Paint the House and Keep the Culture Alive刷房子是一种文化传承

Brian Cooney

⊙翻译：丁一 译

简单的黑白线条，简单的几何图案，一切似乎再简单不过了，但简单依旧体现大美，简单里藏着丰富的文化内涵——这就是南非的恩德贝勒房子引人深思之处。哪天你有机会去南非旅游，别忘了去看看这处与众不同的建筑哦。

KwaNdebele, South Africa, a hundred miles north of Johannesburg. This small town is home to the Ndebele community, where 78-year-old artist, Esther Mahlangu, has lived her entire life. Esther is a world-1)renowned artist who painted this whole2)complex by hand. And although it was only built 30 years ago, Esther wanted it to be made using classic Ndebele techniques.

Esther: (via translator) I searched hard for people who could still build in the traditional style. I drew the plans myself, and then they

Brian Cooney⊙翻译：丁一 译built it exactly the way I wanted it.

The home has been built using earth bricks, each one made by the local community in a fashion they’ve used here since the 18th century. But the most3)striking features are the colored geometric shapes set against black and white lines that decorate the entire home. These patterns contain secret4)codes known only to the Ndebele community.

Esther: This is a classic Ndebele design, and everyone here knows how the Ndebele paint their homes, so no one will be confused whether it belongs to any other people because of the paint and the design.

1) renowned [rɪˑnaʊnd] adj. 著名的，有声望的

2) complex [ˑkɒmpleks] n. 建筑群

3) striking [ˑstraɪkɪŋ] adj. 显著的，引人注目的

4) code [kəʊd] n. 代码

5) mash [mæʃ] v. 捣碎成糊状

6) dung [dʌŋ] n. （牛马等的）粪便

然而，也有其他的影像学以及临床研究得出不一定的结论。在Kim等［17］的研究中共纳入了523名急性脑卒中患者，研究进行了糖尿病相关指标的检测以及颅脑MRI检查，研究没有发现糖尿病明显增加颅内小血管病变的危险性，仅增加了大血管病变的发生率，研究推测糖尿病与LA可能没有直接的相关性。Weinger等［18］应用颅脑 MRI评价脑白质的病变程度，研究结果未能提示1型糖尿病患者与LA的发生有明确相关性的证据，推测1型糖尿病患者与T2DM患者在参与LA形成的病理生理机制上可能有所不同。

7) comprise [kəmˑpraɪz] v. 包括，构成

8) thatch [θætʃ] v. 用茅草覆盖屋顶

9) square [skweə（r）] adj. 正方形的

As is local custom, it’s the women who do the painting, and Esther painted her home herself. And the traditional way of painting here requires some unconventional methods.

Esther: We use soil, which we5)mash and then mix with water and cow6)dung. And once it’s ready, we use chicken feather to paint with.

The home7)comprises seven separate structures, five of which feature traditional woven-grass8)thatched roofs, and each structure serves a separate function. There are two guest houses. One is9)square. The other is a traditional round hut.

Next door to the kitchen is Esther’s gallery, where she proudly displays her life’s works. Her talent has brought Esther worldwide recognition as an artist and she spent many years traveling the world with her designs, promoting the Ndebele culture.

Esther: I really love my culture. We don’t want our culture to die, so I work hard to

◆ Ndebele 恩德贝勒人：南非祖鲁王国的一个支族，以勇敢善战著称，被称为“手持长矛的人”。他们主要从事畜牧业和农业，其社会仍保存部落形态，由酋长和头人进行管理。每个部落由许多一夫多妻制的大家族组成，财产的多少按拥有牲畜的头数计算。恩德贝勒人使用恩德贝勒语，多信万物有灵，少数信奉基督教。keep it alive. It’s in my heart and in my blood.

It is a time-honored custom here that when a young woman gets married, she paints her first home by hand. So now,Esther sees her unique skills are passed on to the younger generations of Ndebele women.

Esther: If you don’t teach the children about their culture, they will never understand where they come from or where they’re going. They’ll be lost if they don’t understand what makes them Ndebele, and that’s why I teach children to paint, so they can really know and understand our culture.

And Esther continues to be an inspiration.

见招拆招

So now, Esther sees her unique skills are passed on to the younger generations of Ndebele women.

See是英语动词中义项较多的一个。除了我们熟悉的“看，看见，明白，观赏（电影等），查看”等意思外，还有许多其他用法。这个句子中的see就是其中之一。See在这里是“确保，注意”的意思，指特别关注某事，力求让事情顺利进行，取得成功，如：I’ll

see that order is

kept.（我会确保秩序良好。）

参考译文

南非的夸恩德贝勒位于约翰内斯堡以北一百英里（约161公里）处。这个小镇是恩德贝勒族人的家园，78岁的艺术家埃丝特·马尚古在此生活了一辈子。埃丝特是世界知名的艺术家，这个楼群的全部粉刷工作都由她一手包办。尽管建筑只有30年历史，当时她希望用恩德贝勒的经典技法去建造。

埃丝特：（通过翻译）我苦苦寻找仍懂得传统建筑方法的人，亲自绘画蓝图，然后由他们照图建造。

房子的材料采用泥砖，全部交由本地人按照18世纪以来一直沿用的技法制成，但这个建筑群最引人注目之处是黑白线条间的多彩几何图案。这些图案藏着只有自己人才能读懂的暗码。

埃丝特：这是经典的恩德贝勒设计，这里的人都知道恩德贝勒人是如何粉刷家居的，所以不会弄错屋主人的身份，因为所用的涂料和设计各有不同。

当地习惯由妇女来粉刷房屋，所以埃丝特也是自己来粉刷这个家。按照恩德贝勒的传统，埃丝特要用不同寻常的粉刷方法。

埃丝特：我们把捣碎后的泥土与水和牛粪混和一起，准备就绪，就用鸡毛去粉刷。

这个家由七座独立房舍组成，其中五座用编织的草覆盖屋顶，体现其传统特色，每座房舍功能各不相同；另外两座用来招待客人，一座呈正方形，另一座是传统的圆屋。

厨房的隔壁是埃丝特的画廊，她在此骄傲地展示着她一生的作品。她的才华使她成为举世知名的艺术家，她曾带着设计作品环游世界多年，努力宣扬恩德贝勒文化。

埃丝特：我深爱本族的文化，我们不想自己的文化走向消亡，所以我很努力去维护它。它活在我的内心，我的血液里。

这里有个古老的习俗，年轻女性在婚后要亲手粉刷第一个家，所以现在埃丝特致力于把独特的技巧传授给新一代恩德贝勒妇女。埃丝特：如果不向儿童传授文化，他们永远无法理解自己来自何方，又将去往何处。如果他们不懂自己的传统，就会迷失方向，所以我要向下一代传授粉刷技巧，让他们真正了解我们的文化。

在这方面，埃丝特一直是其他人的榜样。