刺青的歷史 - 艾迪生·安德森：英語精讀講義

Thinking of getting a tattoo? 語氣意圖

打算去刺青嗎？

Decorating your birthday suit would add another personal story 慣用語

裝飾你的「渾然天成的肌膚」會增添另一個個人故事

to a history of tattoos

融入到刺青的歷史中去

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

這段歷史至少可以追溯到8000年前。

Tattooed mummies from around the world

世界各地的刺青木乃伊

attest to the universality of body modification 片語搭配

證明了身體修飾的普遍性

across the millennia 用詞

跨越了數千年

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

以及一個事實，那就是你真的要永遠帶著它

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

如果你的文明一直沒能發明雷射去除刺青的話。

A mummy from the Chinchorro culture

一具來自新克羅文化的木乃伊

in pre-Incan Peru

發現於前印加時期的秘魯

has a mustache tattooed on his upper lip.

上唇被刺上了一撇鬍子。

Ötzi, mummified iceman of the Alps,

奧茲，阿爾卑斯山的木乃伊冰人，

has patterned charcoal tats along his spine, 用詞

沿著他的脊柱有圖案狀的木炭刺青，

behind his knee,

在他的膝蓋後面，

and around his ankles,

還有他的腳踝周圍，

which might be from an early sort of acupuncture. 文法

這可能源自一種早期的針灸。

The mummy of Amunet,

阿蒙內特的木乃伊，

a priestess in Middle Kingdom Egypt,

中王國時期埃及的一位女祭司，

features tattoos thought to symbolize 文法

她的刺青被認為象徵著

sexuality and fertility.

性與生育能力。

Even older than the mummies,

比木乃伊還要古老的是，

figurines of seemingly tattooed people

帶有類似刺青圖案的人像

and tools possibly used for tattooing

和可能用於刺青的工具

date back tens of thousands of years. 片語搭配

歷史可追溯到數萬年前。

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

就我們所知，刺青並沒有單一的歷史起源點，

but why do we English speakers call them all tattoos?

但為什麼我們說英語的人都稱它們為「tattoos」呢？

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

這個詞是英語對「tatao」的改寫，

a Polynesian word used in Tahiti,

這是一個在塔希提島使用的玻里尼西亞語詞彙，

where English Captain James Cook landed in 1769 文法

1769年，英國船長詹姆斯·庫克在此登陸

and encountered heavily tattooed men and women.

並遇到了全身刺滿圖案的男人和女人。

Stories of Cook's findings

庫克的發現故事

and the tattoos his crew acquired

及其船員們帶回來的刺青

cemented our usage of tattoo 慣用語

鞏固了我們對「tattoo」這個詞的用法

over previous words like scarring,

取代了以前的詞彙，如留疤（scarring）、

painting, and staining

繪畫（painting）和染色（staining）

and sparked a craze in Victorian English high society. 講解

並在維多利亞時代的英國上流社會引發了狂熱。

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

我們可能會認為維多利亞時代的人對這種傷風敗俗的事持保守態度，

and you can find such sentiments

你確實能找到這樣的情緒

and even bans on tattooing throughout history.

甚至在歷史上也能找到禁止刺青的禁令。

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

但是，雖然一些英國人在公開場合對刺青嗤之以鼻，

behind closed doors and away from their noses, 慣用語

但在私底下，避開別人的眼光時，

lots of people had them.

很多人都有刺青。

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

據說，維多利亞女王刺了一隻老虎和一條蟒蛇搏鬥的圖案，

and tattoos became very popular

而且刺青變得非常流行

among Cook's fellow soldiers,

在庫克的戰友們中間，

who used them to note their travels. 用詞

他們用刺青來記錄自己的航程。

You crossed the Atlantic,

你橫渡了大西洋，

get an anchor.

就可以刺一個錨。

Been south of the equator,

去過赤道以南，

time for your turtle tat. 語氣意圖

是時候刺個海龜了。

But Westerners sported tattoos 用詞

但西方人刺青

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

遠早於遇到南太平洋的薩摩亞人和毛利人。

Crusaders got the Jerusalem cross, 文化背景

十字軍戰士刺上耶路撒冷十字，

so if they died in battle, 文法

這樣如果他們戰死沙場，

they'd get a Christian burial.

他們就能得到基督教的葬禮。

Roman soldiers on Hadrian's Wall 文化背景

哈德良長城上的羅馬士兵

had military tattoos

身上有軍事刺青

and called the Picts beyond it 文化背景

並稱長城外的皮克特人為

Picts for the pictures painted on them.

「皮克特人」（Picts），因為他們身上畫著圖案。

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

人們也有一種悠久的傳統

being tattooed unwillingly.

