秦始皇帝已不在，兵馬俑繼續(xù)前行

The collective result was, and is, remarkable: a fighting machine with multiple personalities. All the figures were finally placed, in battle formation and with teams of terra-cotta horses, in three basement like pits, which were covered over. Other types of clay figures — of civic officials, servants and court acrobats — were buried nearby. And all were under the watchful eye of the emperor, who was interred deep within a mountain of packed earth, his coffin reputedly surrounded by a moat of toxic mercury.
最終的結(jié)果是讓世人矚目的：一個各色人物一應(yīng)俱全的軍隊方陣。所有秦俑及戰(zhàn)馬方陣最后都成作戰(zhàn)方陣被放置并埋葬進3個俑坑內(nèi)。其他各種秦俑-文官俑，奴仆及宮人俑都被就近埋葬。所有的一切都永遠被埋葬在秦始皇的眼皮下，而秦始皇則被埋葬在很深的位置，其靈柩據(jù)說被充盈著毒水銀的護城河所環(huán)繞。

So that was the history. The Qin empire survived the emperor by fourteen years, to be replaced by the long-lived Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). The tomb greened over. Its contents were forgotten for centuries, which is where the archaeological romance kicks in.
這就是歷史。秦王朝統(tǒng)治歷時14年時間，后被漢朝取代（公元前206年到公元220年）。秦始皇墓穴上的青草綠了又綠，而埋藏在里面的一切也被遺忘了幾個世紀，考古學的魅力所在就是為世人揭開迷霧。

In 1974 farmers who were sinking a well outside Xian hit pottery fragments, which turned out to be the figures of soldiers. Archaeologists were summoned and digging began. It continues today in and around the Terra-Cotta Museum now at the site.
1974年有農(nóng)民在西安城外鑿井偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了陶土碎片，后被證明是殘俑片。考古學家齊聚挖掘。直到現(xiàn)在兵馬俑博物館里面和周圍還在進行挖掘工作。

Hangar size and a huge tourist draw, the museum is an interesting mix of art display, theater and theme park. The Times Square show — organized with the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the Shaanxi Provincial Museum Association and the China Institute in Manhattan — in certain ways brings it to mind.
大批的游客蜂擁進入西安城，博物館儼然成了引人關(guān)注的藝術(shù)展覽館，電影院和主題公園。此次時代廣場展覽是由陜西省文物局，陜西省博物館協(xié)會和曼哈頓中華學院組織。

First, theater. Visitors, admitted by timed ticket to the Discovery center, are ushered into a smallish room to watch a four-minute docudrama-style film on the First Emperor’s tomb.
首先，持時代廣場限時門票的參觀者由引領(lǐng)員引領(lǐng)進入一個小房間觀看一部有關(guān)秦始皇墓穴的紀錄片，約4分鐘。

When it’s done, the screen lifts to reveal a gallery holding several ponderous bronze ritual objects and an extraordinary suit of Qin tomb armor made from tiny wire-linked limestone plaques.
觀看完畢后，屏幕升起，出現(xiàn)一個長廊，里面擺放著一系列青銅祭祀物品和一套尤其特別的秦俑鎧甲，這套鎧甲由細小金屬絲連接石灰石塊而制成。

There you move past many more objects, including festive ceramic bowls, stoves, jugs and ceremonial dinnerware, along with some previews of coming attractions. Among them is the earliest example of a terra-cotta warrior yet found in China. Dating from about a century before the First Emperor’s reign, it is clearly a prototype of the army to be, though a homely and diminutive one, the size of a child’s toy.
然后，參觀者一一參觀很多物品，有節(jié)慶用瓷碗，灶爐，水壺以及儀式用餐具，還有接下來要參觀物件的預(yù)告。其中一件是在中國已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)的最早的兵馬俑。這個可以追溯到秦王朝前一個世紀的兵馬俑，盡管模樣平凡，身型矮小僅有孩童般大小，但他顯然是軍隊士兵的原型。

