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There is a British redcoat, right on the edge of frame,
這里有位英國士兵 就在畫面的邊上
slinking off into the distance with his Indian mistress.
正和他的印度情婦偷偷溜走
This is the British and the Indians,
這是英國人和印度人
enjoying one another's company.
互相享受著對方的陪伴
Socialising, interacting together in easy informality.
放松隨意地交流著
What there is no hint of whatsoever, in this painting,
這幅畫中沒有提到的是
is the sort of deeply distrustful and highly racialised relationship
一種極度不信任且種族間涇渭分明的關系
that was going to develop
在之后的十九世紀
between the British and the Indians later on in the 19th century.
英國人和印度人之間會變成這樣
By 1800, India was a land in transition.
十九世紀初 印度正經歷轉型
As dissent and poor leadership
當政治分歧和糟糕的統治
had eroded the Mughal dynasty's power,
削弱了莫臥兒王朝的力量
the British East India Company had wasted no time
英國東印度公司毫不浪費時間
in increasing its influence.
急速擴張它的影響力
On the throne in Delhi
德里王位上坐著的是
sat the blind puppet emperor Shah Alam,
目盲的傀儡皇帝沙.阿拉姆二世
described by one poet as merely a chessboard king.
一位詩人說他就是棋盤上的王
Yet he was heir to a lavish court,
不過他繼承了奢華的宮廷
and a centuries-old tradition of Mughal art,
以及莫臥兒幾百年來的藝術傳統
painted in vivid, jewel-like colours.
畫中有著寶石般的明艷顏色
To this court came William Fraser,
來到這宮廷的是威廉.弗雷澤
a young, Scottish representative of the East India Company.
一位東印度公司年輕的蘇格蘭代表
Fraser was not himself a painter, but a patron of art.
弗雷澤自己并不是畫家而是藝術贊助者
And though he was surrounded
雖然他身處在
by the decaying remains of a royal city in decline,
一座衰敗腐朽的皇室都城
he was also dazzled by the art, the poetry,
他還是為這里的藝術 詩歌
and above all, the people of Delhi.
尤其是德里的人而目眩神迷
The more Fraser learned about the culture around him,
隨著弗雷澤越來越熟悉周圍的文化
the more he himself changed.
他自己的變化也越來越多
He began to wear Indian clothes.
他開始穿上印度服飾
He grew his beard in an Indian style
蓄起印度風格的胡子
and he fathered children with Indian women.
和印度女子一起生養子女
He had, in the parlance of the day, gone native.
按照當時的說法 他已經成了一個本地人
Fraser was one of several company men
弗雷澤是當時公司里負責
who commissioned Indian artists
委托印度藝術家來記錄這個國家
to document the country's rich, complex culture.
豐富而復雜的文化的幾人之一
