纪录片《文明》 第11期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（11）

So powerfully elemental they seemed to speak directly

这些元素是如此醒目 现代艺术家们

to modern artists when they first saw them.

第一眼见到它们 就读懂了其中的含义

The most self-consciously modern of them all, Picasso,

其中最具有现代意识的那位 毕加索

told a friend that no sculptor¹ had ever bettered

曾告诉一个朋友 没有雕塑家可以超越

the Palaeolithic carvers.

旧石器时代的雕刻家们

He bought a copy of this one, Venus of Lespugue,

他购买了这尊《莱斯皮盖的维纳斯》的一个复制品

and kept it in his studio all his life.

并终生把它保存在画室中

Was he touched by its archaic² spirituality?

他是被它古老的灵性所触动了吗

No.

不是

He was earthly and worldly,

他是一个凡俗之人

but he felt a deep communion with the makers³ of a physical art.

却与这艺术品的制作者有着深深的共鸣

And there were traces of that communion elsewhere in his work.

这一共鸣在他的作品里也有迹可循

Despite rumours⁴, there's no direct evidence

虽然并未有证据证实

that Picasso ever visited the painted caves of Altamira

但据称毕加索曾去过阿尔塔米拉洞

or saw in person the extraordinary painted bison

并亲眼见过岩洞里

that those caves contained.

非凡的野牛壁画

1 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

2 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。