纹身的历史 - 艾迪生·安德森：英语精读讲义

Thinking of getting a tattoo? 語氣意圖

打算去文个身吗？

Decorating your birthday suit would add another personal story 習語

装饰你的“原生态身体”会增添另一个个人故事

to a history of tattoos

融入到文身的历史中去

stretching back at least 8,000 years. 短語搭配

这段历史至少可以追溯到8000年前。

Tattooed mummies from around the world

世界各地的文身木乃伊

attest to the universality of body modification 短語搭配

证明了身体修饰的普遍性

across the millennia 用詞

跨越了数千年

and to the fact that you really were stuck with it forever 短語搭配

以及一个事实，那就是你真的要永远带着它

if your civilization never got around to inventing laser removal. 短語動詞

如果你的文明一直没能发明激光洗文身的话。

A mummy from the Chinchorro culture

一具来自新克罗文化的木乃伊

in pre-Incan Peru

发现于前印加时期的秘鲁

has a mustache tattooed on his upper lip.

上唇被文上了一撇胡子。

Ötzi, mummified iceman of the Alps,

奥兹，阿尔卑斯山的木乃伊冰人，

has patterned charcoal tats along his spine, 用詞

沿着他的脊柱有图案状的木炭文身，

behind his knee,

在他的膝盖后面，

and around his ankles,

还有他的脚踝周围，

which might be from an early sort of acupuncture. 語法

这可能源自一种早期的针灸。

The mummy of Amunet,

阿蒙内特的木乃伊，

a priestess in Middle Kingdom Egypt,

中王国时期埃及的一位女祭司，

features tattoos thought to symbolize 語法

她的文身被认为象征着

sexuality and fertility.

性与生育能力。

Even older than the mummies,

比木乃伊还要古老的是，

figurines of seemingly tattooed people

带有类似文身图案的人像

and tools possibly used for tattooing

和可能用于文身的工具

date back tens of thousands of years. 短語搭配

历史可追溯到数万年前。

Tattoos don't have one historical origin point that we know of, 短語搭配

就我们所知，文身并没有单一的历史起源点，

but why do we English speakers call them all tattoos?

但为什么我们说英语的人都称它们为“tattoos”呢？

The word is an Anglophonic modification of "tatao," 用詞

这个词是英语对“tatao”的改写，

a Polynesian word used in Tahiti,

这是一个在塔希提岛使用的波利尼西亚语词汇，

where English Captain James Cook landed in 1769 語法

1769年，英国船长詹姆斯·库克在此登陆

and encountered heavily tattooed men and women.

并遇到了全身文满图案的男人和女人。

Stories of Cook's findings

库克的发现故事

and the tattoos his crew acquired

及其船员们带回来的文身

cemented our usage of tattoo 習語

巩固了我们对“tattoo”这个词的用法

over previous words like scarring,

取代了以前的词汇，如留疤（scarring）、

painting, and staining

绘画（painting）和染色（staining）

and sparked a craze in Victorian English high society. 講解

并在维多利亚时代的英国上流社会引发了狂热。

We might think of Victorians having Victorian attitudes about such a risqué thing, 用詞

我们可能会认为维多利亚时代的人对这种伤风败俗的事持保守态度，

and you can find such sentiments

你确实能找到这样的情绪

and even bans on tattooing throughout history.

甚至在历史上也能找到禁止文身的禁令。

But while publicly some Brits looked down their noses at tattoos, 習語

但是，虽然一些英国人在公开场合对文身嗤之以鼻，

behind closed doors and away from their noses, 習語

但在私底下，避开别人的眼光时，

lots of people had them.

很多人都有文身。

Reputedly, Queen Victoria had a tiger fighting a python, 用詞

据说，维多利亚女王文了一只老虎和一条蟒蛇搏斗的图案，

and tattoos became very popular

而且文身变得非常流行

among Cook's fellow soldiers,

在库克的战友们中间，

who used them to note their travels. 用詞

他们用文身来记录自己的航程。

You crossed the Atlantic,

你横渡了大西洋，

get an anchor.

就可以文一个锚。

Been south of the equator,

去过赤道以南，

time for your turtle tat. 語氣意圖

是时候文个海龟了。

But Westerners sported tattoos 用詞

但西方人文身

long before meeting the Samoans and Maori of the South Pacific.

远早于遇到南太平洋的萨摩亚人和毛利人。

Crusaders got the Jerusalem cross, 文化背景

十字军战士文上耶路撒冷十字，

so if they died in battle, 語法

这样如果他们战死沙场，

they'd get a Christian burial.

他们就能得到基督教的葬礼。

Roman soldiers on Hadrian's Wall 文化背景

哈德良长城上的罗马士兵

had military tattoos

身上有军事文身

and called the Picts beyond it 文化背景

并称长城外的皮克特人为

Picts for the pictures painted on them.

“皮克特人”（Picts），因为他们身上画着图案。

There's also a long tradition of people 表達脈絡

人们也有一种悠久的传统

being tattooed unwillingly.

