我們永遠無法回到的過去——《人類世考察報告》：英語精讀講義

Today, we're doing something different.

今天，我們要來點不一樣的。

Our friend John Green will read a story from his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed.

我們的朋友John Green將朗讀他的Podcast《The Anthropocene Reviewed》中的一個故事。

We hope you enjoy it, and we'll be back with a regular video soon.

希望大家喜歡，我們很快會恢復常規影片的更新。

So, if you've ever been or had a child,

所以，如果你曾經是個孩子或者養育過孩子，

you will likely already be familiar with hand stencils. 片語搭配

你可能對「手印」並不陌生。

They were the first figurative art made by both our kids somewhere between the ages of 2 and 3.

這是我們所有的孩子在兩到三歲之間創作的第一幅具象藝術作品。

My children spread the fingers of one hand out across a piece of paper,

我的孩子們把一隻手的手指攤開放在一張紙上，

and then with the help of a parent, traced their five fingers. 片語搭配

然後在父母的幫助下，描繪出他們五個手指的輪廓。

I remember my son's face as he lifted his hand

我還記得我兒子抬起手時的表情，

and looked absolutely shocked to see the shape of his hand still on the paper,

當他看到自己手的形狀依然留在紙上時，他顯得無比震驚，

a semi-permanent record of himself.

彷彿那是他自身的一種半永久記錄。

I am extremely happy that my children are no longer 3,

我非常慶幸我的孩子們不再是三歲的模樣，

and yet to look at their little hands from those early artworks 文法

然而，看著他們那些早期畫作中的小手，

is to be inundated with a strange soul-splitting joy. 慣用語

卻會讓人被一種奇異的、直擊靈魂的喜悅所淹沒。

Those pictures remind me that they are not just growing up, 講解

這些畫提醒我，他們不僅在長大，

but also growing away from me, running toward their own lives.

也在漸漸遠離我，奔向他們自己的人生。

But of course, that's meaning I am applying to their hand stencils, 片語搭配

但當然，這是我賦予他們手印的意義，

and that complicated relationship between art and its viewers

而藝術與觀眾之間這種複雜的關係，

is never more fraught than when we are looking deeply into the past. 文法

在我們凝視深邃的歷史時，總是顯得最為棘手。

In September of 1940, an 18-year-old mechanic named Marcel Ravidat was walking his dog Robot

1940年9月，一位名叫Marcel Ravidat的18歲技工正帶著他的狗Robot

in the countryside of southwestern France when the dog disappeared down a hole.

在法國西南部的鄉間散步，突然狗跑進了一個洞裡消失了。

Robot eventually returned,

Robot最終回來了，

but the next day Ravidat went to the spot with three friends to explore the hole.

但第二天，Ravidat帶著三個朋友來到了那個地方，探索那個洞穴。

And after quite a bit of digging, 片語搭配

在挖了很大一陣子之後，

they discovered a cave with walls covered with paintings,

他們發現了一個洞穴，牆上畫滿了壁畫，

including over 900 paintings of animals,

其中包括900多幅動物的畫像，

horses, stags, bison, and also species that are now extinct,

有馬、牡鹿、野牛，還有現在已經滅絕的物種，

including a woolly rhinoceros.

包括一頭披毛犀。

The paintings were astonishingly detailed and vivid,

這些壁畫細節驚人，栩栩如生，

with red, yellow, and black paint made from pulverized mineral pigments

所用的紅、黃、黑顏料是由粉碎的礦物色素製成的，

that were usually blown through a narrow tube, possibly a hollowed bone, onto the walls of the cave.

通常是透過一根窄管（可能是一根空心骨）吹到洞壁上的。

It would eventually be established that these artworks were at least 17,000 years old. 文法

最終人們確定，這些藝術品至少有17000年的歷史。

Two of the boys who visited the cave that day were so profoundly moved by the art they saw 文法

當天參觀洞穴的男孩中，有兩個被他們看到的藝術品深深打動，

that they camped outside the cave to protect it for over a year.

甚至在洞外紮營保護了它一年多。

After World War II, the French government took over protection of the site, 片語動詞

二戰後，法國政府接管了該遺址的保護工作，

and the cave was open to the public in 1948.

1948年，洞穴向公眾開放。

When Picasso saw the cave paintings on a visit that year,

當畢卡索在那一年參觀這些洞穴壁畫時，

he reportedly said, "We have invented nothing." 文化背景

據說他曾感嘆："我們什麼也沒發明出來。"

There are many mysteries at Lascaux.

