美国国家公共电台 NPR No Kitten Around: Museum Exhibit Celebrates 'Divine Felines'

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

All right. I'm going to fess up. I am not a cat person. But NPR's Susan Stamberg is, which is why she leapt at the opportunity to check out a new exhibition at the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery of Asian art. The exhibition is called "Divine Felines¹." It features images of big and small cats honored in ancient Egypt. Susan says the show prompts new respect for the creature curled up on the windowsill.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE ARISTOCATS")

SCATMAN CROTHERS: (As Scat Cat, singing) Everybody wants to be a cat.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE²: Ever feel fearful or brave, protective, aggressive? There's a cat for that in the religious practices of ancient Egypt. Ancient as in 2,000 to 4,000 years B.C.

Did the Egyptians worship cats?

ANTONIETTA CATANZARITI: No, they did not worship cats. What they did is to observe their behavior.

STAMBERG: Antonietta Catanzariti, the curator, says they noticed that cats, especially big ones, were expert hunters - quick, precise. Also, they were nurturing³.

CATANZARITI: They're protective against their cubs⁴ for lions, or kittens for cats, and as well that they were aggressive when it's necessary and killed if necessary.

STAMBERG: The ancient Egyptians saw those characteristics as signs of divinity. They created gods and goddesses in their image. The Sackler show, which originated at the Brooklyn Museum, has 80 examples. Now, Egyptians had lots of animal gods and goddesses.

CATANZARITI: Crocodiles or snakes, dogs, bulls. Mention it, you will have it (laughter_).

STAMBERG: But cats reigned⁵ supreme⁶, from kittens nursing in a tiny bronze sculpture to the powerful goddess Sekhmet. In stone, she has the face of a lion and the body of a woman. She protected pharoahs in war. Once, according to the myth, her father, the Sun god, sent her down to punish earthlings for rebelling against him. Instead, she almost destroyed them. Dad felt bad. Who'd be left to worship him? To stop her, he colored some beer red, like blood, and got her drunk.

CATANZARITI: She drinks. And she transformed into a cat, which is more docile⁷. It's more, like, peaceful, and human kind is saved. This is our mummy from the Smithsonian.

STAMBERG: This is your mummy? I'm sorry, it looks like a baseball bat with a nice carved top.

Forgive - disrespectful - it was once a tiny kitten. Egyptians loved cats so much they wanted to be buried with them. They also bred cats to be killed, mummified, sold and offered to a goddess. Over the years, millions of cat mummies were offered and not just to goddesses.

CATANZARITI: In the 1890s, people from England went to Egypt and they collect all these mummies. One cargo⁸ was 180,000 of them. They were used as fertilizery (ph) in the England.

STAMBERG: Lions got better treatment. They were carved out of limestone⁹ to guard grand places. Think 300 B.C. Egypt's version of the big New York Public Library. A majestic¹⁰, recumbent lion from Giza represented the king. He's resting. That's symbolic¹¹.

CATANZARITI: Just being relaxed, it associated to the king being comfortable in his role as a ruler. He knows what he's doing.

STAMBERG: Big cats and little ones representing the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. The Sackler labels them "Divine Felines." And they are. In Washington, I'm Susan Stamberg. NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EV'RYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT")

PHIL HARRIS: (Singing) Everybody wants to be a because the cat's the only cat who knows where it's at.

1 felines   

n.猫科动物( feline的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Any of several felines, such as the cheetah or the snow leopard. 这片地区是濒临灭绝的雪豹的栖息地。 来自互联网
• Search in the basket of life, you will find it, answered Felines. 它在生命的篮子里＂巴思特女神回答道。 来自互联网

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 docile   

adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的

参考例句：

• Circus monkeys are trained to be very docile and obedient.马戏团的猴子训练得服服贴贴的。
• He is a docile and well-behaved child.他是个温顺且彬彬有礼的孩子。

8 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

9 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

10 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

11 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。