We’ve seen some of these sculptures in the city before, notably in the Guggenheim Museum’s 1998 exhibition “China: 5000 Years.” But they lose none of their punch with repeat viewings, and the no-frills display here makes a haunting thing of them.
我們之前已經(jīng)見到過一些這個城市的雕像，特別是1998年古根海姆博物館舉辦的“中國5000年”展覽。然而我們并沒有留下太過深刻的印象，而這次的展覽卻給人留下了魂牽夢繞的印象。

Under spotlights, details of craftsmanship and marks of shattering are equally visible. An extra-tall army general seems intent on nailing us with his glance, though what we focus on are the manicured fingernails on his demurely crossed hands.
在聚光燈下，工匠精湛的技藝和歲月流逝的痕跡清晰可見。一個分外高大的軍隊將軍似乎在盯著我們看，而讓我們目不轉(zhuǎn)睛的卻是他那端端正正交叉的雙手上修剪整齊的指甲。

A bare-chested acrobat, face set in stoic concentration, one finger raised high, is, almost tragically, missing a leg. Repair lines cover his body like veins.
一個坦胸露乳的宮人，表情隱忍，一根手指高舉，很悲慘地只剩下一條腿。身體上修復(fù)過的痕跡像肌膚紋理一般。

With its extremes of light and dark, the show at this point gets a little churchy. But that doesn’t last, thanks to the intervention of a third and last short film, an excerpt from a longer one on regular view at the Xian museum. The clip shows a full-dress re-enactment of a Qin battle scene, with an army of archers shooting at an enemy town. The whizzing arrows on the soundtrack sound genuinely dangerous, like a tornado.
忽而異常明亮忽而又異常陰暗，展覽此時有點像在教堂的感覺。但由于第三部和最后一部短片以及一個有關(guān)西安博物館摘要的插入使這個種感覺沒有延續(xù)太長時間。

The clip is a hoot, pure Hollywood, special effects and all, and a useful reminder of what the emperor’s army is really about.
各種聲效是純好萊塢式的，意在告訴人們帝王軍隊大體是什么樣的。

This impression softens with the appearance of Han material in the last few galleries. Some viewers may find this a letdown. I found it a relief. Militarism is still here, but it’s no longer the whole story. And gigantism is gone, replaced by a modestly proportioned naturalism. You see this in tenderly observed clay images of farm animals, and in the figures of two-foot-high, anatomically correct nude soldiers, looking childlike and vulnerable without their fabric uniforms, now turned to dust.
這種印象隨著漢代物品的相繼展出而漸漸緩和。一些參觀者可能會有所失望。我卻感到很寬慰。因為軍國主義精神仍在，但已經(jīng)不再是故事的全部。巨型主義已經(jīng)不在，取而代之的是較成比例的自然主義。你們可以從這些粘土家畜和看起來孩子氣，沒有鎧甲便脆弱不堪的二尺高的士兵身上看到這些，而所有的一切都已經(jīng)塵歸塵，土歸土。

The show’s final piece, a set of low-relief stone panels, from a Han tomb door, mixes all this up. There’s plenty of violence: hunts in heaven, battles on earth. At the same time there are gardens in bloom, lovers in windows and what seem to be amateur theatricals in progress.
這場展覽的最后部分是組成漢朝墓穴穴門的石板。這里充滿了暴力血腥：天堂中的狩獵，塵世中的戰(zhàn)場。同時還有百花盛開的花園，屋檐下的戀人，還有似乎業(yè)余的戲劇演出。

At the beginning of the Discovery show we enter a dark tomb and the realm of imperial ego. At the end we exit through another tomb, unassuming, even charming, out into the bustle and lights of the theater district. Art is great. The terra-cotta warriors are awesome. And out is a good way to go.
在展覽的開始，我們走進一個陰暗的墓穴和一個帝國的領(lǐng)土。最后我們從另一個不起眼但很吸引人的墓穴走出，回到這個喧鬧又明亮的影院。藝術(shù)是偉大的。兵馬俑是了不起的。而走出來是一個不錯的方式。