Lascaux洞穴有許多未解之謎。

Why, for instance, 表達脈絡

比如，為什麼

are there no paintings of reindeer,

這裡沒有馴鹿的畫像？

which we know were the primary source of food for the Paleolithic humans who lived in that cave? 片語搭配

我們明明知道馴鹿是住在這個洞穴裡的舊石器時代人類的主要食物來源。

Why were they so much more focused on painting animals than painting human forms? 文法

為什麼他們更專注於畫動物，而不是畫人類的形態？

Why are certain areas of the cave filled with images,

為什麼洞裡的某些區域畫滿了圖像，

including pictures on the ceiling that required the building of scaffolding to create,

包括那些需要搭建鷹架才能在天花板上創作的壁畫，

while other areas have only a few paintings?

而其他區域卻只有寥寥幾幅？

And were the paintings spiritual? Here are our sacred animals. 表達脈絡

這些壁畫是精神層面的嗎？代表著「這些是我們的神聖動物」。

Or were they practical? Here is a guide to some of the animals that might kill you.

還是具有實用價值的？代表著「這是一份可能會殺死你的動物指南」。

Aside from the animals, 表達脈絡

除了動物，

there are nearly a thousand abstract signs and shapes we cannot interpret,

還有近一千個我們無法解讀的抽象符號和形狀，

and also several negative hand stencils, 用詞

以及一些負形手印，

as they are known by art historians.

這是藝術史學家對它們的稱呼。

These are the paintings that most interest me.

這些是我最感興趣的畫作。

They were created by pressing one hand with fingers splayed against the wall of the cave, 用詞

它們的創作方法是將一隻手指張開的手按在洞壁上，

and then blowing pigment,

然後吹噴顏料，

leaving the area around the hand painted.

從而將手周圍的區域上色。

Similar hand stencils have been found in caves around the world,

類似的負形手印在世界各地的洞穴中都有發現，

from Indonesia to Spain to Australia to the Americas to Africa.

從印尼到西班牙，從澳洲到美洲再到非洲。

We have found these memories of hands 慣用語

我們發現了這些手的記憶，

from 15 or 30 or even 40,000 years ago.

它們來自1萬5千年前、3萬年前甚至4萬年前。

These hand stencils remind us of how different life was in the distant past.

這些手印提醒著我們，遙遠過去的生命是多麼不同。

Amputations, likely from frostbite, are common in Europe,

截肢在歐洲很常見，很可能是因為凍傷，

and so you often see negative hand stencils with three or four fingers,

所以你經常能看到只有三四根手指的負形手印，

and life was short and difficult.

那時的生命短暫而艱難。

As many as a quarter of women died in childbirth. 片語搭配

多達四分之一的婦女死於分娩。

Around 50% of children died before the age of five.

約有50%的兒童在五歲前夭折。

But they also remind us that the humans of the past were as human as we are. 文法

但它們也提醒我們，過去的人類和我們一樣，也是鮮活的人。

Their hands indistinguishable from ours. 表達脈絡

他們的手與我們的手毫無二致。

These communities hunted and gathered,

這些群體以狩獵和採集為生，

and there were no large caloric surpluses. 用詞

沒有大量多餘的熱量。

So every healthy person would have had to contribute to the acquisition of food and water. 文法

因此，每一個健康的人都必須為獲取食物和水貢獻力量。

And yet somehow, they still made time to create art, 片語搭配

然而不知何故，他們仍然騰出時間來創造藝術，

almost as if art isn't optional for humans. 文法

彷彿藝術對人類來說絕非可有可無。

We see all kinds of hands stenciled on cave walls,

我們在洞壁上看到了各種各樣的手印，

children and adults, but almost always the fingers are spread,

有小孩的，也有成人的，但幾乎總是張開手指，

like my kids' hand stencils.

就像我孩子們的手印一樣。

I'm no Jungian, but it's fascinating and a little strange 語氣意圖

我不是榮格學派的人，但這確實令人著迷且有些不可思議：

that so many Paleolithic humans,

那麼多舊石器時代的人類，

who couldn't possibly have had any contact with each other, created the same paintings the same way. 文法

他們之間根本不可能有任何接觸，卻以同樣的方式創作了同樣的畫。

Paintings that we are still making.

而這些畫，我們今天依然在畫。

But then again, what the Lascaux art means to me is likely very different 文法

不過話又說回來，Lascaux藝術對我的意義，可能截然不同於

from what it meant to the people who made it.

它對創作者的意義。

Some academics theorized that the hand stencils were part of hunting rituals.

