評論
打印
the men and the women of this society
這一社會中的男人和女人
have the chance to discover the arts.
擁有了探索藝術的機會
There's music and there's dancing, there's poetry.
音樂 舞蹈 還有詩歌
But there's also a hint
但其中也暗示了
of the direction of travel in which this society is moving,
社會正在轉變的前進方向
because on the beach is a longboat being constructed,
因為沙灘上有一艘正在建造的大艇
and the hint there is the men of this society
暗示著這個時代的男人
are going to go out into the world and forge an empire.
要走出去創造一個帝國
And centuries later, in the centrepiece,
幾個世紀后 在中間
literally the centrepiece of this series of paintings,
就在這一系列畫作的中間
is The Consummation Of Empire.
是《輝煌成就》
This is mankind's greatest achievements.
它展示了人類的偉大成就
There's classical architecture, there's great civic statues.
有古典建筑 有偉大的城市雕像
This is a society with fleets of ships
這一社會有艦隊
engaged in trade and in war.
參與商業和戰爭
It's also a civilisation that has given birth to democracy.
也是在這一文明中誕生了民主
And that's not led to a flowering of Republican values,
但這并沒有走向共和理念的繁榮
that democracy has been corrupted,
托馬斯.科爾告訴我們
Thomas Cole is telling us, by the emperor,
民主被國王破壞了
the figure who's marching into his great city
就是畫中正走向他輝煌城市的人
ahead of a column of horses and elephants.
城市就在馬象列隊的前面
This is a demagogue
就是這位政治煽動家
who has sowed the seeds of the fall of his civilisation.
播種了其文明衰落的種子
The fourth painting, Destruction,
第四幅畫《毀滅》
is the moment of the fall of an empire.
描述了帝國毀滅的時刻
The city is being invaded.
城市被入侵了
We don't know who this army is,
我們不知道軍隊來自何方
they could be these forces of a stronger,
他們可能是來自更強大繁榮的
more morally virile Empire.
帝國的軍事力量
They could be the slaves of this empire,
也可能是這個帝國的奴隸
who have risen up in revolution,
揭竿而起
or they could be, this could be a civil war.
又可能是一場內戰
All of those eventualities are hinted at here.
所有的可能性都有暗示
But what is clear is that this society has brought its fall down
但很明顯 這個社會的崩壞
upon its own head, because of its own moral corruption.
是因為自身的墮落 因為道德的腐敗
What is missing from this city is nature.
這座城市中缺少的是自然
All the trees have been expunged.
所有的樹都消失了
And in the final painting, centuries have passed.
在最后一幅畫中 數個世紀過去了
This is Desolation.
這幅是《荒蕪》
From thousands of people,
從成千上萬的人
we have a scene completely empty of human beings.
到現在畫面中空無一人
Nature has recolonised.
自然再度占領大地
Course Of Empire isn't really about the classical world.
《帝國興衰》不是在描繪古代世界
These paintings aren't about Rome in the fifth century.
這些畫不是在描繪五世紀的羅馬
They're about the United States of America
它們是在說十九世紀中葉的
in the middle of the 19th.
美利堅合眾國
Because Thomas Cole was one of many figures
由于托馬斯.科爾是當時相信
who believed his society stood at the crossroads.
美國社會正處在十字路口的眾多人之一
It would either stay true to its original founding principles,
要么堅持原來的建國準則
