Tristes Tropiques - 忧郁的热带
repugnance - 厌恶； inaction - 不作为，不积极工作；bestows - 授予； dross -糟粕； hitherdo - adv,迄今为止的； incomprehensible - 不可理解的; pabulum -精神食粮； prodigious - 大量的； platitudes - 陈词蓝端； miraculously - 奇迹般地; hackneyed - 陈腐的； condemn - v,指责；gloomy - 黑暗的； amphitheater, 半圆形剧场； discern - v,隐约看见； weary - v/adj, 疲倦地，厌烦地; dismal - 凄凉的； banquet - 晚宴; unaccustomed to - 不习惯的； solemnity - 严肃的一本正经的； whim -突发奇想; redolent - adj, 充满芳香的，使人回想其什么的味道, sth is redolent of somethingelse；musty - 发霉的； embers - 木炭烧尽后的灰烬； resemblance - 相似；conjure up - made up an image from the mind, 脑海中浮现出来； lunatics - 精神错乱的人； goatee beard -山羊胡子； flotsam - 漂浮的废弃物；melodious - 悦耳动听的； archaic - 非常古老的； incisive - adj, 敏锐深刻的，形容一个人能清晰，简洁且有力地思考并表达观点； practitioner - 执业医生；inmate -囚犯； tamer -驯兽师； onlookers - 旁边者； daunt - v. 恐吓；intact - adj. 完整的完好无损的；disintegration - 瓦解，解体，分裂； discreet - 小心谨慎的；solidarity -团结一致，solidarity with...; conquistador- 西班牙征服者；by virtue of - 凭借; urbane - adj, 彬彬有礼的，城市化的；the upper crust/gran fino -上流社会；humbler origin - 平民出身的；inkling - n. 模糊的概念； racecourses - 赛马场； francs - 法郎；
1. Setting Out
Levi-strauss hate traveling and explorers as he think for anthropologists, most of the travel time are wasted and the value of its work would only manifest itself from a seperation with such dross of travelling. Most of the travelling and exploring expereince for him is shred of meaningless memory, is the repugnance pathway towards on moment of revelation.
Levi-strauss found the recend trend of praising exploreres and publishing prodigious volumes of travellogues incomprehensible. He thinks those books are filled with platitudes with mere facts, if there is also hackneyed information.
This situation remind levi strauss the anthropologists return, the tellers of tales, 20 years ago when there were only few people willing to hear the stories of explorations in a gloomy, icy, decayed amphitheater.
Levi strauss reflected his early careers as a teacher and his attendance of the lectures of George Dumas. He speaks highly of him as having an archaic charm in both his way of speakin french and his outlook. George Dumas founded the university of San Paolo, levi strauss reflected on the university's creation of a new elite group in Brazil which have allowed students from humbler origin to begin their social ascension by obtaining qualifications.
