The Ancient Origins of the Colour Green綠色的悠久歷史

詹姆斯·福克斯/文　蔡亦昕/譯

In February 1970， a ragbag of hippies and activists gathered in Vancouver， Canada to discuss a planned nuclear test on the Alaskan island of Amchitka. They eventually agreed to sail to the test site and protest against the explosion in person. At the end of the meeting， the chairman raised two fingers to the room and shouted “Peace！”. After a brief pause， one young attendee responded with a now immortal line： “Lets make that a green peace”.

1970年2月，一群亂雜雜的嬉皮士和活動(dòng)家相聚在加拿大溫哥華，討論如何應(yīng)對阿拉斯加的阿姆奇特卡島上的核試驗(yàn)計(jì)劃。他們最終決定親身前往，駕船進(jìn)入核試驗(yàn)地點(diǎn)以阻止核爆。會(huì)議結(jié)束時(shí)，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者向屋內(nèi)眾人舉起兩根手指，高喊道：“和平！”靜默了片刻，一位年輕的與會(huì)者回以那句至今不朽的口號：“讓我們實(shí)現(xiàn)綠色和平。”

Over the last 50 years， the environmental movement has become so closely associated with the colour green that its almost impossible to see a green poster， label or recycling bag without thinking about our planets future. But though that connection is the product of a very recent crisis， its origins go back some way. We have identified green with nature and its processes for thousands of years. Indeed， the very word “green” comes from the ancient Proto-Indo-European word ghre， meaning “grow”.

在過去的50年里，環(huán)保運(yùn)動(dòng)已經(jīng)與綠色如此緊密地聯(lián)系在了一起，以至于我們一看到綠色的海報(bào)、標(biāo)簽或回收袋時(shí)，幾乎總會(huì)聯(lián)想到地球的未來。不過，盡管這種聯(lián)系產(chǎn)生于并不遙遠(yuǎn)的一場危機(jī)，但它的起源可被追溯至更久之前。我們把綠色與自然和自然過程相聯(lián)系已有數(shù)千年之久。事實(shí)上，“綠色”這個(gè)詞便來源于古時(shí)的原始印歐語系詞ghre，意思是“生長”。

The human species， which emerged in the verdant forests and savannas of Africa about 300，000 years ago， has a special biological bond with green. Our eyes might even have evolved specifically to see the chlorophyll in plants. Unlike most mammals， who are red-green colour blind， we and other primates developed a third cone cell. This additional photoreceptor enabled our ancestors to spot ripe red and yellow fruits against a backdrop of green foliage， and to distinguish different green leaves from each other. In daylight conditions， human eyes are more sensitive to green than any other hue.

大約30萬年前，出現(xiàn)在非洲的青翠森林和稀樹草原的人類，就與綠色有著某種特殊的生物聯(lián)系。我們的眼睛甚至可能專門進(jìn)化出了感知植物葉綠素的能力。與大多數(shù)哺乳動(dòng)物都是紅綠色盲不同，我們和其他靈長類進(jìn)化出了第三種視錐細(xì)胞。這一額外的光感受器使我們的祖先能夠從綠色枝葉的背景中一眼鎖定紅色和黃色的成熟水果，并且區(qū)分不同綠色的葉子。在日光條件下，相比于其他色調(diào)，人眼對綠色更加敏感。

With the advent of agriculture， we started to use green as a symbol for nature and its processes. Archaeologists have recently found an extraordinary hoard of green beads and pendants in the Levant， dating back some 10，000 years. The researchers believe that these objects， many of which had come from hundreds of miles away at great cost， were chosen because they resembled young leaves and might have been used by early farmers to invoke rainfall or fertilise crops.

