一款電子遊戲是如何賦予南極洲一面旗幟的：英語精讀講義

Antarctica is Earth's coolest continent and most complicatedly claimed continent. 慣用語

南極洲是地球上最酷寒、主權聲索也最複雜的大陸。

Yet, sadly has no official flag to unite her.

然而令人遺憾的是，她並沒有一面官方旗幟來團結這片土地。

Nay, you might say, there's this.

你可能會反駁說，不，明明有這面旗啊。

And that flag is Antarctica-associated,

那面旗確實與南極洲有關，

but it's not official official and comes with an ownership asterisk we must attend to. 講解

但它並不是那種真正的官方旗幟，而且還帶有我們必須處理的版權歸屬問題。

But first, Antarctica doesn't have an official flag

但首先，南極洲沒有官方旗幟，

because she's not an official country.

是因為她不是一個正式的國家。

Yes, humans have settled,

是的，人類已經定居於此——

depending on how much you want to stretch that word, 慣用語

這取決於你對「定居」這個詞的定義有多寬鬆——

on the ice sheet with scientific outposts,

人們在冰棚上建立了科學前哨站，

but each is operated by a parent country protecting their somewhat precarious claims.

但每個哨站都由母國營運，而這些母國都在維護他們那有點站不住腳的主權聲索。

So, not really looking for a new banner to band everyone behind. 慣用語

所以，大家並沒有真的在尋找一面能將所有人團結在一起的新旗幟。

Thus, there are no Antarctic citizens to officiate anything.

因此，沒有南極洲公民來主持任何官方事務。

But, who cares?

但是，誰在乎呢？

People everywheres want to fly flags.

世界各地的人們都想揮舞旗幟。

And come on, 語氣意圖

拜託，

the continent has cried out for one right from the first in 1929

這片大陸早在1929年起就迫切需要一面旗幟了，

when an early research vessel flew a white sheet as a flag of courtesy for passing through Antarctica's waters, 文化背景

當時一艘早期的研究船在駛過南極水域時，掛起了一塊白布作為禮貌性旗幟，

even though there were naught but penguins to appreciate the gesture. 用詞

儘管除了企鵝，並沒有什麼人能欣賞這個舉動。

T’was done just for the fun of flying a flag with what the ship happened to have on hand. 講解

這樣做完全是為了好玩，拿船上剛好有的東西當作旗幟升起來。

But, since this rather literal representation of the snow-covered continent is not the most inspired design, 語氣意圖

不過，由於這種相當直白地表現「被雪覆蓋的大陸」的設計並不是最有創意的，

it didn't catch on and penguins only spotted it sporadically on subsequent ships. 片語動詞

它並沒有流行起來，後來也只有企鵝偶爾在隨後的船上瞥見它。

And it stayed that way until 1997

這種情況一直持續到1997年，

with a curious development as a company Multimedia Corporation was developing a video game,

隨著 Multimedia Corporation 公司開發的一款電子遊戲，事情有了奇妙的發展，

The 3D World Atlas. And yes, for nerdy '90s kids,

那款遊戲叫《The 3D World Atlas》。沒錯，對於90年代的阿宅孩子來說，

a digital atlas totally counted as a game.

數位地圖冊絕對算得上是遊戲。

Multi Co noticed Antarctica's flag absence and deputized a designer to draw one,

Multi Co 公司注意到南極洲沒有旗幟，於是委派了一名設計師來畫一面，

who took a cue from the UN, 慣用語

這位設計師從聯合國那裡獲得了靈感，

which on their flag views the world from atop,

聯合國的旗幟是從上方俯視地球，

so Antarctica would be the same from abottom

那麼南極洲的旗幟就可以從下方仰視地球，

and borrowed the same colors as a nod to neutrality. 慣用語

並且借用了相同的顏色以示中立。

So, it was through this game that this design debuted to young flag fans everywhere, 文法

所以，正是透過這款遊戲，這個設計向世界各地的年輕旗幟愛好者們首次亮相，

including some who would grow up to end up on Antarctica. 片語動詞

其中一些人長大後最終去了南極洲。

‘eh? and it's a great flag.

怎樣？這是一面很棒的旗幟吧。

I'm not here to FUD it. 用詞

我在這裡不是要唱衰它。

But its origin does raise some questions of copyright. 文法

但它的起源確實引發了一些關於版權的疑問。

Unlike the original white sheet,

不同於最初的那塊白布，

uncopyrightable, as it's nothing and old enough to be in the public domain anyway, 文化背景

它不受版權保護，因為那不過是塊白布，而且年代久遠，早已屬於公有領域，

not so with the '97 design. 表達脈絡

97年的那個設計就不一樣了。

And while its creator makes no claim to copyright, 片語搭配

雖然它的創作者沒有主張版權，

saying the flag is de facto public domain, 用詞

說這面旗幟實際上屬於公有領域，

but what usually happens when a company commissions content is the company controls that content's copyright. 用詞

但通常當一家公司委託製作內容時，公司就握有該內容的版權。

So, of course, on finding this out, 文法

因此，理所當然地，在發現這點後，

one might think to email Multimedia Corporation about it.