plying, v.巡回， ply between...; berth,卧铺; opt for sth. 选择某事； supremacy, 至高无上的权利; regal priviledge of, 帝王般的特权； appanage, 王子的封地/行宫； turbot，大菱鱼； truism, 众所周知的自明之理；lapse of .. years, 多少年的拖延；toy with..., 玩弄，思考...; eccentric, adj. 古怪的；disencumber. 使解脱，排除障碍； tranquility, 平静； constellations, 星座； riviera, 海滨度假村，原指法国里维埃拉地区； armistice, 休战； diligence, 努力勤奋工作；deprive someone from doing something，剥夺某人做某事的权利； poise，v.悬停在空中； besseching, 恳求的；all in vain, 徒劳，白费力气； demobolize,遣散，多指军队； clientele, 顾客； fodder, 饲料，炮灰，作者在这儿用的是fodder of the consentration camp; scuples, 顾虑；cordones off..., 拉起警戒线隔离掉； quayside, 码头； clandestine, 私密的，私下的，偷偷摸摸的；jostling, 推挤；deportation of convicts, 驱逐犯人出境； cabin,船舱； bunk, 床铺；persona grata, 讨人喜欢的人，尤其是受外交官的喜欢；protectorates, 保护国； elucidate,阐释，说明；riff-raff, 不三不四的人；spinster, 修女；stilted, 僵硬的；wary,警惕的; asexual,性冷淡的，无性的；virile,有男子气概的；superabundant, 大量的; subversive, 颠覆性的，多在政治语境下使用；analogous, 类似的； correspondences,对应；dodge，闪避; solarium, 阳光房； averse to sth, 对什么东西极端厌恶； lurching, 忽然倾斜；fastidious, 热爱整洁的；impregnated with sth, 被...浸泡；nauseous odour, 令人作呕的气味；the prospect of sth, 对什么的希望；amenities of civilization, 文明的福利设施；coquettishness, 卖弄风骚；bestow sth on sb, 授予/赋予 某人某事； idyllic,田园风光，世外桃源的； mental derangement, 精神错乱；degenerate, 堕落，退化； prosaic, 平淡的；consummate, adj.技术非常精湛的，最好的最确切的；apathy, 漠不关心；scapegoats, 替罪羊； disembarkation,上岸； interrogation, 审问； invective, 谩骂；indictment, 正式的控诉；monroe doctrine, 门罗主义; be interned in... 被禁闭在...;
2. On Board ship
The author enjoyed the supremacy on board plying between France and South america when he was young as the luxurious liner capable of hosting over 150 people were accomodated only for the 8-10 priviledged passengers at the 30s. He wish he then at that time would appreciate such regal previledge as he realized, after a lapse of 15 years of taking on another voyage from France to Brazil, that to reserve a bunk on board would require 4 month in advance registration. He then came to a realization from this revealation that the world seems become too samll for the people inhabiting it.
In 1941 after the armitice, the author has been invited to america for his anthropology work. However, the voyage is not too pleasant this time. At first, the Brazil ambassador under vincy government has been deprived from stamping the visa for the author; Second, it was difficult to find a liner operating in this route; Thirst, after finding one ship finally the officer who issued the author ticket could not imagine him on board as it would be a destressing voyage.
The boat was extremely compacted, uncomfortable though the author has taken one position of the only four bunks on board. However, he met two big name riff-raff on board, andre breton and victor serge. with andre breton they write to each other to discuss the relationships between aesthetic beauty and absolute originality, while with serge victor the author realized his character, far from a virile charisma expected on a person conducting such subversive activities, was more like the monk or elder spinster. By realizing this, the author argue that 'each society uses analogous humna types to perform different social functions', and it would be easier to compare two societies if there would be some kind of grid to help anthropologists understanding the correspondences between similar people and their different social roles in different communities.
author then write in detail about the sanitary condition on board and described the race between fastidious passengers on using the hastly built bathroom and showerroom. After months of travel on the sea and the horrible sanitary process everyday, author writes the prospect of having a shower overpowering any other will from decent meal to clean sleep when they reach fort de france. It appears that the sanitary amenities were in this case the most craved of all passengers after long travel in which author termed as hydrotherapeutic dream.
However, the disembarkation was not pleasant as they imagined and it was actually the liner their idyllic refuge. The french soilder guarding the island were under a collective form of mental disrangement. And as so distant from their true enemy Germans thus it becomes abstract, they transfer their emotion of anger into the close-to-hand passengers and treat them as enemies. Everyone in the isalnd, as a matter of fact being isolated, are in a state of panic.