隨著農(nóng)業(yè)的出現(xiàn)，我們開始把綠色作為自然和自然過程的象征?？脊艑W(xué)家最近在黎凡特地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)了一組非同尋常的綠色珠子和吊墜埋藏，年代可追溯至約1萬年前。研究者認(rèn)為，這些物件中有許多是耗費(fèi)巨資從數(shù)百英里外運(yùn)來的，而它們之所以被人選定，正是因?yàn)榭雌饋砼c嫩葉相似，可能被早期農(nóng)民用來祈求降雨或是為莊稼施肥。

The ancient Egyptians， who were farming the banks of the Nile from about 8000 BCE， likewise identified their crops with green. Their term for the colour was wadj， which also meant “flourish”， and was represented in hieroglyph by the flowering stalk of a papyrus plant. Egyptian painters often depicted their god of agriculture， Osiris—who was responsible for flooding the Niles banks， filling the soil with nutrients and pushing the first green shoots up through the fields—as a bright green being.

無獨(dú)有偶，自公元前8000年便在尼羅河沿岸耕作的古埃及人也將綠色和莊稼相聯(lián)系。他們用以指代綠色的詞是wadj，該詞也有“繁盛”之義，在象形文字里，用紙莎草的帶花的莖桿來表示。古埃及的農(nóng)業(yè)之神奧西里斯掌管尼羅河的泛濫，為土壤帶來養(yǎng)分，并催生出田地間第一批綠色嫩芽。在埃及畫家筆下，奧西里斯常常被描繪成一個(gè)明亮的綠色形象。

‘Green thoughts

“綠色思想”

All over the world， people communed with nature through green materials. Jade， for instance， was used to make objects that would guarantee a successful harvest. The Maya buried their leaders with jade death masks for precisely this reason. One such object， made between 660 and 750 AD in modern-day Mexico， depicts an unknown ruler surrounded by plant symbolism. His intimidating face is flanked by two flowers， his headdress swells into a green mountain， and two sprouts of maize point towards the future. The mask implies that its wearer will， like Osiris， infuse the earth with fertility， ensuring that his living subjects thrive.

在世界各地，人們通過綠色材料與自然相通。比如，用碧玉制作器物，以保佑一場大豐收。正是出于這個(gè)緣故，瑪雅人埋葬他們的首領(lǐng)時(shí)，要為其佩戴碧玉的死亡面具。公元660年至750年之間，在今天的墨西哥境內(nèi)，便有一個(gè)這樣的物件，描繪了一位不知名統(tǒng)治者被有象征意義的植物環(huán)繞的景象。他那令人生畏的臉龐兩側(cè)裝飾著兩朵花，他的頭飾膨起，如同一座綠色的山，還有兩根玉米芽指向未來。這個(gè)面具喻示著它的佩戴者會(huì)像奧西里斯一樣，使大地豐饒，保佑他在世的子民們生活興旺。

More than a millennium before the rise of the environmental movement， the Quran was instructing Muslims to look after their habitats. In extraordinarily prescient words， it describes humans as temporary stewards of the ecosystem， advising them not to disturb the delicate balance of creation by excessive consumption or unnecessary destruction. Between the eighth and 13th Centuries， Islamic philosophers and scientists even wrote treatises on sustainable agriculture， pollution and wildlife conservation， and compiled a bill of rights for animals.

早在環(huán)保運(yùn)動(dòng)興起的一千多年之前，《古蘭經(jīng)》就教導(dǎo)穆斯林要愛護(hù)自己的生活環(huán)境。它極具預(yù)見性地將人類比作生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的臨時(shí)管家，告誡人們不要因?yàn)檫^度消費(fèi)或不必要的破壞而打破天地萬物脆弱的平衡。8世紀(jì)至13世紀(jì)之間，伊斯蘭哲學(xué)家和科學(xué)家甚至撰寫了有關(guān)可持續(xù)農(nóng)業(yè)、污染和野生動(dòng)物保護(hù)的著述，并制定了一部動(dòng)物權(quán)利法案。

Western societies took longer to embrace the beauty of nature， and by extension， green. But by the second half of the Middle Ages， European writers were infusing the colour with their new-found faith in the landscape， connecting it to fertility， growth， spring， hope and joy. In one 15th-Century text， the French herald Jean Courtois1 couldnt contain his enthusiasm for the colour of chlorophyll： “There is nothing in the world more pleasant than the beautiful verdure of fields in blossom， broad-leafed trees covered in foliage， banks of the rivers where the swallows come and bathe， stones that are green in colour， like precious emeralds，” he wrote.

