纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 007Ain Sakhri的恋人（2）

And once they were settled, they deliberately¹ collected grass grains still on the stalk, and by collecting and sowing the seeds, they almost inadvertently carried out a very early kind of genetic² engineering: they slowly created the world's great staple³ crops, wheat and barley⁴. With this more stable life, our ancestors turned to new gods, and they made images which show and celebrate the key elements in their changing universe; food, power, worship, sex and love. And the maker⁵ of the 'lovers' sculpture was one of these people.

一旦定居下来，人类就开始刻意收集一些谷物还长在茎秆上的植物，在这样收集与播种谷物的过程，他们几乎不经意地进行了一种非常早期的基因工程，慢慢地培育出世界伟大的主食农作物—— 小麦和大麦。以这种更加安逸的生活为基础，我们祖先开始了新的造神运动，他们创造出各种各样的形象，来展示与庆贺自身周围那日益改变的宇宙间关键元素：食物、权力、宗拜礼仪以及性爱。这件恋人雕塑的制造者，就是这些人类中的一员。

I am in the Manuscript Saloon at the British Museum, most people walk straight past the case that contains the statue of the lovers.

在大英博物馆的手稿展厅部分，大多数人民经过这对恋人雕像的展台时，都是视而不见般地擦身而过。

Perhaps it's because from a distance it doesn't look very much; it's a small, muted, greyish stone about the size of a clenched⁶ fist. But when you get nearer to it, you can see that it's a couple, seated, their arms and legs wrapped around each other in the closest of embraces. There are no clear facial features, but you know that these two people are looking into each other's eyes.

大概是因为远距离点来看，这件物品挺不起眼的。一枚灰不溜湫、大概握紧的拳头般大小的石头而已。然而当你走近点瞧瞧，这是一对男女，盘坐着，四肢交缠到对方身上，仿佛一对不可分离的鸳鸯鸟。他们没有明确的面部特征，但你可以知道他们肯定是彼此互望，深情款款。

I think it's one of the tenderest expressions of love that I know, comparable to the great kissing couples of Brancusi and Rodin, and I asked the contemporary British sculptor⁷, Marc Quinn, what he thought of it:

我认为这是我心目中一种表达爱意最温柔的方式，堪比布朗库西与罗丹那些伟大的热吻中情侣的作品。我就此询问了英国当代雕塑家马克·奎恩的看法：

'It's incredible to be in the presence of this object, which is from so long ago. To me, what's incredible about this sculpture is that when you move it and look at it in different ways, it changes completely. And so here you have this thing , from the side, you have the long shot of the embrace, you see the two figures.

“这件作品年代居然这么久远，实在是令人难以置信。对我来说，更让人惊叹不已的是，当你转动这雕塑，从不同的角度来欣赏它时，呈现在你眼前的也绝然不同。从这个角度上，你看到双人相拥的侧面。

From another side it's a penis, from the other side a vagina, from another side it is breasts - it seems to be formally mimicking⁸ the act of making love as well as representing it as well. And those different sides unfold as you handle it, as you turn this object around in your hand , so they unfold in time, which I think is another important thing about the sculpture , it's not an instant thing.

从这面看，倒像是阴茎；转过来这面呢，像是阴道；转过来又出现了乳房——它似乎是很正式地在模仿性爱的动作，而不仅仅是代表这种行为。随着你转动角度的变化，不同的场景也在你面前一一呈现。因此他们及时呈现，这是我认识这件雕塑另一个重要的一点，这不是一个一瞬间的事情。

You walk round it and the object unfolds in real time. It's almost like in a pornographic film, you have long shots, close-ups , it has a cinematic quality as you turn it, that you get all these different things and yet it's a poignant⁹, beautiful object about the relationship between people.'

你绕着这件作品走一圈，它的众多场景似乎是实时上演，几乎像在观看一部色情影片，长镜头、特写镜头——这种几乎接近电影质量给予你的是丰富的感受；这件美丽与感染力强烈的作品描述了人与人的关系。”

1 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

4 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

5 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

6 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

8 mimicking   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
• The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句

9 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。