ramshackel, adj. 摇摇欲坠的； overrun with weeds, 弥漫着野草； deceive sb, 欺骗某人；In this respect, 在这方面；Ford, 法语中城堡的意思，用作ford de franc, 法兰西堡，法属马提尼克的首府；sb be plunged into 被丢进一种什么情况之中；uneventful, 平静无事的；spitefulness,憎恨；jailors,狱卒; ooze out, 缓缓溢出来，形容粘稠的液体流淌出来；insidious, adj,暗流涌动的，阴险的; be irritated by, 被什么激怒；hasten,加速了某件不好的事情，加剧；secrete like pus, 分泌脓；outbreak, 爆发，通常指爆发战争，outbreak of war; pleading, 恳求，央求；plain-clothes inspectors, 便衣巡察；sb give credence to sth, 某人相信某事；taken into custody, 被拘留；be detained, 监禁; bayonets, 刺刀；a is subject to B, A受到B的影响；sinister, 邪恶的，不想预兆的；getaway, 逃跑；at all costs, 不惜一切代价；by virtue of ，依据什么，凭借什么；concealed, 隐藏起来的; anarchist, 无政府主义者；Voltaire, 伏尔泰；impregnated the nation culture, 浸泡，渗透一个国家的文化；deference, 尊重，顺从；take pains to do sth, 费尽心思去做某事；leave somewhere for good, 永久离开某地；scathing,严厉的损伤的；brazenly, 厚脸皮，厚颜无耻的；show sth/sb in a very comic light; trek to somewhere, 非常艰难地跋涉到某地；fowls,家禽；assortment, 混合物；crammed with，塞满了；by means of， 依靠，通常指依靠什么方法；interspersed，点缀； under pain of， 违反则以...论处；infringe,违反某条规则； compels, v.逼迫；inventory,详细目录，财产清册；quarrel,争吵；the accused, the palintiff and the witnesses, 被告人，原告人和目击者；volubly,口若悬河地；groteque, 非常荒唐的；hot-tempered, 急躁的；scrupulousness,小心翼翼，谨慎；offhand, adj.随意的，即时的；incredulity, n.难以置信; owed thier A to B, 因为A而要感谢B；internment, 囚禁；deprive A of sth, 剥夺了A的某个东西；temptations/provocations/enticements,都表示诱惑的意思；quandary,不知道该如何做决定；manoeuvering, 精确地移动，也指军事演习；arborized, 树枝状的；agate,玛瑙；brimful,充满的，盈满的；none the less, 依然；preoccupied, 被沾满，一直在全力地想做什么，被什么事儿完全沾满；demarcation line, 分界线，通常指国家的分界线；resolved to do sth, 下定决心去做某事；to contend with, 和...打交道，和...斗智斗勇；comply with，遵守，符合；emissary,间谍，特使；intern sb, 囚禁某人; bertrand goldschmidt, 原子弹之父之一；embark on something, 开始从事某件很难的事儿；olfactory, adj.嗅觉的; lilac, 紫丁香；antilles, 法国和荷兰所属的安地列斯群岛；incidents, 曾经发生的时间，通常指不愉快的；recount,讲述；opperessive, 压抑的
3. The West Indies
The experience of the preceeding chapter for others might be an unheard-off, exceptional phenomenan, the author as an anthropologists expedited around different territories and social groups had been in familiar situation many times. he describes this expereince as insidious leakage from contemporary mankind, and claim that such leakage would continue oozing out here and there as it would never disappear.
Levi Strauss give examples of the similar experience before. At Bahia he had been taken into custody by plain-clothed inspectors because of taking photos of pleading nigger-boys, while at the port of santos, he has been imprisoned in his cabin by brazilian navy and two marines by virtue of obsolete instructions. But his rich experience of dealing with the officials made him behave brazenly by dictated a report to the official, somehow persuading the official that by taking this documents, he can take credit for saving his country for international humiliation. he stated another example of him being arrested at a larger village of bollivia (Interesing descriptions about the villages using airplane as local buses and squat on deck with fowls) because of their unfamiliar faces. The notice board of their interned house was so funny hhhhhhhh.
