穿越时空双语听读：1940年的今天，距今1.7万年的洞穴壁画被发现

1940 - The Lascaux paintings were discovered in France. The cave paintings were 17,000 years old and were some of the best examples of art from the Paleolithic period.

1940年——拉斯科洞穴壁画在法国被发现。这些洞穴壁画距今已有1.7万年历史，是旧石器时代艺术的典范之一。

Late summer, 1940. All eyes were fixed on the dramatic events that were unfolding. And yet, an archaeological discovery in Dordogne would, for a brief moment, attract the world's attention.

1940年夏末，所有人的目光都聚焦在正在发生的戏剧性事件上。然而，多尔多涅省的一项考古发现，却在一瞬间吸引了全世界的目光。

Halfway up the hill that rises above the town of Montignac was a foxes' den, the possible entrance to an underground passageway that, according to local legend, led to the Lascaux manor. A young apprentice mechanic named Marcel Ravidat made the first attempt to explore this opening, but had to put off the attempt for lack of the appropriate tools.

在蒙蒂尼亚克镇上方的半山腰上有一个狐狸窝，根据当地传说，它可能是通往拉斯科庄园的地下通道的入口。一位名叫马塞尔·拉维达特的年轻机械学徒首次尝试探索这个入口，但由于缺乏合适的工具而不得不推迟尝试。

Four days later, on 12 September, he returned with three other boys from the village, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas. They enlarged the hole and Marcel slipped down into a small vertical shaft. He landed on a cone of scree and slid all the way to the bottom. His three friends joined him. By the light of a hastily constructed lamp, they walked along a gallery some thirty meters long. As the passageway narrowed, they spied the first paintings in what is now known as the Axial Gallery. They explored every part of the cave, whose walls were covered in a fabulous bestiary, finally coming to halt before a black hole that led downwards to other parts of the cave. The next day they returned with a rope, which they uncoiled into the hole in the floor. Marcel was the first to lower himself down the eight-meter-deep shaft. There, at the base, he discovered the scene of the man confronting the bison.

四天后，9 月 12 日，他和村里的另外三个男孩雅克·马萨尔、乔治·阿涅尔和西蒙·科恩卡斯回来了。他们把洞扩大了，马塞尔滑进了一个小小的垂直竖井。他落在一个锥形碎石上，一直滑到底部。他的三个朋友也加入了他。借着一盏匆忙搭建的灯的光线，他们沿着一条约 30 米长的画廊行走。随着通道变窄，他们发现了现在被称为轴向画廊的第一批绘画。他们探索了洞穴的每一个角落，洞穴的墙壁上绘满了神话般的动物寓言，最终在一个通往洞穴其他部分的黑洞前停了下来。第二天，他们带着一根绳子回来了，把绳子解开，插进了洞底的洞里。马塞尔第一个顺着八米深的竖井下去。在那里，在底部，他发现了那个男人与野牛对峙的场景。

The boys told their teacher, Léon Laval, who in turn went down into the cave on 18 September. Henri Breuil, who had taken refuge in the region, was informed of the discovery. He viewed the site for the first time two days after Laval.

孩子们把这件事告诉了他们的老师莱昂·拉瓦尔（Léon Laval），后者于 9 月 18 日进入了洞穴。在该地区避难的亨利·布勒伊（Henri Breuil）也得知了这一发现。在拉瓦尔离开两天后，他第一次看到了这个地方。

Key Words

1. Paleolith: [ˈpæliəuliθ] 旧石器; 旧石器
2. bestiary: n. medieval collection of stories about animals, including fables and legends （中世纪的）动物寓言集.
3. bison: American buffalo 北美野牛, European wild ox 欧洲野牛.
4. Henri Breuil: 亨利· 步日耶，法国考古学家、人类学家、民族学家和地质学家。曾担任法国史前学会会长，是史前考古和欧洲、非洲洞穴绘画研究的权威。他为旧石器考古学的发展作出了卓越的贡献，并两度来华，指导了周口店北京猿人遗址的研究工作，被称为“中国旧石器考古的先行者”。