纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 054度母雕像(7)

Nira Wickramasinghe, professor in history and international relations, spoke¹ to us about what this long-established pattern means for the region today:

荷兰莱顿大学从事历史与国际关系研究的尼拉维克拉马辛格教授为我们阐释了历史上这种持久的关系模式对当今该地区形势的影响：

"I think in many ways you can speak of a south Indian/Sri Lankan region with many points in common, culturally and politically as well. There has also been a two-way flow of influences in art, religion, technology. Of course it has not always been a peaceful relationship; there have also been invasions and wars between southern states and chiefdoms in Sri Lanka.

印度南部与斯里兰卡地区在文化、政治等诸多方面都相通,而艺术、宗教与技术上的影响也一直是双向的。当然，它们的关系并非一直是和平的，历史上印度南方各邦与斯里兰卡诸酋邦之间的侵略和战争也时有发生。

"It's really trade that brought people from India to Sri Lanka. You have certain communities which are really fairly recent migrants from south India, so they would have come in the ninth to thirteenth centuries. In fact, they merged² their south Indian identity with a more Sri Lankan identity, and what is curious now is that many of these are the most ardent³ Sinhala nationalists. I mean if you look at their roots, their roots are very much in south India."

是贸易吸引人从印度去往斯里兰卡。斯里兰卡有许多社区是在9世纪至13世纪之间由印度南方的新移民所建。他们慢慢地让自己的南印度身份与斯里兰卡身份相融合，并且更认同后者。有意思的是，这些人的后裔如今反而成了最激进的僧伽罗民族主义者。

And so it goes on, 1,200 years later, the complex working-out of the relationships that we see embodied⁴ in Tara, between Sinhalese and Tamil, between Sri Lanka and south India, between Buddhists⁵ and Hindus. Relationships that in Sri Lanka have tragically⁶ included the recent long and bloody⁷ civil war.

这种错综复杂的关系早在度母形象上便有所呈现，僧伽罗人与泰米尔人、 斯里兰卡与印度南部、佛教徒与印度教徒，彼此间的影响在1200年后的今天依然延续。悲剧的是，在斯里兰卡，这一关系也导致了现代历时甚久的血腥内战。

But Tara may in fact have survived thanks to earlier warfare⁸. Marks on the surface of the sculpture suggest that she was buried at some point, perhaps to avoid her being looted by invaders⁹ and then melted down.

但这尊度母雕像的幸存也多亏了战争。佛像表面的痕迹说明它曾被埋在地下，也许就是为了躲过人侵者的洗劫、逃脱被重铸的下场。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

3 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

4 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》

5 Buddhists   

n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句

6 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

7 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

8 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

9 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。