纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 037北美水獭烟(3)

We know that two thousand years ago only select members of the community were buried in the mounds¹, and that many of these people must have played a part in rituals, because fragments of ceremonial costumes have been found with the bodies - headdresses made from bear, wolf and deer skulls². The animal world appears to have had a central role in the spiritual life of these people, and perhaps the animals on the pipes had a role in some kind of shamanic ritual that would connect the physical and the spiritual worlds. The tobacco smoked at the time was 'Nicotiana Rustica', and we know that it produces a heightened state of awareness³, and even has a hallucinogenic effect. Our otter⁴ pipe is just one of a whole pipe menagerie: there are bowls which are shaped as wild cats, turtles, toads⁵, squirrels, birds, fishes and even birds eating fishes. And given that you would be eyeball-to-eyeball with the creature sculpted⁶ on it, we can imagine the smoker⁷ entering into a kind of transcendent state in which the animal would come to life. Perhaps each animal served as spirit guide or totem to the person smoking; certainly for later Native American peoples, it's known that they might dream of an animal whose spirit would then protect them throughout their life. Here's Gabrielle Tayac again:

我们知道，两千年前，只有少数人能被埋在坟冢里。他们中的许多人必定曾是宗教仪式的关键成员，因为在骸骨上找到了仪式用服饰的碎片：用熊、狼、鹿的头骨制作的头饰。看起来，动物在这些人的精神生活中扮演着很关键的角色。本文中的水獭仅是烟斗动物园的成员之一，此外还有野猫、乌龟、蟾蜍、松鼠、鸟、鱼，以及正在吃鱼的鸟。也许烟斗上的这些动物在连接精神世界与现实世界的宗教仪式中起了一定作用。当时他们抽的是黄花烟草，提神效果极佳，同时也能让人产生幻觉。既然抽烟者曾与烟斗上的动物对视,我们可以想象,他（她）也许会进人一种迷幻状态，看到烟斗上的动物活过来。每一种动物对吸烟者来说也许都是一种灵导或图腾。美洲土著相信，如果自己梦见过什么动物，这种动物便会成为他一生的保护神。加布里埃尔塔亚克说：

"Native people still use tobacco, it's a very sacred item. The usage of tobacco smoke, it's a way of transforming prayer and thought and community expression, and could either be smoked individually or passed around a community or a family, so that it's a way of unifying⁸ the mind and then sending up the power of the mind into the vast universe or to the creator or to the intercessors for the creator.

土著现在仍吸食烟草。烟草是十分神圣的物品。抽烟过程中产生的烟雾可以把人的祈愿和想法传达给神灵。烟斗可以单独抽，也可以在一个社群或家庭内传递着抽，他们用这种方式来统合心神, 并将念力传达给广阔的宇宙、造物主或调停人。

1 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

2 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

5 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

6 sculpted   

adj.经雕塑的

参考例句：

• a display of animals sculpted in ice 冰雕动物展
• The ladies had their hair sculpted by the leading coiffeur of the day. 女士们的发型都是当代有名的理发师做的。

7 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

8 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。