A day in the life of an ancient Peruvian shaman

古代秘鲁萨满生活中的一天

来源视频

At the temple of the fisherman,  Quexo, the village shaman,

looks out over the ocean and frowns.

It’s a still morning– unusually still,

and the lack of wind is the latest  in a series of troubling signs.

The year is 1400 BCE.

Quexo’s village sits in the dusty,  treeless desert

between the towering Andes  and Pacific Ocean.

The villagers live off the sea,  harvesting reeds,

drying them in the sun,  and using them to build fishing boats.

在渔民的神庙里， 萨满祭司凯克索

远眺大海，双眉紧锁。

这是个寂静的早晨， 异乎寻常地寂静，

而风力不足是一连串 令人不安的迹象中的最新状况。

那年是公元前 1400 年，

凯克索的村庄坐落于满是尘土的沙漠，

介于高耸的安第斯山脉和太平洋之间。

村民们以海洋为生，收集芦苇，

将它们晒干，并用于建造渔船。

Every day in the summer,

the men set out on these boats to hunt shark and other fish

while the women harvest  shellfish and sea urchins.

In winter, storms bring powerful waves, which cross the vast ocean unobstructed

to detonate on these shores.

Most years, Quexo’s village catches  more than enough fish.

But this year, the winds have died  and the fish have dwindled.

每到夏季，

男人们天天都要坐船出海， 去捕捞鲨鱼和其它鱼类，

女人们则收集贝类和海胆。

到了冬季， 风暴席卷巨浪在海面上翻涌，

冲在岸上炸出浪花。

多年以来，凯克索的村民们 能捕捞到足够多的鱼。

但是今年，风停了，鱼也少了。

Quexo has seen this pattern before:

the fish disappear,  then the violent rains arrive,

causing flash floods that dissolve  mud bricks and wash away settlements.

He needs to stop the bad weather  before the storms come—

his only hope is a special ritual  he’s been planning.

凯克索曾见过这种规律：

先是鱼类消失，再是倾盆大雨，

这会导致洪水泛滥。 溶解泥砖，继而冲毁整个村庄。

他需要在暴风雨来临前 尽快阻止这天灾的到来——

他正在准备的特殊仪式 是他唯一的希望。

Quexo spends much less time in the ocean than the other villagers.

He became a shaman after seeing  a sign in the sea one morning—

like his father and grandfather before him.

This morning,

he walks to the nearby sacred mountain  as the sun rises.

There, he gathers ceremonial cactus  and herbs like “horse tail,”

“stonebreaker," and valerian,  along with the mineral hematite.

凯克索比其他村民的 下海时间少得多。

他成为一名萨满祭司，是因为 他在某天清晨的海上看到了一种征兆——

就如同他的父亲和爷爷。

这个早上，

他于日出时分爬上了圣山。

在这里，他采集到了 仪式用的仙人掌和各类草药，

例如马尾草，断石草， 和缬草，还有赤铁矿。

Back in the village,  everyone is preparing to leave

for a religious festival  at a large temple inland.

The festival marks the beginning of what is usually the season of abundance,

but with the signs pointing to storms, Quexo isn’t feeling too celebratory.

Whole families travel to the festival, where they camp for a few days.

They’ve packed seaweed, carved bones, gourd bowls, reed mats,

and other goods to trade  in the market around the temple.

回到村子里，

所有人都准备前往 坐落于内陆的神庙以庆祝宗教节日。

这个节日标志着丰收季的开始，

但是随着风暴的迹象， 凯克苏并不感到喜悦。

所有家庭前往节日地点， 并会在那里野营几天。

他们早已将在神庙周边市场上 交易用的海带、骨雕、

瓢碗，和芦苇席等商品收拾进行李。

Quexo inspects the goods to make  sure everything is of the finest quality.

He brings the herbs he gathered  to trade for cinnabar,

a mineral that comes  from the highlands in the Andes.

He needs cinnabar for his ritual  to ward off the storms.

凯克索仔细检查这些商品， 确保所有商品都品质上乘。

他要把采集到的草药用来交换朱砂，

那是一种产自安第斯高原的矿物。

他需要朱砂来完成仪式， 继而抵抗风暴。

Around lunchtime, the sprawling  temple rises out of the desert ahead.

People have come from all along  the coast and the foothills.

The women handle trade transactions— they’re looking for cotton and ceramics.

Men aren’t usually allowed  to do the trading,

but shamans are an exception.

中午时分， 神庙在沙漠尽头渐渐浮现。

来自海边和丘陵的人们都聚集在此地，

女人们正在交易—— 她们在留心寻找棉花和陶瓷。

男性一般不允许参与买卖，

但是萨满祭司是例外。

Though Quexo is a man, during rituals  he becomes half man, half woman,

and this ambiguity makes his role  more flexible outside ceremonies too.

Quexo can’t find any cinnabar  in the market,

so he heads to the main temple,

dodging children playing in the plaza.

He puts on his ceremonial garb:  red face paint, earrings,

and a necklace of shark’s teeth and vertebrae.

尽管凯克索是个男人， 在仪式期间他被认为是半男半女，

这种模糊的性别使他能灵活地 出现于包括仪式之外的任何场合。

凯克索没在集市上找到任何朱砂，

所以他决定前往主神庙，

躲过在广场上嬉戏的儿童。

他换上仪式装束： 把脸涂上红色，并戴上耳环，

还有鲨鱼牙齿和脊椎骨做成的项链。

Inside, the ceremonies  are already underway,

and the shamans have drunk the sacred cactus drink.

Many of them are Quexo’s friends  from festivals over the years,

but he doesn’t see the mountain shamans  who would have cinnabar.

He begins to panic.

If the highland shamans don’t show up,

his only option will be to make  the long walk into the mountains.

It’s a dangerous journey  that takes five days,

precious time he doesn’t have to waste.

But perhaps he has no choice.

在神庙里，仪式正在进行，

萨满祭司们喝下了神圣的仙人掌汁水。

他们当中的很多人是这几年 凯克索在庆典中结识的朋友，

但他没有看见拥有朱砂的 高山萨满祭司。

他慌张起来，

如果高山萨满祭司没有出现，

长途跋涉到山上拜访 则是他唯一的选择。

这将会是整整五天的危险旅程，

他不能浪费宝贵的时间。

可是，他或许别无选择。

He refuses the sacred cactus  and sets off toward the mountains.

As he leaves the settlement behind, he sees a group approaching.

He recognizes them as highlanders by their llamas.

He dashes toward their shaman.

Barely pausing to say hello,  he offers him hematite, dried seaweed,

and empty shells to grind up for lime and chew with coca leaves.

In return, the other shaman  gives him the precious cinnabar.

With the key to his ritual in hand,

Quexo heads home to the temple  of the fisherman

in hopes of turning the tide.

凯克索谢绝了神圣的仙人掌汁水， 即刻动身前往山中。

在他离开他的居住地后， 他看见一群人走来。

从他们的羊驼可以认出 他们是高地人，

凯克索随即奔向他们的萨满祭司，

他几乎都没有停下先进行问候， 就立马向他兜售赤铁矿、干海带，

以及空贝壳，可以磨成石灰粉， 或和古柯叶子一起嚼。

对方的萨满给了他 珍贵的朱砂作为交换。

手中紧握着仪式所需的关键物品，

凯克索便返程回到渔民的神庙，

希望着能扭转形势。