有人可能會想到寫信給 Multimedia Corporation 詢問此事。

But, they went bust 慣用語

但是，他們破產了，

and now with no one to ask,

現在無人可問，

it becomes a question of who could claim to claim the copyright. 表達脈絡

誰能聲稱自己擁有這版權就成了一個問題。

How hard could that be to find out? 語氣意圖

要查明這一點能有多難？

And in this moment, standing at the threshold of a research question that could easily cost months of my life, 慣用語

就是在這一刻，站在這個很容易耗費我人生好幾個月時間的研究問題的門檻上，

I swore to myself,

我向自己發誓，

this will be a short script,

這將是一篇簡短的稿子，

for serious this time, Gray. 用詞

這次是認真的，Gray。

So, I just let myself do a bit of basic Bing-ing. 講解

所以，我只讓自己用 Bing 稍微搜尋了一下。

Ugh, that sounds very strange to say.

呃，這話聽起來可真彆扭。

And tracked Multimedia Corporation and their un-Bing-able, name,

我順藤摸瓜尋找 Multimedia Corporation 以及他們那個在 Bing 上很難搜到的名字，

through two potential lines of ownership.

查了兩條可能的版權歸屬線索。

One through multiple corporate asset acquisitions and name changes that ended up in a Malta company that seemingly has nothing to do with video games, 慣用語

第一條線索經過了多次企業資產收購和更名，最終指向了一家似乎與電子遊戲毫無關聯的馬爾他公司，

and the other line led to EA,

另一條線索則指向了 EA，

everyone's favorite developer dedicated to the Electronic Arts,

這個大家都愛的致力於「電子藝術」的開發商，

who was the original distributor of the Atlas.

也就是《Atlas》最初的發行商。

Under what terms? 用詞

授權條款是什麼？

I didn't ask because I did not wish to open their evil eye upon any of this. 慣用語

我沒問，因為我不想引起他們邪惡的目光來關注這件事。

And doubtless, neither of these companies have heard anything about the Atlas and its flag.

毫無疑問，這兩家公司都沒有聽說過《Atlas》及其旗幟的任何消息。

So, let's all just promise to keep it that way.

所以，我們大家就保證對此保密吧。

Shall we? 語氣意圖

好嗎？

Great.

太好了。

Now, we can finally talk about what happened next. 表達脈絡

現在，我們終於可以談談接下來發生的事了。

See, in 2018,

你們看，在2018年，

a new Antarctic flag, public domain, came on the scene. 慣用語

一面全新的、屬於公有領域的南極洲旗幟登上了舞台。

It starts with the snow and ice white sheet from before,

它保留了之前代表冰雪的白色底布，

but adds above the dark skies that dominate the continent for six months a year.

但在上方加入了每年長達六個月籠罩這片大陸的暗夜天空。

A mountain in the center uplifts,

中央隆起一座山峰，

for unlike in the north, there's actual land under the ice,

因為與北極不同，南極的冰層下有真實的陸地，

and it casts a shadow to create the symbol of a compass pointing south,

山峰投下的陰影形成了一個指向南方的指南針標誌，

which, as a bonus, makes this design mirror the northernmost flag on the northernmost continent,

作為額外加分項，這個設計與最北端大陸上那面最北端的旗幟相呼應，

just with flipped color placement for flipped pole placement.

只是因極點位置顛倒而顛倒了顏色配置。

Very satisfying and unique among flags,

在眾多旗幟中，它極具辨識度且令人滿意，

it creates a 3D effect that gives just a touch of technocool, 片語搭配

它創造了一種 3D 效果，帶有一點科技酷感，

appropriate with how much tech was needed to conquer this coolest continent.

這與征服這片最冷的大陸所需的大量科技十分契合。

And it's totally not,

雖說完全不是這麼回事，

but I'm just going to call it that 語氣意圖

但我非要說，

this 3D effect is also a nod to the 3D World Atlas,

這種 3D 效果也是對《The 3D World Atlas》的一種致敬，

connecting this flag to both of its forebears.

將這面旗幟與其兩代前身聯繫在了一起。

Perfect.

完美。

I could talk about flags all day,

關於旗幟我能聊上一整天，

but I swore to keep it short.

但我發誓過要長話短說。

So, I just wanted to let everyone know that when you spot this rare flag,

所以，我只是想讓大家知道，當你看到這面罕見的旗幟時，

it is of Antarctica.

它是屬於南極洲的。

So, that for anyone watching this video there,

這樣，對於正在那裡看這部影片的人來說，

when you see your flag fly high,

當你們看到你們的旗幟高高飄揚時，

to know that others know how awesome it is and have that brighten a day out of six months of dark.

就能知道別人也懂它有多酷，希望能為這六個月的極夜帶來一絲光明。