評論
打印
There's a criminal who has been arrested here.
這里有一個被逮捕的黑人罪犯
There are the boatmen, who are ferrying people across the river,
還有黑人船夫 正在渡人過河
but there's also figures like this, this is a black knight,
但其中還有這樣的人物 這是一位黑人騎士
a man of the Order of Santiago,
他是圣地牙哥騎士團的一員
on his horse, with his sword and his cloak and all his finery.
他騎著馬 配著劍 衣著華麗身掛披風
And it's a snapshot of a world that we've forgotten about -
這是一張快照 拍下了我們早已遺忘的世界
Lisbon at the centre of a global empire,
那時里斯本還是世界的中心
Lisbon at the centre of the first age of globalisation.
里斯本處在第一次全球化進程的中心
This is art that captures a moment
這幅畫捕捉到的瞬間
when the balance of military and economic power
正好是軍事和經濟力量相互制衡
meant that Europeans and Africans
這意味著歐洲人和非洲人
encountered one another on terms of relative equality.
在某種程度上達到了相對的平等
Yet other art plundered
然而僅僅幾十年后
from Central America just decades later
從中美洲掠奪的其他藝術品
tells of a very different encounter.
卻反映出截然不同的遭遇
An encounter that would prove to be
這一遭遇后來被證實
one of the most cataclysmic events in all human history.
是全人類歷史上最具災難性的事件
On the eve of Spain's arrival,
在西班牙人到來前夕
Central America was dominated by the Aztecs.
中美洲由阿茲特克民族所統治著
They had their own writing system
他們有自己的書寫系統
and a sophisticated cyclical calendar.
并有一套成熟的周期歷法
Their complex beliefs demanded sacrificial victims in vast numbers
他們復雜的信仰需要獻祭大量的殉葬者
to appease the gods and ensure the continuation of life.
以上撫諸神 下安黎民 確保繁衍
The Aztecs also honoured their gods
阿茲特克族也會用
and their rulers in exquisite artefacts fashioned from gold.
精致的金制工藝品敬獻神靈 進獻統治者
Gold that would prove an irresistible temptation
對第一批到來的歐洲人來說
to the first European arrivals.
金子的誘惑難以抵抗
On 8 November 1519,
在1519年11月8日
one of the most momentous meetings in all of history
全人類史上最重大的一次會議
took place in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
在阿茲特克的首都特諾奇提特蘭舉行
