History vs. Christopher Columbus - Alex Gendler

历史vs. 克里斯托弗·哥伦布 - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Qin Yu 校对人员: Cissy Yun

Many people in the United States and Latin America

很多生活在美国和拉丁美洲的人

have grown up celebrating the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage,

是庆祝着克里斯托弗·哥伦布航海的周年纪念日长大的

but was he an intrepid explorer who brought two worlds together

但是他到底是一位使两个世界结合在一起的无畏探险家

or a ruthless exploiter who brought colonialism and slavery?

还是一个带来殖民主义和奴隶制的无情的剥削者？

And did he even discover America at all?

而且他真的发现了美洲吗？

It's time to put Columbus on the stand in History vs. Christopher Columbus.

该是让历史人物哥伦布和克里斯多弗·哥伦布出庭受审的时候了。

"Order, order in the court.

安静，请保持法庭中的秩序

Wait, am I even supposed to be at work today?"

等一下，我今天真的需要工作吗?

Cough

（咳嗽）

"Yes, your Honor.

是的，法官大人

From 1792, Columbus Day was celebrated in many parts of the United States

自1792年起，美国的很多地区就开始在十月十二日

on October 12th, the actual anniversary date.

庆祝哥伦布发现美洲大陆的日子，“哥伦布周年纪念日”

But although it was declared an official holiday in 1934,

虽然这一天在1934年被宣布为法定假日

individual states aren't required to observe it.

并不是每一个州都执行

Only 23 states close public services,

只有23个州停止公共服务

and more states are moving away from it completely."

而更多的州则是完全抛弃了这个法定假日

Cough

（咳嗽）

"What a pity.

真是遗憾啊

In the 70s, we even moved it to the second Monday in October

在七十年代，我们甚至把它改动到十月的第二个星期一

so people could get a nice three-day weekend,

这样人们就可以拥有一个美好的“三天周末“

but I guess you folks just hate celebrations."

我看你们这些人真是嫌放假太多了

"Uh, what are we celebrating again?"

额，我们庆祝什么来着？

"Come on, Your Honor, we all learned it in school.

拜托，法官大人，我们都在学校学过了

Christopher Columbus convinced the King of Spain to send him on a mission

克里斯托弗·哥伦布向西班牙国王请命

to find a better trade route to India,

去寻找一条更好的通向印度的贸易路线

not by going East over land but sailing West around the globe.

不是向东经大陆进发，而是向西绕地球航行

Everyone said it was crazy because they still thought the world was flat,

大家都说这太疯狂了 因为他们仍然认为世界是平的

but he knew better.

但哥伦布心里更明白

And when in 1492 he sailed the ocean blue,

在1492年，当他向蓝色的海洋中航行时

he found something better than India:

他发现了比印度大陆更好的东西——

a whole new continent."

一个全新的大陆

"What rubbish.

胡说

First of all, educated people knew the world was round since Aristotle.

首先，自亚里士多德提出地球呈球状的说法后，受过教育的人就认可这一事实了

Secondly, Columbus didn't discover anything.

其次，哥伦布没有发现任何东西

There were already people living here for millennia.

已经有人在美洲大陆上生活上千年了

And he wasn't even the first European to visit.

而且他甚至都不是第一个到访的欧洲人

The Norse had settled Newfoundland almost 500 years before."

挪威人在五百年前就已经在纽芬兰定居了

"You don't say, so how come we're not all wearing those cow helmets?"

不见得吧，那我们为什么不是个个都带着那种牛皮头盔呢?

"Actually, they didn't really wear those either."

其实挪威人自己也不戴

Cough

（咳嗽）

"Who cares what some Vikings did way back when?

谁管那些维京海盗以前干了什么事情

Those settlements didn't last, but Columbus's did.

他们的殖民统治没有延续下去，但哥伦布却做到了

And the news he brought back to Europe spread far and wide,

而且他带回欧洲的消息被广为传播

inspiring all the explorers and settlers who came after.

激励着所有的探险家和殖民者来到美洲大陆

Without him, none of us would be here today."

没有他，我们今天没人能站在这里

"And because of him, millions of Native Americans aren't here today.

但也正是因为因为他， 上百万的印第安土著人今天没能站在这片土地上

Do you know what Columbus did in the colonies he founded?

你知道哥伦布在他发现的殖民地上做了什么吗？

He took the very first natives he met prisoner

他把第一个见到的当地人抓了起来

and wrote in his journal about how easily he could conquer and enslave all of them."

并在日记里描述征服并奴役这些人 是多么轻而易举

"Oh, come on. Everyone was fighting each other back then.

拜托啦，那时候所有人都在自相残杀。

Didn't the natives even tell Columbus

难道那些当地人没告诉哥伦布

about other tribes raiding and taking captives?"

