《经济学人》双语：大英博物馆被盗，揭示了什么问题？

原文标题：
Now museum…Now you don’t
Stealing from museums is easier than you might think
As a series of thefts at the British Museum shows
博物馆里的东西不见了
大英博物馆里一系列失窃案表明

从博物馆偷东西比想象中要容易

[Paragraph 1]

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.

当你走进大英博物馆时，不要看罗塞塔石碑；不要左转去看帕特农神庙雕塑；不要被华丽的裸体维纳斯雕像所吸引。

Instead, head up the stairs to Room 69. Here, it is quieter.

相反，直接上楼梯前往 69 号展厅。这里更安静。

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”.

这里有一些常见的古文物：希腊陶器；一些简陋的罗马装饰；还有一对木质双门，门上的铜质门铃张扬地宣告，这是通往 "希腊和罗马古文物 "的大门。

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.

按一下门铃，没人应答。他们也不可能回答。因为，在经历了一系列失窃事件后，这门后的古董已经少得可怜。

[Paragraph 2]
The British Museum is in trouble. Precisely how much is not yet clear.
大英博物馆遇上了麻烦。具体的损失情况尚不清楚。

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.
博物馆已经公布了一些事实：失窃的文物最早可追溯到公元前 15 世纪，包括金首饰和宝石，“丢失、被盗或损坏”。一名工作人员已被解雇。

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.
一些人通过考古学的严谨态度挖掘出更多细节：据说博物馆在2021年首次获悉此事；据说古罗马浮雕宝石是被盗物品之一。

This might sound small—the gems are tiddly. It is not.
这听起来似乎是小事--因为宝石微不足道。其实不然。

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.”
爱奥尼亚大学的克里斯托·齐罗吉安尼斯博士是联合国教科文组织打击文物走私小组的负责人，他说，这 "可能是迄今为止最严重的案子......没想到博物馆里会发生这样的事情。"

[Paragraph 3]
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.
这并不仅仅与陶器有关，更关乎原则。丢失一件文物可以看作是不幸；弄丢数百件文物就说明博物馆失职。

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.
为挽回名誉，该博物馆称认真严肃地对待所保管物品的安保工作。这也暗示着它无能为力。

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.
剑桥大学希腊文化名誉教授保罗·卡特利奇认为这种说法有些言过其实：一些珠宝失窃并不意味着帕台农神庙雕塑不安全。

But, he says, if this was going on for some time, “How the hell was it not noticed?”
但他还说，如果这种情况已经持续了一段时间，"怎么会没人注意到呢？

[Paragraph 4]
Equally: how the hell would it be?
同样，这到底是怎么回事呢？

Museums are icebergs of antiquity, with the vast majority of their collections unseen.
博物馆只展示了古文物的冰山一角，绝大部分藏品都是不对外展示的。

In the case of the British Museum’s 8m objects, only around 1% are usually on display.
以大英博物馆的800万件藏品为例，通常只有约1%的文物在展览中展出。

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.
与人类一样，博物馆“1%”的文物是光彩夺目的：帕台农神庙雕塑，罗塞塔石碑。如果偷这些东西，会立刻引起人们的注意。

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.
如果偷一个小小的罗马浮雕，大多数人根本察觉不到。一些馆长甚至都不知道这个东西的存在。

[Paragraph 5]
Until, that is, the theft becomes known, for filched art is fascinating.
直到盗窃行为广为人知，被盗的艺术品才引人注目。

Some of the most famous exhibits acquired their fame less from artistic merit than because they were nicked.
一些最著名的展品之所以声名远播，与其说是因为艺术价值，不如说是因为它们被盗走了。

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.
《蒙娜丽莎》在1911年被盗前鲜为人知，只有艺术爱好者才知道它的存在；失窃26小时后，卢浮宫才发现它不见了。

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”.
大英博物馆对此更有体会：正如一位前馆长曾指出，帕台农神庙雕塑因为被拆而成为“西方艺术的伟大象征”。

[Paragraph 6]
Those sculptures are one reason why these thefts are so embarrassing.
这些雕塑正是这些失窃案令人尴尬的原因之一。

The sweet savour of Schadenfreude is evident in some of the comments on the thefts.
在失窃案的一些评论中，我们可以明显感受到幸灾乐祸的滋味。

The museum, says Dr Tsirogiannis, is “having a taste of their own medicine”.

齐罗贾尼斯博士说，博物馆是在 "自尝苦果"。

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.”
几个世纪以来，博物馆一直在收集文物，这让其他国家非常恼火，因为这些国家经常声称文物是英国偷的。“现在他们发现自己成了……被盗的受害者。”

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.
不过，如果博物馆能够找回这些珠宝，他们可以将它们展出。这一次，它们将成为主角，而不仅仅是个小配角。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量650左右）
原文出自：2023年8月26日《The Economist》Britain版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene

本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
大英博物馆The British Museum拥有264年历史，是伦敦的主要旅游景点之一，馆内藏品超过800万件，每年有超过600万人参观。因为拒绝世界各地要求归还大英帝国时期掠夺的历史文物，大英博物馆曾一度引发争议。这些文物中最著名的包括雅典帕特农神庙雕塑，希腊政府曾多次要求大英博物馆归还。

罗塞塔石碑Rosetta Stone是一种著名的古埃及石碑，由底比斯（现今的埃及）发现于1799年。它被认为是解开古埃及象形文字的关键，也有助于研究其他已经失传的古代语言。罗塞塔石碑上刻有同一句话的三种脚本：古埃及象形文字、古埃及草书和古希腊文。这使得学者有可能解读和理解古埃及象形文字的含义，并且揭示了这种文字与古希腊文之间的关系。
【重点句子】（3个）
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.
这并不仅仅与陶器有关，更关乎原则。丢失 一件文物可以看作是不幸；弄丢数百件文物就说明博物馆失职。

Museums are icebergs of antiquity, with the vast majority of their collections unseen.
博物馆只展示了古文物的冰山一角，绝大部分藏品都是不对外展示的。

Some of the most famous exhibits acquired their fame less from artistic merit than because they were nicked.
一些最著名的展品之所以声名远播，与其说是因为艺术价值，不如说是因为它们被盗走了。