一些學者推測這些手印是狩獵儀式的一部分。

Then there's always the possibility that the hand was just a convenient model 片語搭配

此外，也不排除手只是一個方便的模型，

situated at the end of the wrist.

剛好長在手腕的末端。

To me, though, the hand stencils at Lascaux say, "I was here." 慣用語

但對我來說，Lascaux洞穴裡的手印在訴說："我曾在這裡。"

They say, "You are not new."

它們在說："你並非前無古人。"

And because they are negative prints surrounded by red pigment,

因為它們是被紅色顏料包圍的負形印記，

they also looked to me like something out of a horror movie, 慣用語

在我看來它們也有點像恐怖電影裡的場景，

like ghostly hands reaching up from some bloody background.

就像從血紅背景中伸出的幽靈之手。

They remind me that, as Alice Walker wrote,

它們讓我想起Alice Walker寫過的一句話，

"All history is current." 慣用語

"所有的歷史都是當下的。"

The Lascaux cave has been closed to the public for many years now.

Lascaux洞穴如今已對公眾關閉多年。

Too many contemporary humans breathing inside of it

太多現代人在裡面呼吸

led to the growth of mold and lichens, which has damaged some of the art. 片語搭配

導致了黴菌和地衣的生長，破壞了一部分藝術品。

Just the act of looking at something can ruin it, I guess. 文法

我想，僅僅是「注視」這個行為本身，就能毀掉一件東西。

But tourists can still visit an imitation cave called Lascaux II,

但遊客仍然可以參觀一個名為Lascaux II的仿製洞穴，

in which the artwork has been meticulously recreated.

裡面的藝術品被精心復刻了出來。

Humans making fake cave art to save real cave art

人類製造假洞穴藝術來拯救真洞穴藝術，

may feel like peak Anthropocene behavior, 用詞

感覺可能像是人類世的巔峰行為，

but I have to confess that even though I am a jaded and cynical semi-professional reviewer of human activity, 語氣意圖

但我必須承認，儘管我作為一個麻木而憤世嫉俗的人類活動半專業評論員，

I actually find it overwhelmingly hopeful 文法

我其實從中感受到了壓倒性的希望：

that four teenagers and a dog named Robot discovered a cave with 17,000-year-old handprints,

四個青少年和一隻名叫Robot的狗，發現了一個有著一萬七千年前手印的洞穴，

That the cave was so overwhelmingly beautiful 文法

這個洞穴美得如此震撼人心，

that two of those teenagers devoted themselves to its protection.

以至於其中兩名少年全身心地投入到對它的保護中。

And that when we humans became a danger to that caves' beauty, 片語搭配

而當我們人類成為了威脅洞穴之美的存在時，

we agreed to stop going.

我們同意不再涉足。

Lascaux is there. You cannot visit.

Lascaux就在那裡。你無法參觀。

You can go to the fake cave we've built and see nearly identical hand stencils,

你可以去我們建造的假洞穴，看幾乎一模一樣的手印，

but you will know this is not the thing itself, but a shadow of it. 慣用語

但你會知道這不是真實的事物本身，而是它的影子。

This is a handprint, but not a hand. 表達脈絡

這是一個手印，而不是一隻手。

This is a memory that you cannot return to. 慣用語

這是一段你永遠無法重返的記憶。

All of which makes the cave very much like the past it represents. 表達脈絡

這一切使得洞穴非常像它所代表的過去。

We hope you enjoyed this video, even if it was different.

我們希望你喜歡這支影片，即使它風格迥異。

Check out John Green's podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed,

去看看John Green的Podcast《The Anthropocene Reviewed》吧，

where he poetically reviews the human world we live in.

在那裡他充滿詩意地評論我們所生活的人類世界。

John is a good friend of Kurzgesagt.

John是Kurzgesagt的好朋友。

In fact, without his channel Crash Course, 文法

事實上，如果沒有他的頻道Crash Course，

that he and his brother Hank started years ago, Kurzgesagt would not exist,

那個多年前他和弟弟Hank創辦的頻道，就不會有今天的Kurzgesagt，

because it was the original inspiration for what we do today.

因為那是我們今天所做之事的最初靈感來源。

And over the years, John and Hank have helped us in a multitude of ways,

這些年來，John和Hank在許多方面幫助了我們，

from advice to just being friends.

從提供建議到僅僅是做我們的朋友。

So check out The Anthropocene Reviewed or any of their many channels.

所以，去聽聽《The Anthropocene Reviewed》或看看他們的眾多頻道吧。