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And once they were settled, they deliberately collected grass grains still on the stalk, and by collecting and sowing the seeds, they almost inadvertently carried out a very early kind of genetic engineering: they slowly created the world's great staple crops, wheat and barley. With this more stable life, our ancestors turned to new gods, and they made images which show and celebrate the key elements in their changing universe; food, power, worship, sex and love. And the maker of the 'lovers' sculpture was one of these people.
一旦定居下來，人類就開始刻意收集一些谷物還長在莖稈上的植物，在這樣收集與播種谷物的過程，他們幾乎不經意地進行了一種非常早期的基因工程，慢慢地培育出世界偉大的主食農作物—— 小麥和大麥。以這種更加安逸的生活為基礎，我們祖先開始了新的造神運動，他們創造出各種各樣的形象，來展示與慶賀自身周圍那日益改變的宇宙間關鍵元素：食物、權力、宗拜禮儀以及性愛。這件戀人雕塑的制造者，就是這些人類中的一員。
I am in the Manuscript Saloon at the British Museum, most people walk straight past the case that contains the statue of the lovers.
在大英博物館的手稿展廳部分，大多數人民經過這對戀人雕像的展臺時，都是視而不見般地擦身而過。
Perhaps it's because from a distance it doesn't look very much; it's a small, muted, greyish stone about the size of a clenched fist. But when you get nearer to it, you can see that it's a couple, seated, their arms and legs wrapped around each other in the closest of embraces. There are no clear facial features, but you know that these two people are looking into each other's eyes.
大概是因為遠距離點來看，這件物品挺不起眼的。一枚灰不溜湫、大概握緊的拳頭般大小的石頭而已。然而當你走近點瞧瞧，這是一對男女，盤坐著，四肢交纏到對方身上，仿佛一對不可分離的鴛鴦鳥。他們沒有明確的面部特征，但你可以知道他們肯定是彼此互望，深情款款。
I think it's one of the tenderest expressions of love that I know, comparable to the great kissing couples of Brancusi and Rodin, and I asked the contemporary British sculptor, Marc Quinn, what he thought of it:
我認為這是我心目中一種表達愛意最溫柔的方式，堪比布朗庫西與羅丹那些偉大的熱吻中情侶的作品。我就此詢問了英國當代雕塑家馬克·奎恩的看法：
'It's incredible to be in the presence of this object, which is from so long ago. To me, what's incredible about this sculpture is that when you move it and look at it in different ways, it changes completely. And so here you have this thing , from the side, you have the long shot of the embrace, you see the two figures.
“這件作品年代居然這么久遠，實在是令人難以置信。對我來說，更讓人驚嘆不已的是，當你轉動這雕塑，從不同的角度來欣賞它時，呈現在你眼前的也絕然不同。從這個角度上，你看到雙人相擁的側面。
From another side it's a penis, from the other side a vagina, from another side it is breasts - it seems to be formally mimicking the act of making love as well as representing it as well. And those different sides unfold as you handle it, as you turn this object around in your hand , so they unfold in time, which I think is another important thing about the sculpture , it's not an instant thing.
從這面看，倒像是陰莖；轉過來這面呢，像是陰道；轉過來又出現了乳房——它似乎是很正式地在模仿性愛的動作，而不僅僅是代表這種行為。隨著你轉動角度的變化，不同的場景也在你面前一一呈現。因此他們及時呈現，這是我認識這件雕塑另一個重要的一點，這不是一個一瞬間的事情。
You walk round it and the object unfolds in real time. It's almost like in a pornographic film, you have long shots, close-ups , it has a cinematic quality as you turn it, that you get all these different things and yet it's a poignant, beautiful object about the relationship between people.'
你繞著這件作品走一圈，它的眾多場景似乎是實時上演，幾乎像在觀看一部色情影片，長鏡頭、特寫鏡頭——這種幾乎接近電影質量給予你的是豐富的感受；這件美麗與感染力強烈的作品描述了人與人的關系。”
