen medium, he wondered: “Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?”

    在对他所选择的表现形式的力量进行思考时，他诧异地问道：“在生命中最感人至深的时刻，我们难道不都是无语凝噎的吗？”

1 mime   

n.指手画脚，做手势，哑剧演员，哑剧；vi./vt.指手画脚的表演，用哑剧的形式表演

参考例句：

• Several French mime artists will give some lectures this afternoon.几位法国哑剧表演艺术家将在今天下午做几场讲座。
• I couldn't speak Chinese,but I showed in mime that I wanted a drink.我不会讲汉语，但我作摹拟动作表示要一杯饮料。

2 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

3 exponents   

n.倡导者( exponent的名词复数 )；说明者；指数；能手

参考例句：

• Its tendency to archaic language was tempered by the indolence of its exponents. 它的应用古语的趋势却被用语者的懒散所冲淡。 来自辞典例句
• The exponents of this trend are trying to lead us towards capitalism. 这股思潮的代表人物是要把我们引导到资本主义方向上去。 来自互联网

4 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

5 memorably   

难忘的

参考例句：

• The book includes some memorably seedy characters and scabrous description. 这本书包含了一些难忘下流的角色及有伤风化的描述。 来自互联网
• Horowitz could play Chopin memorably. 霍洛维茨可以把肖邦的作品演奏得出神入化。 来自互联网

6 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

7 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

8 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

9 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

10 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

11 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

13 revelled   

v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• The foreign guests revelled in the scenery of the lake. 外宾们十分喜爱湖上的景色。 来自辞典例句
• He revelled in those moments of idleness stolen from his work. 他喜爱学习之余的闲暇时刻。 来自辞典例句

14 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

15 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

16 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

17 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

18 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

19 oblique   

adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的

参考例句：

• He made oblique references to her lack of experience.他拐弯抹角地说她缺乏经验。
• She gave an oblique look to one side.她向旁边斜看了一眼。

20 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

21 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

22 pathos   

n.哀婉，悲怆

参考例句：

• The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯，看得我们不禁流泪。
• There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。

23 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

24 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

25 expressiveness   

n.富有表现力

参考例句：

• His painting rose to a fresh expressiveness and revealed a shrewder insight. 他的画富有一种新的表达力，显示出更敏锐的洞察力。
• The audiences are impressed by the expressiveness of the actors. 演员们的丰富表情给观众留下了深刻的印象。

26 loquacious   

adj.多嘴的，饶舌的

参考例句：

• The normally loquacious Mr O'Reilly has said little.平常话多的奥赖利先生几乎没说什么。
• Kennedy had become almost as loquacious as Joe.肯尼迪变得和乔一样唠叨了。

27 raconteur   

n.善讲故事者

参考例句：

• The raconteur mentioned that the quotation was from the Bible.说故事的那位个人，指出那句话是出自圣经。
• His grandfather was a fine raconteur.他的祖父是位很好讲故事的人。

28 lithe   

adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的

参考例句：

• His lithe athlete's body had been his pride through most of the fifty - six years.他那轻巧自如的运动员体格，五十六年来几乎一直使他感到自豪。
• His walk was lithe and graceful.他走路轻盈而优雅。

29 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

30 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。