纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 054度母雕像(5)

（单词翻译）

Tara probably stood inside a temple, and there must have been a matching sculpture of her male consort¹, Avalokiteshvara, nearby, but his image has not survived.

这尊度母像当年很可能立于某座庙宇内，起初身边一定还有与她相配的男身观世音雕像，但后者没有被保存下来。

Strictly² speaking Tara was not made to be worshipped, but to be a focus for meditation³ on the qualities she embodies-compassion⁴ and the power to save. She would have been seen essentially⁵ by priests or monks⁶ from a privileged elite-so in fact relatively⁷ few would actually have been able to meditate⁸ on her image.

严格说来，度母像并非用于信徒膜拜，而是为了让人对它所代表的慈悲为怀与法力无边进行冥想。她的金身基本只有上层社会的僧侣才能看到，因此只有极少数人能对着她的形象冥思。

Standing⁹ in front of her now, in the gallery, we can. And knowing something of what she meant to believers, we can better understand why her makers¹⁰ chose to represent her as they did. Her beauty and her serenity¹¹ speak of her endless compassion. Her right hand, held down by her side, is not at rest, but in the position known as 'varada mudra', the gesture of granting a wish-a clear demonstration¹² of her prime role as the generous helper of the faithful. Her gilded¹³ skin, and the jewels that once adorned¹⁴ her, make it clear that this statue of Tara can only have been commissioned by people in command of enormous wealth.

在了解了她所代表的意义之后，站在她面前，我们就更能体会制作者何以选择这样的方式来表现她的形象。她的美丽与宁静象征着无尽的慈悲。她垂在体侧的右手臂并不是放松的，而是作予愿印，表明她作为信徒的慷慨救助者的首要身份。镀金与装饰用的珠宝证明这尊度母一定是富人委托制造的。

It's very rare for a statue of this scale to survive; indeed, we know of no other example of this size from medieval Sri Lanka. At this date most large bronze statues would be cast by pouring the metal around a hollow clay core. Tara by contrast is bronze through and through, so whoever made her must have had a great deal of bronze, rare skill and a lot of experience of this very challenging kind of work. Tara is not just beautiful; she is a remarkable¹⁵ technical achievement, and she must have been very, very expensive.

如此大型的雕像鲜少能逃脱被重铸的命运,至少在中世纪斯里兰卡的文物中，我们没有找到任何一个类似的雕像。现存同一时期的大型雕像多数是将金属浇铸在泥坯上制成，是空心的，而这一尊与其形成鲜明对比，是实心的。不管制作者是谁，必然掌握了大量的青铜、稀世的工艺及丰富的铸造高难度雕像的经验。它不只是一件美丽的艺术品，也是高超工艺的集大成者，当年必定价值连城。