纪录片《文明》 第183期 进步崇拜（15）

There is melancholy¹ and loss here.

还有愁思与迷失

Gauguin's paintings of the Tahitians were, in one sense,an honest account of the condition in which he found them...

从某种意义上说 高更的塔希提人绘画是对他看到的当地人生存情况的真实写照

A people in the latter stages of contamination by the civilising mission,a people consumed by the European society Gauguin thought he had left behind.

他们处于被现代文明同化的后期阶段 高更以为自己逃离的那个欧洲社会 已将其吞噬殆尽

We should not forget that Gauguin was a vocal² critic of French colonialism in Tahiti,

我们不要忘记高更曾直言不讳地批评了 法国对塔希提的殖民

and that one particular aspect of the way he saw himself made his view of civilisation³ more complex than he's normally given credit for.

而且他描绘自己的独特视角 使他对文明的评判 比人们通常认为的更加错综复杂

Like most Europeans, he saw the world as being divided between those who lived civilised, somewhat artificial lives and those who had remained in a natural, savage⁴ state.

和大多数欧洲人一样 他把世界上的人划分为 生活在被人为干预过的 文明社会中的人 和那些生活在自然 蛮荒状态下的人

But he believed he himself was mixed race -French-Peruvian but also partly Incan.

但他相信自己是混血 是有印加血统的法裔秘鲁人

And those two states, the natural and the savage,existed within him, literally⁵ in his blood.

而那两种状态 自然与野蛮在他身上共存 实打实地在他的血液里

So in Tahiti he wasn't just looking for a lost island paradise,he was searching for a lost part of himself.

他不仅是在塔希提寻找一个遗落天堂 他同时也在寻找自身缺失的一部分

But Gauguin's last great work suggests that his search for identity and meaning was never resolved.

但高更的最后一幅伟大作品指出 他对自我和人生意义的探索从未有结果

On a vast canvas, a row of Polynesian women represent the universal cycle of life,from birth to old age.

巨大的画布上 这一排波利尼西亚妇女代表着生命周期的循环往复 出生到迟暮

Death and the beyond are represented by a blue idol⁶.

蓝色的神灵代表着死亡和来世

It's a Gauguin invention,though based on his fascination⁷ with the myths of the lost Tahitian past.

这是高更的创造 尽管是建立在他对于 遗失的塔希提历史的迷恋之上

In trying to find an antidote⁸ to modern life,Gauguin had turned to the art and culture of a civilisation most Europeans would have labelled primitive⁹.

为了找到现代生活的解药 高更将目光转向了很多欧洲人 认为是原始文明的艺术和文化

Yet, in the end, perhaps he concluded that there are no answers to the universal questions about the meaning of life and death.

而最终 他得出的结论似乎是有关生死意义的普遍命题根本没有答案

1 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。

2 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

3 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

4 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

7 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

8 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

9 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。