就是被迫文身。

Greeks and Romans tattooed slaves and mercenaries

希腊人和罗马人给奴隶和雇佣兵文身

to discourage escape and desertion. 語法

以防止他们逃跑和开小差。

Criminals in Japan were tattooed as such

日本的罪犯因此被文身

as far back as the 7th century. 短語搭配

最早可以追溯到7世纪。

Most infamously, 表達脈絡

最臭名昭著的是，

the Nazis tattooed numbers on the chests or arms

纳粹在胸部或手臂上文上数字

of Jews and other prisoners

在犹太人和其他囚犯的身上

at the Auschwitz concentration camp

在奥斯威辛集中营

in order to identify stripped corpses. 語法

以便识别被剥光衣服的尸体。

But tattoos forced on prisoners and outcasts 表達脈絡

但是强加给囚犯和被排斥者的文身

can be redefined

是可以被重新定义的

as people take ownership of that status or history. 短語搭配

当人们开始掌控那种地位或历史时。

Primo Levi survived Auschwitz

普里莫·莱维在奥斯威辛幸存下来

and wore short sleeves to Germany

并在战后穿着短袖去德国

after the war

在战后

to remind people of the crime his number represented. 語法

以提醒人们他的数字所代表的罪行。

Today, some Holocaust survivors' descendants

今天，一些大屠杀幸存者的后代

have their relatives' numbers tattooed on their arms.

将亲属的数字文在自己的手臂上。

The Torah has rules against tattoos, 文化背景

摩西五经有反对文身的规定，

but what if you want to make indelible 用詞

但如果你想让它变得不可磨灭

what you feel should never be forgotten?

那些你觉得永远不该被忘记的东西呢？

And those criminals and outcasts of Japan,

而日本的那些罪犯和被排斥的人，

where tattooing was eventually outlawed 用詞

在那里，文身最终被定为非法

from the mid-19th century to just after World War II,

从19世纪中叶直到二战结束后，

added decoration to their penal tattoos 用詞

他们在自己的刑罚文身上添加了装饰

with designs borrowed from woodblock prints, 文化背景

借用木版画、

popular literature,

流行文学、

and mythical spiritual iconography.

以及神话精神偶像的设计。

Yakuza gangs viewed their outsider tattoos 語法

黑帮分子将他们作为局外人的文身

as signs of lifelong loyalty and courage.

视为终身忠诚和勇气的标志。

After all, 表達脈絡

毕竟，

they lasted forever

它们是永远存在的

and it really hurt to get them.

而且文身确实很疼。

For the Maori,

对于毛利人来说，

whose tattoos weren't an accepted mainstream tradition,

由于他们的文身并非被大众普遍接受的传统，

if you shied away from the excruciating chiseling in 短語動詞

如果你退缩了，不敢去承受那令人痛苦的凿刻

of your moko design, 文化背景

在文你的“莫克”图案时，

your unfinished tattoo marked your cowardice. 用詞

你未完成的文身就标志着你的怯懦。

Today,

今天，

unless you go the traditional route, 短語搭配

除非你走传统路线，

your tattoo artist will probably use a tattoo machine

你的文身师很可能会使用文身机

based on the one patented by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891,

这种机器基于塞缪尔·奥莱利于1891年获得专利的发明，

itself based on Thomas Edison's stencil machine from 1876. 語法

而它本身又是基于托马斯·爱迪生1876年的打孔机。

But with the incredibly broad history of tattoos 語法

但是，拥有着令人难以置信的广阔历史的文身

giving you so many options,

给了你这么多的选择，

what are you going to get?

你打算文个什么呢？

This is a bold-lined expression of who you are 表達脈絡

这是对你是谁的一种粗线条表达

or who you want to appear to be.

或者是你想表现成什么样。

As the naturalist aboard Cook's ship said 表達脈絡

正如库克船上的博物学家所说

of the tataoed Tahitians,

谈到文身的塔希提人时，

"Everyone is marked thus in different parts of his body,

“每个人身体的不同部位都有这样的印记，

according maybe to his humor 用詞

也许是根据他的性情

or different circumstances of his life."

或者他生活的不同境遇。”

Maybe your particular humor and circumstances 表達脈絡

也许你特有的性情和境遇

suggest getting a symbol of cultural heritage,

会建议你文一个文化遗产的象征，

a sign of spirituality,

灵性的标志，

sexual energy,

性能量，

or good old-fashioned avant-garde defiance, 用詞

或者经典的老式前卫反叛，

a reminder of a great accomplishment

一个对伟大成就的提醒

or of how you think it would look cool

或者你认为它会看起来很酷

if Hulk Hogan rode a rhino. 文化背景

比如绿巨人霍根骑着犀牛。

It's your expression,

这是你的表达，

your body,

你的身体，

so it's your call. 習語

所以由你决定。

Just two rules:

只有两条规则：

you have to find a tattooist who won't be ashamed 語氣意圖

你必须找一个不嫌弃的文身师

to draw your idea,

来画你的想法，

and when in doubt, 短語搭配

如果你犹豫不决，

you can never go wrong with Mom. 習語

文上“妈妈”永远不会错。