纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 018米诺斯跳牛飞人(3)

Archaeologists were captivated by these tales and, just over a hundred years ago, when Arthur Evans explored the island and decided to dig at Knossos, the bulls and monsters, palaces and labyrinths of Crete, familiar from Greek myth, were still very much in his mind.

迷人的传说吸引着考古学家。一百多年前，亚瑟埃文斯开始在克诺索斯进行考古发掘的时候，公牛、野兽、克里特的宫殿与迷宫在他的脑海里盘桓不去。

So although we have no idea what the people of this rich civilisation around 1700 BC actually called themselves, Evans, believing he was uncovering the world of Minos, called them quite simply Minoans, and Minoans they've remained ever since.

我们不知道这一公元前一千七百年的发达文明中人们 如何称呼自己，但亚瑟坚信自己发掘的是米诺斯的世界，便将他们称为米诺斯人，从此考古学界便沿用了这一称呼。

In his extensive excavations, Evans uncovered the remains of a vast building complex; finding pottery and jewellery, carved stone seals, ivory, gold and bronze, and colourful frescoes, often depicting bulls.

在全面挖掘的过程中，亚瑟发现了一座大型建筑的遗址，其中的陶罐、珠宝、雕刻石章、象牙、 黄金、青铜以及彩色的壁画中常有公牛的形象。

Evans was eager to reconstruct the role that the animals might have played in the island's economic and ceremonial life, so he was particularly interested in a discovery-made somewhere else on the island-of a small bronze sculpture of a bull with a figure leaping over it.

他想用古老的神话来解释这些发现，迫切地希望了解公牛在岛上的经济生活与宗教仪式中发挥的作用。因此，他对在克诺索斯不远处发掘的这尊米诺斯跳牛飞人极感兴趣。

It's now one of the highlights of the British Museum's Minoan collection.

它现在是大英博物馆克里特文明集合的一个亮点。

The bull and the leaper are both made of bronze, and together they're about six inches long and four or five inches high.

公牛和跳跃者都是铜做的,和他们一起长约6英寸,四、五英寸高。

The bull is in full gallop-legs outstretched and head raised-and the figure is leaping over it in a great arching somersault.

公牛完全疾驰,腿伸展,头,这个数字是跳跃在在一个伟大的拱起筋斗。

It's probably a young man.

这可能是一个年轻人。

He's seized the bull's horns and thrown his body right over, so that we see him at the point where his body has completely flipped.

他抓住了公牛的角,抛出他的身体就在,所以,我们看到他,他的身体已经完全翻。