纪录片《文明》 第4期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（4）

（单词翻译）

They are a design,

这是一种设计

and design announces the beginning of culture.

这一设计宣告了文明的开始

Another 40,000 years pass and in northern Spain

又过了四万年 在西班牙的北部

within a hill so uncannily conical it seems man-made

在一座好似人造般的锥形山体里

that mineral, that red ochre, has become paint.

这种矿石 红赭石 被用作了涂料

Deep inside a cave,

在洞穴深处

rudimentary marks have bloomed and multiplied, red circles.

原始符号如红色的圆圈 成倍地蔓延开来

There are no brushes, no sticks to lay on this paint,

没有画笔和树枝可以蘸上这涂料

they are all applied¹ orally

都是用嘴弄上去的

colour swilled² in the mouth with saliva³

将涂料与唾液在口中混合

and blown directly onto the rock.

然后直接喷到岩石上

And then these,

还有这些

an eruption⁴ of design not blown onto the surface, but painted.

这成片的绘画不是喷上去的 而是手绘而成

Contours, outlines, flowing streams of dots.

线条 轮廓 成串的圆点

There's a meaning here, but we don't know what it is.

肯定代表着什么 但我们并不知道

The signs of a biological compulsion to pattern,

这些迹象表明了对绘画的本能冲动

it's what we humans do,

这正是我们的天性

what we want to do,

我们想这么做

what we can't stop ourselves doing.

我们无法控制自己