Daily Translation #1
在博物馆行窃比你想的要轻松
进入大英博物馆，走过罗塞塔石碑和帕特农神庙的雕塑，不要被维纳斯的胴体所诱惑，直接上楼到69号房间。这里很安静，存放着一些老物件：古希腊的陶壶，古罗马的粗制装饰品，还有一扇木质双开门，上面的铜制蜂鸣器夸耀着自己通向“古希腊和古罗马的文物”。按下门铃，却无人应答。因为在经历几次盗窃事件后，门后的文物已经远不如以前那样多了。
大英博物馆正处于危机。虽然具体的失窃文物数量尚不知晓，但博物馆方面已通知了如下事项：一些最早可追溯到公元前15世纪的文物，包括黄金首饰和宝石，处于“丢失、被盗或损坏”的状态。一名博物馆员工甚至遭受抢劫。有的人秉持着刨根问底的精神挖掘出了更多信息：据说博物馆在2021年首次察觉到了文物受盗；据说罗马浮雕宝石也在被盗文物之内。宝石虽小，事件很大。来自爱奥尼亚大学的赫里斯托斯·齐罗甲尼斯教授说道“这可能是迄今为止最恶劣的事件……没有人会想到在博物馆里能发生这种事。”该教授在联合国教科文组织领导一个调查文物走私的小组。
但与其关注丢失的文物，不如关注博物馆的管理问题。丢失一件文物可能是不幸，但丢失一堆文物就是博物馆的失职了。大英博物馆声称馆内藏品被妥善管理，并以此建立自己的声誉。而此次事件证明了事实并非如此。剑桥大学的古希腊文化名誉教授保罗·卡特利奇则认为珠宝被盗并不意味着馆内其他藏品，比如帕特农神庙的雕塑，都是不安全的。但他也说如果藏品失窃持续了一段时间的话，“为什么没有人发现？”
也就是说：藏品到底是如何丢失的？博物馆就像一座冰山，只展出少量的藏品，大部分的藏品不对外展示。大英博物馆的馆藏高达八百万件，展出的藏品只占其中的百分之一。而这百分之一的展品往往都是最具魅力和最负盛名的，比如帕特农神庙雕塑和埃及罗塞塔石碑。如果这种文物被盗肯定会被立即发现。所以偷走小小的罗马浮雕宝石无疑是“明智之举”。甚至管理员都有可能不知道这件藏品的存在。
而现在这些文物因被盗变得声名鹊起。有一些文物并非因其艺术价值而知名，而是因为它曾经被盗过。《蒙娜丽莎的微笑》在1911年被盗前除了一些艺术爱好者鲜有人知，并且当时卢浮宫方面过了26个小时才注意到它的丢失。大英博物馆比任何人都清楚这一点，因为一位前任馆长曾说过，帕特农神庙雕塑之所以能成为“西方艺术的伟大代表是因为它们被移出了帕特农神庙。”
由此看来，这一系列的盗窃案便显得十分尴尬。针对博物馆失窃也难免会有幸灾乐祸的评论。齐罗甲尼斯教授说，盗窃者“以大英博物馆之道还治其之身。”几个世纪以来，大英博物馆肆意掠夺偷盗他国文物，引发了诸多国家的不满。“现在他们自己倒成了盗窃案的受害者。”不过宝石若找回，它们也将被展出，只是这次将作为主角登场，而不是浮雕宝石上只露半张脸的配角。
Original Text:
Stealing from museums is easier than you might think
Go into the British Museum. Ignore the Rosetta Stone; don’t turn left for the Parthenon sculptures; don’t be seduced by the sumptuous naked statue of Venus. Instead, head up the stairs to Room 69. Here, it is quieter. There is the usual old stuff: Greek pots; some rude Roman decorations; and a pair of wooden double doors whose brass buzzer announces, expansively, that they lead to “greek and roman antiquities”. Press it, and no one answers. They are not likely to. Because, after a series of thefts, there are fewer antiquities behind this museum’s doors than there should be.
The British Museum is in trouble. Precisely how much is not yet clear. The museum has announced a few facts: objects dating as far back as the 15th century bc, including gold jewellery and gems, are “missing, stolen or damaged”. A staff member has been sacked. More details have, with archaeological painstakingness, been unearthed by others: it is said that the Museum first learnt of this in 2021; it is said Roman cameo gems are among the things stolen. This might sound small—the gems are tiddly. It is not. Dr Christos Tsirogiannis, who heads a unesco group on antiquities trafficking at Ionian University, says this is “probably the worst case so far…No one expects that to happen in a museum.”
This is less about pottery than principles. To lose one antiquity may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose hundreds looks as if you are a museum that cannot do its job. The museum has built its reputation—and defended its collection—by arguing that it looks after things well. This would imply that it can’t. Paul Cartledge, emeritus professor of Greek culture at Cambridge University, thinks that is overstating it: the theft of some jewels does not mean the Parthenon sculptures are unsafe. But, he says, if this was going on for some time, “How the hell was it not noticed?”
Equally: how the hell would it be? Museums are icebergs of antiquity, with the vast majority of their collections unseen. In the case of the British Museum’s 8m objects, only around 1% are usually on display. As with humans, museums’ “one percent” tends to be glamorous and noticeable: the Parthenon sculptures, the Rosetta Stone. Steal that, and it would be noticed immediately. Steal a tiny Roman cameo and most would be none the wiser. Other curators may not have even known they had it in the first place.
Until, that is, the theft becomes known, for filched art is fascinating. Some of the most famous exhibits acquired their fame less from artistic merit than because they were nicked. The Mona Lisa, until it was stolen in 1911, was little known except to art enthusiasts; it took 26 hours for the Louvre to notice it had gone. The British Museum knows this better than anyone: as a former curator once pointed out, the Parthenon sculptures became “this great icon of Western art because they were removed”.
Those sculptures are one reason why these thefts are so embarrassing. The sweet savour of Schadenfreude is evident in some of the comments on the thefts. The museum, says Dr Tsirogiannis, is “having a taste of their own medicine”. For centuries, it has collected objects—to the fury of other countries, which often claim such items were stolen. “Now they find themselves being…the victims of theft.” Though if the museum ever gets these gems back they could put them on display. This time, as a star appearance, not a mere cameo.