就是被迫刺青。

Greeks and Romans tattooed slaves and mercenaries

希臘人和羅馬人給奴隸和傭兵刺青

to discourage escape and desertion. 文法

以防止他們逃跑和開小差。

Criminals in Japan were tattooed as such

日本的罪犯因此被刺青

as far back as the 7th century. 片語搭配

最早可以追溯到7世紀。

Most infamously, 表達脈絡

最臭名昭著的是，

the Nazis tattooed numbers on the chests or arms

納粹在胸部或手臂上刺上數字

of Jews and other prisoners

在猶太人和其他囚犯的身上

at the Auschwitz concentration camp

在奧斯威辛集中營

in order to identify stripped corpses. 文法

以便識別被剝光衣服的屍體。

But tattoos forced on prisoners and outcasts 表達脈絡

但是強加給囚犯和被排斥者的刺青

can be redefined

是可以被重新定義的

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

當人們開始掌控那種地位或歷史時。

Primo Levi survived Auschwitz

普里莫·萊維在奧斯威辛倖存下來

and wore short sleeves to Germany

並在戰後穿著短袖去德國

after the war

在戰後

to remind people of the crime his number represented. 文法

以提醒人們他的數字所代表的罪行。

Today, some Holocaust survivors' descendants

今天，一些大屠殺倖存者的後代

have their relatives' numbers tattooed on their arms.

將親屬的數字刺在自己的手臂上。

The Torah has rules against tattoos, 文化背景

摩西五經有反對刺青的規定，

but what if you want to make indelible 用詞

但如果你想讓它變得不可磨滅

what you feel should never be forgotten?

那些你覺得永遠不該被忘記的東西呢？

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

在那裡，刺青最終被定為非法

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

從19世紀中葉直到二戰結束後，

added decoration to their penal tattoos 用詞

他們在自己的刑罰刺青上添加了裝飾

with designs borrowed from woodblock prints, 文化背景

借用木版畫、

popular literature,

流行文學、

and mythical spiritual iconography.

以及神話精神偶像的設計。

Yakuza gangs viewed their outsider tattoos 文法

黑幫分子將他們作為局外人的刺青

as signs of lifelong loyalty and courage.

視為終身忠誠和勇氣的標誌。

After all, 表達脈絡

畢竟，

they lasted forever

它們是永遠存在的

and it really hurt to get them.

而且刺青真的很疼。

For the Maori,

對於毛利人來說，

whose tattoos weren't an accepted mainstream tradition,

由於他們的刺青並非被大眾普遍接受的傳統，

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

如果你退縮了，不敢去承受那令人痛苦的鑿刻

of your moko design, 文化背景

在刺你的「莫克」圖案時，

your unfinished tattoo marked your cowardice. 用詞

你未完成的刺青就標誌著你的怯懦。

Today,

今天，

unless you go the traditional route, 片語搭配

除非你走傳統路線，

your tattoo artist will probably use a tattoo machine

你的刺青師很可能會使用刺青機

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

這種機器基於塞繆爾·奧萊利於1891年獲得專利的發明，

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

而它本身又是基於湯瑪斯·愛迪生1876年的打孔機。

But with the incredibly broad history of tattoos 文法

但是，擁有著令人難以置信的廣闊歷史的刺青

giving you so many options,

給了你這麼多的選擇，

what are you going to get?

你打算刺個什麼呢？

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

這是對你是誰的一種粗線條表達

or who you want to appear to be.

或者是你想表現成什麼樣。

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

正如庫克船上的博物學家所說

of the tataoed Tahitians,

談到刺青的塔希提人時，

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

「每個人身體的不同部位都有這樣的印記，

according maybe to his humor 用詞

也許是根據他的性情

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

也許你特有的性情和境遇

suggest getting a symbol of cultural heritage,

會建議你刺一個文化遺產的象徵，

a sign of spirituality,

靈性的標誌，

sexual energy,

性能量，

or good old-fashioned avant-garde defiance, 用詞

或者經典的老式前衛反叛，

a reminder of a great accomplishment

一個對偉大成就的提醒

or of how you think it would look cool

或者你認為它會看起來很酷

if Hulk Hogan rode a rhino. 文化背景

比如綠巨人霍根騎著犀牛。

It's your expression,

這是你的表達，

your body,

你的身體，

so it's your call. 慣用語

所以由你決定。

Just two rules:

只有兩條規則：

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

你必須找一個不嫌棄的刺青師

to draw your idea,

來畫你的想法，

and when in doubt, 片語搭配

如果你猶豫不決，

you can never go wrong with Mom. 慣用語

刺上「媽媽」永遠不會錯。