西方社會(huì)花了更長的時(shí)間才開始擁抱自然之美，當(dāng)然，還有綠色。但到了中世紀(jì)下半葉，歐洲作家將他們對風(fēng)景的新信仰傾注于這種顏色，將其與肥沃、生長、春天、希望和喜悅聯(lián)系起來。在一篇15世紀(jì)的文章中，擔(dān)任紋章官的法國人讓·庫爾圖瓦無法抑制他對于綠色的熱情：“世界上沒有什么比郁郁蔥蔥、鮮花盛開的美麗田野、枝繁葉茂的闊葉樹木、燕子飛臨沐浴的河岸、像珍貴的祖母綠一樣綠瑩瑩的石頭更令人愉快的了。”

By the end of the 17th Century， English poets were beginning to realise， as we do today， that green spaces can be profoundly therapeutic. Andrew Marvells much-loved poem The Garden is a hymn to the curative capacities of the colour. “No white nor red was ever seen so amorous as this lovely green，” he wrote. Marvell went on to describe his imagined garden as a place of peace and escapism—one that can replace our worldly worries with， as he so memorably put it， a “green thought in a green shade”.

至17世紀(jì)末，英國詩人像今天的我們一樣，開始意識到綠色空間具有強(qiáng)大的治愈力。安德魯·馬弗爾深受大家喜愛的詩歌《花園》，正是一首對綠色治愈力的贊美詩?！拔匆娺^白色或紅色，能比得上這綠色讓人憐愛?！彼麑懙?。接著，馬弗爾把他想象中的花園描述為一個(gè)寧靜出世的桃花源——一個(gè)能將我們的俗世煩擾，用他雋永的詞句來說，化為“綠色遐想融進(jìn)綠蔭”的地方。

New beginnings？

新的開始？

In recent years， most of our “green thoughts” are tainted with fears of ecological disaster. The artist Joseph Beuys helped found the worlds first national “Green Party”， die Grünen， in Germany in January 1980， and played a major role in physically greening the world， planting 7，000 oak trees around the German city of Kassel from 1982. The British artist David Nash has spent the last four decades making plant-based sculptures in North Wales. Ash Dome， a circular vaulted space made from 22 carefully trained ash trees， has been growing since 1977. It was initially conceived as an act of ecological optimism. “We were killing the planet，” Nash has recalled. “Ash Dome was a long-term commitment， an act of faith.”

近年來，我們的大多數(shù)“綠色思想”都沾染了對生態(tài)災(zāi)難的恐懼。1980年1月，藝術(shù)家約瑟夫·博伊斯參與創(chuàng)立了世界上第一個(gè)全國性的“綠黨”——德國綠黨，并切切實(shí)實(shí)地為世界增綠方面發(fā)揮了重要作用。自1982年以來，因此種下的7000棵橡樹遍布德國卡塞爾市全境。在北威爾士，英國藝術(shù)家戴維·納什40年來致力于創(chuàng)作基于植物的雕塑?！皸q之穹”是一個(gè)由22棵精心培育的梣樹構(gòu)建起的圓拱形空間，自1977年以來一直在生長。它最初被視作一個(gè)體現(xiàn)生態(tài)樂觀主義的作品?！拔覀兡菚r(shí)正在毀滅地球，”憶及此事，納什曾言道，“‘梣之穹是一個(gè)長期承諾，一種信仰行為?！?/p>

Not everyone was so hopeful. In the late 1990s and early 2000s， the Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson released large quantities of uranine （a fluorescent yellow-green dye） into waterways around the world without warning， turning rivers and streams lurid green. Green River was widely interpreted through an ecological lens. Critics couldnt help but be reminded of the millions of tonnes of waste that enters the worlds waters every day， its colour a caustic allusion to the verdant habitats they pollute.