其他部落突袭并带走俘虏的事情吗？

"Yes, but tribal warfare was sporadic and limited.

没错，但是部落间的冲突 只会偶尔发生，而且规模有限

It certainly didn't wipe out 90% of the population."

这肯定没法消灭掉百分之九十的人口

"Hmm. Why is celebrating this Columbus so important to you, anyway?"

唔，不管怎么说了，为什么纪念这个哥伦布对你来说这么重要？

"Your Honor, Columbus's voyage was an inspiration

法官大人，哥伦布的航行是一件鼓舞人心的事

to struggling people all across Europe, symbolizing freedom and new beginnings.

对于在欧洲奋斗着的人们来说，它代表着自由和新的开始

And his discovery gave our grandparents and great-grandparents

而且他的发现给了我们的祖父母和曾祖父母

the chance to come here and build better lives for their children.

来到这里并为自己的孩子们创造更好的生活的机会

Don't we deserve a hero to remind everyone that our country

难道我们不应该让一个英雄来提醒所有人， 我们的国家

was build on the struggles of immigrants?"

是建立在移民者的奋斗上吗

"And what about the struggles of Native Americans

那原住民的苦痛又怎么算？

who were nearly wiped out and forced into reservations

他们被屠戮殆尽然后被赶进保留地

and whose descendants still suffer from poverty and discrimination?

而他们的后代至今仍承受着贫穷与歧视

How can you make a hero out of a man who caused so much suffering?"

你怎么能把这样一个制造出这么多苦难的人 理解为英雄呢？

"That's history. You can't judge a guy in the 15th century by modern standards.

这就是历史。你不能用现代的标准去评价一个十五世纪的人

People back then even thought spreading

那时的人甚至认为传播

Christianity and civilization across the world was a moral duty."

基督教精神和文明给全世界 是一项道德义务呢

"Actually, he was pretty bad, even by old standards.

事实上，即使用旧标准看，他也是个坏人

While governing Hispaniola, he tortured and mutilated

在统治伊斯帕尼奥拉岛时， 他折磨致残

natives who didn't bring him enough gold

那些进贡黄金不够多的原住民

and sold girls as young as nine into sexual slavery,

并将只有九岁的女孩作为性奴贩卖

and he was brutal even to the other colonists he ruled,

而他甚至对其他殖民者也很残忍

to the point that he was removed from power and thrown in jail.

到了被革职，并打入监狱的程度

When the missionary, Bartolomé de las Casas,

当传教士巴托洛梅·德拉斯·卡萨斯

visited the island, he wrote,

来到伊岛时，他写道：

'From 1494 to 1508, over 3,000,000 people had perished

1494到1508年间，超过3百万人

from war, slavery and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this?'"

死于战争、奴役和挖矿。未来的一代，谁会相信这样的惨剧？

"Well, I'm not sure I believe those numbers."

额，我就挺怀疑这些数据的。

"Say, aren't there other ways the holiday is celebrated?"

难道就没有其他方式来庆祝这个节日吗?

"In some Latin American countries,

在一些拉美国家，

they celebrate the same date under different names, such as Día de la Raza.

人们以其他名字庆祝这一天，比如‘民族之日’

In these places, it's more a celebration of the native and mixed cultures

在这些地方， 这更多是对土著人与多文化融合的庆祝

that survived through the colonial period.

庆祝这些文化熬过了殖民时期

Some places in the U.S. have also renamed the holiday,

美国一些地方也将这个节日重新命名

as Native American Day or Indigenous People's Day

改成印第安土著人节或者原住民节

and changed the celebrations accordingly."

并相应地改变了庆祝方式

"So, why not just change the name if it's such a problem?"

那既然这么麻烦，为何不直接改掉名字得了？

"Because it's tradition.

因为传统。

Ordinary people need their heroes and their founding myths.

普通人们需要英雄，和他们的神秘根源

Can't we just keep celebrating the way we've been doing for a century,

我们难道不能只是单纯地庆祝百年来的节日，

without having to delve into all this serious research?

而不去深究这些严肃的研究呢？

It's not like anyone is actually celebrating genocide."

又不是真的会有人庆祝种族大屠杀

"Traditions change, and the way we choose to keep them alive

传统是不断变化的。我们如何继承传统

says a lot about our values."

反映的是我们的价值观

"Well, it looks like giving tired judges a day off isn't one of those values, anyway."

哎，看起来这种价值观不包括给劳累的法官放一天假

Traditions and holidays are important to all cultures,

节日和传统对所有文化都十分重要

but a hero in one era may become a villain in the next

但随着历史知识的丰富和价值观的进步

as our historical knowledge expands and our values evolve.

曾经的英雄也可能变成狗熊

And deciding what these traditions should mean today

而决定当今人们对传统的看法与态度

is a major part of putting history on trial.

便是审视历史的重要工作之一