Why do we have museums? - J. V. Maranto

我们为什么需要博物馆？- J. V. 马兰朵

翻译人员: Ning Du 校对人员: Ruoxin Zheng

Hello, everyone. Let's begin our guided tour.

大家好，让我作为导游带大家开始一场旅行。

Welcome to the Museum of Museums.

欢迎来到讲述博物馆的博物馆。

Museums have been a part of human history for over 2000 years.

博物馆已在人类历史中 有超过两千年的历史。

But they weren't always like the ones we visit today.

但它们以前并不像我们如今参观的这样。

The history of museums is far older and much stranger than you might imagine.

博物馆的历史说起来 可能比我们想象的更久远，更陌生

We'll start over here in the Greek wing.

让我们从希腊厅这里开始。

Our word museum comes from the Greek mouseion,

博物馆的英文“Museum” 来源于希腊词“Mouseion”。

temples built for the Muses, the goddesses of the arts and the sciences.

它是为艺术和科学之神——缪斯女神 建造的寺庙。

Supplicants asked the Muses to keep watch over academics

信徒们祈求缪斯保护学识，

and grant ingenuity to those they deemed worthy.

以及他们认为值得珍藏的别具匠心的艺术品。

The temples were filled with offerings of sculptures,

庙宇里被各类贡品挤满了， 其中包括雕塑、

mosaics,

马赛克艺术、

complex scientific apparatuses,

精密的科学仪器、

poetic and literary inscriptions,

诗歌和文学作品，

and any other tribute that would demonstrate a mortal's worthiness

以及其他任何能体现神之启示的凡人之作。

for divine inspiration.

We have arrived at the Mesopotamian wing.

我们现在来到了美索不达米亚厅。

第一座博物馆于公元前530年 建立在今日的伊拉克。

The first museum was created in 530 B.C. in what is now Iraq.

And the first curator was actually a princess.

第一任馆长其实是一位公主。

Ennigaldi-Nanna started to collect and house Mesopotamian antiquities

英尼高迪·娜娜开始收藏 美索不达米亚的古董，

in E-Gig-Par, her house.

将它们放在她的行宫E-Gig-Par里。

When archeologists excavated the area,

当考古学家挖掘这个区域时，

they discovered dozens of artifacts neatly arranged in rows,

他们发现数十件手工品径直摆成了一排，

with clay labels written in three languages.

上面贴有由三种语言写成的黏土标签。

She must have had interesting parties.

她一定办过不少有趣的聚会。

The tradition of collecting and displaying intriguing items began to be mimicked,

这种收藏和展示迷人藏品的传统 开始被各方模仿，

as you can see here in the Roman Empire wing.

正如你在这个罗马帝国厅所见的。

Treasure houses of politicians and generals

官员和将军的藏宝屋被从战争搜刮来的战利品填满。

were filled with the spoils of war,

and royal menageries displayed exotic animals

皇家动物园会在一些特殊场合，

to the public on special occasions, like gladiator tournaments.

向公众展出各类珍禽异兽，如角斗士比赛。

如你所见，下面有一只狮子和一位角斗士。

As you can see, we have a lion here and a gladiator,

and, well, the janitor ought to be in this wing clearly.

嗯，管理员也肯定在这个厅里咯。

Moving on, hurry along.

让我们继续参观，抓紧啦！

The next step in the evolution of museums occurred in the Renaissance,

博物馆发展的下个阶段 发生在文艺复兴时期，

when the study of the natural world was once again encouraged

在经历了西方世界对知识近千年的无视后，

after almost a millennium of Western ignorance.

人们对自然世界的探究再次开启。

Curiosity cabinets, also referred to as Wunderkammers,

藏品展室，抑或称为珍品陈列室，

were collections of objects that acted as a kind of physical encyclopedia,

这些展品简直组成了 一本“鲜活”的百科全书，

showcasing artifacts.

一种陈列式手工艺品。

Just step into the wardrobe here. There you go. Mind the coats.

让我们走进这个衣橱看看， 小心外套哦。

And we'll tour Ole Worm's cabinet,

下面我们将参观奥利·沃姆藏品室。

One of the most notable Wunderkammers

最引人注目的珍品陈列室之一，

belonged to a wealthy 17th-century naturalist,

属于一位17世纪富有的博物学家、

antiquarian, and physician Ole Worm.

