The contributions of female explorers - Courtney Stephens

女性探險家的貢獻 - Courtney Stephens

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

譯者: Allyson Chen 審譯者: Marssi Draw

Nowadays, we take curiosity for granted.

現今，我們把好奇心視為理所當然

We believe that if we put in the hard work,

我們相信只要努力

we might one day stand before the pyramids,

有一天就能站在金字塔前

discover a new species of flower,

或是發現新品種的花

or even go to the moon.

甚至可以探訪月球

But, in the 18th and 19th century,

但是，在 18 和 19 世紀

female eyes gazed out windows

女性只能凝視窗外

at a world they were unlikely to ever explore.

看著她們無法探索的世界

Life for women in the time of Queen Victoria

英國維多利亞女王時代的女性

was largely relegated to house chores and gossip.

生活多半在家庭瑣事和八卦閒談中度過

And, although they devoured books on exotic travel,

即使她們讀了描述異國旅行的書

most would never would leave the places

大多數女性還是沒機會

in which they were born.

離開出生地去旅行

However, there were a few Victorian women, who,

但是，仍有幾位維多利亞時期女性

through privilege,

因為有特權

endurance,

有耐力

and not taking "no" for an answer,

而且絕不說「不」

did set sail for wilder shores.

能夠航向遙遠的海岸

In 1860, Marianne North,

1860 年，瑪麗安娜．諾斯 (Marianne North)

an amateur gardener and painter,

一位業餘園藝家和畫家

crossed the ocean to America

橫越大洋到了美國

with letters of introduction,

身上只帶著介紹信

an easel,

畫架

and a love of flowers.

還有對花的熱愛

She went on to travel to Jamaica,

她繼續旅行到牙買加

Peru,

Japan,

祕魯

日本

India,

印度

Australia.

還有澳洲

In fact, she went to every continent except Antarctica

事實上，除了南極洲，她走遍了各大洲

in pursuit of new flowers to paint.

追尋新品種的花，把它們畫下來

"I was overwhelmed with the amount

她曾寫道：「我深深感到震懾

of subjects to be painted," she wrote.

竟然能有這麼多繪畫題材。」

"The hills were marvelously blue,

「山丘藍得美不勝收

piled one over the other beyond them.

座座相連，綿延不絕

I never saw such abundance of pure color."

我從未看過這麼豐富的純色。」

With no planes or automobiles

當時沒有飛機或汽車

and rarely a paved street,

也少有平坦的道路

North rode donkeys,

諾斯騎著驢子

scaled cliffs,

跋山

and crossed swamps

涉水

to reach the plants she wanted.

以見到她想見到的植物

And all this in the customary dress of her day,

而且她都穿著當時傳統的服裝

floor-length gowns.

下襬及地的洋裝

As photography had not yet been perfected,

因為當時照相技術還不成熟

Marianne's paintings gave botanists back in Europe

瑪麗安娜的畫作讓歐洲植物學家

their first glimpses of some of the world's most unusual plants,

第一次有機會一瞥世上罕見的植物

like the giant pitcher plant of Borneo,

例如婆羅洲的豬籠草

the African torch lily,

非洲火炬花

and the many other species named for her

還有其它以她命名的物種

as she was the first European to catalog them in the wild.

因為她是第一位 在大自然記錄這些植物的歐洲人

Meanwhile, back in London,

同時在倫敦

Miss Mary Kingsley was the sheltered daughter

瑪莉．金斯利 (Mary Kingsley) 是一位旅行醫生的女兒

of a traveling doctor

受到呵護

who loved hearing her father's tales

她熱愛聽父親說故事

of native customs in Africa.

告訴她非洲的原始文化

Midway through writing a book on the subject,

她父親在撰寫一本關於非洲文化的書

her father fell ill and died.

但是完成之前就病逝了

So, Kingsley decided she would finish the book for him.