并非所有人都像這樣滿懷希望。在20世紀(jì)90年代末和21世紀(jì)初，丹麥/冰島藝術(shù)家奧拉維爾·埃利亞松在沒有事先通報(bào)的情況下，向世界各地的水道中倒入了大量的熒光素鈉（一種黃綠色的熒光染料），將河流和溪水染成了可怕的綠色?！熬G河”從生態(tài)學(xué)角度被加以廣泛解讀。評論者不禁聯(lián)想到，每天有數(shù)百萬噸的廢物被排放進(jìn)世界各處水域，而“綠河”的顏色正是對青翠的棲息地被廢物污染的一種辛辣諷刺。

Other artists are simply inspired by the uplifting beauty of nature， as their ancestors had been before them. Towards the end of his life， Howard Hodgkin loaded a thick brush with emerald-green paint， and then， in one bold motion， sketched a voluptuous looping form across a wooden panel. The finished image might at first sight look abstract， but it depicts something with which all of us are deeply familiar： it is a leaf—bright， fresh and undulating with life.

還有一些藝術(shù)家，就像他們的祖先一樣，只是單純地被令人振奮的自然之美激發(fā)出靈感。霍華德·霍奇金在他生命將盡的時(shí)刻，用一支粗畫筆蘸上翠綠色的顏料，然后，大膽地在木板上揮灑出一個(gè)曼妙的環(huán)狀圖案。完成的畫作乍看之下有些抽象，但它描繪了我們大家都非常熟悉的東西：它是一片葉子——明亮、清新，涌動(dòng)著生命力。

While the future of our planet remains uncertain， many scientists are convinced that leaves， and the miraculous green pigment that lurks within them， will prove to be a decisive weapon in our battle against climate change. This is as it should be. After all， for early farmers waiting for shoots to emerge from the soil， and for modern-day activists determined to bring about a sustainable future， green was， and is， a colour of hope—the hope that， after a long， cold winter or a drought-ridden summer， the arrival of chlorophyll will herald a new beginning.

雖然我們這個(gè)星球的未來難以捉摸，但許多科學(xué)家相信，樹葉及其中潛藏的不可思議的綠色色素，將會(huì)是我們對抗氣候變化的決定性武器。事實(shí)應(yīng)當(dāng)就是如此。畢竟，不管是對于期盼嫩芽破土而出的早期農(nóng)民，還是對于決心創(chuàng)造可持續(xù)未來的現(xiàn)代活動(dòng)家來說，綠色過去是，現(xiàn)在也是希望的顏色——希望在一個(gè)漫漫寒冬或是焦焦炎夏之后，葉綠素的降臨預(yù)示著一個(gè)新的開始。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1讓·庫爾圖瓦（生卒不詳，一說于1436年去世）被稱作“西西里紋章官”（Sicily Herald），曾為阿拉貢的阿方索五世（Alfonso V of Aragon）服務(wù)。他在《紋章的顏色：武器、緞帶、設(shè)計(jì)》（Le Blason des Couleurs： En Armes， Livrées et Devises）一書中創(chuàng)立了一套紋章系統(tǒng)。herald原指傳令官，中世紀(jì)時(shí)，其職責(zé)之一是擔(dān)任比武大會(huì)司儀，宣布比武項(xiàng)目及騎士名單，而傳令官識別騎士的依據(jù)便是盾牌上的紋章，漸漸，“傳令官”成了“紋章專家”的代名詞，由此衍生出“紋章學(xué)”（heraldry）。