古文物研究学者以及物理学家 奥利·沃姆。

Ole Worm collected natural specimens,

奥利·沃姆收集各类自然标本、

human skeletons,

人类骨架、

ancient runic texts,

古代北欧文字记录、

and artifacts from the New World.

以及来自西半球的手工品。

In other curiosity cabinets,

在另外一间珍品陈列柜中，

you could find genetic anomalies,

你可以看到畸形的标本、

precious stones,

珍贵的宝石、

works of art,

各类艺术品，

and religious and historic relics.

以及宗教和历史遗物。

Oh my. You might not want to touch that.

小心！ 你可不想就这样把它摸坏了吧？

These cabinets were private, again, often in residencies,

这些藏品柜也都是私人的， 经常藏于私人住所中。

curated by their owners, rulers and aristocrats,

由他们的所有者、当时的统治者和贵族们，

as well as merchants and early scientists.

以及商人和早期的科学家们自行看管。

Now, who hears a circus organ?

有谁听说过器官马戏团吗？

In the 1840s,

在19世纪40年代，

an enterprising young showman named Phineas T. Barnum

一个叫做菲尼亚斯·T·巴纳姆的 雄心勃勃的青年演出经纪人…

purchased some of the more famous cabinets of curiosity from Europe

…收购了当时欧洲很多著名的珍奇藏品柜，

and started Barnum's American Museum in New York City.

并在纽约建立了巴纳姆美国博物馆。

A spectacular hodgepodge of zoo,

这是一个“超级大杂烩”，包括了动物园、

lecture hall,

讲堂、

wax museum,

蜡像馆、

theater,

剧场，

and freak show that was known for its eclectic residents,

和因其五花八门的表演者们 而闻名的畸形秀，

such as bears,

表演者包括：熊、

elephants,

acrobats,

大象、

杂技演员、

giants,

巨人、

Siamese twins,

连体双胞胎、

a Fiji mermaid,

斐济美人鱼，

and a bearded lady,

和长胡子的女人，

along with a host of modern machinery and scientific instruments.

同时还有很多当代机械和科学仪器。

Museums open to the public are a relatively new phenomenon.

博物馆对公众开放是近代才开始出现的。

Before Barnum, the first public museums

在巴纳姆之前，第一所公共博物馆 只对上层和中产阶级开放，

were only accessible by the upper and middle classes,

and only on certain days.

而且只在特定日期开放。

Visitors would have to apply to visit the museum

参观者需向管理者提前进行书面申请， 方可参观，

in writing prior to admision,

and only small groups could visit the museum each day.

而且博物馆每天只能接待小型团体。

The Louvre famously allowed all members of the public into the museum

卢浮宫因向所有公众开放参观而出名，

but only three days a week.

但是一周也只开放3天而已。

In the 19th century,

在19世纪，

the museum as we know it began to take shape.

我们今日所熟悉的博物馆开始逐渐成型。

Institutions like the Smithsonian were started

像史密森尼博物院这样的机构开始出现，

so that objects could be seen and studied, not just locked away.

这样展品开始被展出和研究， 而不是单纯的锁起来。

American museums, in particular,

特别是美国的博物馆，

commissioned experiments

它们委托了一些实验，

and hired explorers to seek out and retrieve natural samples.

同时雇佣了很多探险家去寻找并带回自然标本。

Museums became centers for scholarship and artistic and scientific discovery.

博物馆逐渐成为了 学术、艺术和科学发现的中心。

This is often called the Museum Age.

这个阶段常被称为博物馆时代。

Nowadays, museums are open to everybody,

现在，博物馆对所有人都开放，

are centers of learning and research,

是学习和研究的集中地，

and are turning into more hands-on institutions.

同时也在变成更具实践性的机构。

But the question of who gets to go is still relevant

但何人有权参观博物馆仍是问题，

as ticket prices can sometimes bar admission

因为门票的价格有时可能成为门槛。

to those future scholars, artists and targets of divine inspiration

未来的学者、艺术家 以及会受神之启示影响的人们…

who can't afford to satisfy their curiosity.

…因买不起门票， 而无法满足他们的好奇心。

Thank you all for coming, and please,

感谢大家的光临，

feel free to stop by the gift shop of gift shops on your way out.

大家可以随意在出口的礼品商店停留和参观。