因此金斯利決定要為父親完成這本書

Peers of her father advised her not to go,

她父親的朋友都勸她不要去非洲

showing her maps of tropical diseases,

讓她看熱帶疾病的分布圖

but she went anyhow,

但她還是去了

landing in modern-day Sierra Leone in 1896

在 1896 年她抵達現在的獅子山

with two large suitcases and a phrase book.

帶著兩個大皮箱和一本片語書

Traveling into the jungle,

深入叢林中

she was able to confirm the existence

她證實了當時傳說的生物——

of a then-mythical creature,

黑猩猩

the gorilla.

確實存在

She recalls fighting with crocodiles,

她回憶當時和鱷魚搏鬥

being caught in a tornado,

被龍捲風困住

and tickling a hippopotamus with her umbrella

還要用雨傘戳河馬

so that he'd leave the side of her canoe.

讓河馬遠離她的獨木舟

Falling into a spiky pit,

她曾掉進充滿尖刺的地洞

she was saved from harm by her thick petticoat.

幸好她的厚襯裙救了她

"A good snake properly cooked

她寫道：「一條烹煮得恰到好處的蛇

is one of the best meals one gets out here," she wrote.

是你在那裡可以吃到的最棒的料理。」

Think Indiana Jones was resourceful?

你覺得印第安那瓊斯足智多謀？

Kingsley could out-survive him any day!

金斯利隨時都勝過他！

But when it comes to breaking rules,

但真要說到打破成規

perhaps no female traveler was

恐怕沒有一位女性旅行家

as daring as Alexandra David-Neel.

和亞歷珊卓．大衛─尼爾 (Alexandra David-Néel) Alexandra David-Neel 一樣大膽

Alexandra, who had studied Eastern religions

她曾在法國家鄉

at home in France,

研究過東方宗教

wanted desperately to prove herself

她很渴望能證明自己的能力

to Parisian scholars of the day,

給當時的法國學者看

all of whom were men.

他們清一色都是男性

She decided the only way to be taken seriously

她認定唯一能讓大家 認真看待她的方式

was to visit the fabled city of Lhasa

就是親自到傳說中的城市

in the mountains of Tibet.

隱身在群山間的西藏拉薩

"People will have to say,

「人們會說：

'This woman lived among the things she's talking about.

『這個女人親身體驗了 她一直在訴說的一切。

She touched them and she saw them alive,'" she wrote.

她碰觸過，也親眼看過。』」她寫道

When she arrived at the border from India,

當她從印度抵達西藏邊境時

she was forbidden to cross.

她被禁止進入西藏

So, she disguised herself as a Tibetan man.

因此她偽裝成西藏男子

Dressed in a yak fur coat

穿著氂牛皮做的大衣

and a necklace of carved skulls,

戴上雕刻骷髏項鍊

she hiked through the barren Himilayas

攀越貧瘠的喜馬拉雅山脈

all the way to Lhasa,

一路到了拉薩

where she was subsequently arrested.

但她隨後就被逮捕

She learned that the harder the journey,

她體會到旅程越艱辛

the better the story,

故事就會越精采

and went on to write many books on Tibetan religion,

她持續寫了很多關於西藏宗教的書

which not only made a splash back in Paris

不但在巴黎造成廣大迴響

but remain important today.

至今也仍然非常重要

These brave women, and others like them,

這幾位勇敢的女性 和許多其他同樣的女性

went all over the world to prove

都走遍了世界去證明

that the desire to see for oneself

想親身見識世界的渴望

not only changes the course of human knowledge,

不只改變了人類知識的發展方向

it changes the very idea of what is possible.

也讓大家發現很多事都可能發生

They used the power of curiosity

她們秉著好奇心

to try and understand the viewpoints

做出嘗試並了解

and peculiarities of other places,

其他地區的觀點和特色

perhaps because they, themselves,

也許是因為她們自己

were seen as so unusual in their own societies.

在原來的社會中也是如此不凡

But their journeys revealed to them

但是她們的旅程帶給她們的收穫

something more than the ways of foreign lands,

不只是異地的風土民情

they revealed something only they, themselves, could find:

還有唯有她們自己才能領悟的道理：

a sense of their own self.

她們的自我意識