After these examples, authors mind comes back to his real-time position at Marinique. He recorded the only time he went to the assize court and see a farmber being imprisoned for 8 years in an offhand manner. In his mind law and court has been always associated with respect, solemnity and scrupulousness, but this witness he has was completely opposite and continue to amaze him when he remind the scenario even now. His companies who were interned owed their release to the local trademen as they argue that those passengers could bring the town financial benefits, therefore they were finally freed to spend their final france note on the island.
levi strauss wisely skipped the inspection of the Martinique but found himself in problem again entering America (puerto rico). The america custom office entertain his anthropological documents in the highest manner and intern him again in a hotel suspectin him as an emissary of vincy government. After writing about his perspective of understanding England and America from the Antilles and the India, he stopped to recount the endless instances in his life time of crossing those demarcation lines. He claims again this problem would not extinct and might even be degenerated in virtue of the oppressive environment at the moment.
trifling,微不足道的, trifling with,玩弄；omen,预言；dubious,可疑的不可信的；herald，v.预示...的到来；n.预兆；serene,平静的；parade-ground, 操练场；subordinates, 下属；discreet,谨慎小心的；din，嘈杂喧嚣声; onlookers, 旁边者；untarnished, 未经污染的；pristine, 原始的，淳朴的；implication, 后果，含义；mortify,使羞辱，使窘迫；dingy,昏暗的，肮脏的；shanty-towns, 棚户屋组成的乡村；prodigious,大量的；noxious, 有毒的；filth，污秽物,disgusting amount of dirt；irrevocable,不可逆的；painstakingly, 费尽周章的，煞费苦心的；menacing, 危险的；ofted for, 选择了；beetroot,甜菜根；daily bill of fare, 每日菜单；olfactory, 嗅觉的；insipidity, 无味的，清淡的；suspect,怀疑；sifted, 过滤，过筛；epidemics,流行病；pathetic, 可怜的；gloss over, 掩盖，草草了事，通常是掩盖错误；credulity,亲信；prompt, 鼓励，促进，激起；praseworthiness,值得称赞的；redeems,挽回了；elucidate,阐述清楚；vogue,时尚; prestige,声望；ordeals, 酷刑；adrift,漂流的；rafts, 竹筏； aggravate, 加剧，恶化；impaired, 受损的；emetics,催吐；lacerate,撕裂；fasciae, 筋膜；dorsal,背部的；resort to，依靠，凭借；dazed,迷惑的；compelling fate, 改变命运；slipping beyond the pale, 滑出围栏；plateau,高原； at variance with,与...不同；creed,信条；indifference, 漠不关心的；appalling,让人吃惊的；feeble, 微薄的；adversaries, 敌人；toils，陷阱；galleons, 西班牙三桅船；airfield,机场；cosmetics, 化妆品；ramshackle,摇摇欲坠的; riots,暴乱；emissaries, 间谍；stupendous, 难以想象的艰难； scorn, 轻蔑；dispelled, 清楚，confusion is being dispelled; forgetfulness,健忘；strata,地层；tremors，震动，震颤；edifice, 高楼大厦；oblivion,遗忘
4.The Quest for Power
Author still remembr a trifling incidence that for him seems like an omen herald the fate of future world. This incidence was his encounter with a french army on one of his voyage from france to brazil. The army is so loud, creating unbearable noices and made the civilian no place to escape from. He refers this situation to civilizations of the world as all have already been contaminated by one proliferating groups of people and would never be untarnished anymore.
as the world develop, author realizes that civilizations in different places ceased to be individual flowers that catered to its own environment and survive painstakingly, but assimilated each other to become one gigantic mass civilization, a monoculture which lost diversity and extremely boring. This made him understand why the public enjoy those travel book a lot as those books bring back the residence of super civilization some moral spices just like explorers brought back brasil, brasilwood, red dyd and pepper to the Henry IV dynasty hundred of years ago. They serve the same purpose of disrupting the present boredom of mass civilization and add some unexpected flavour into our daily bill of fare.
LS stressed another point of this moral spices, different from the genuine spice hundreds of years ago, are often falsified deliberately, from the writer, but also from the reader. He gave two examples of books on how their respective writers conjure up fictional ritual and imaginary isolated tribes in order to fulfill a collective orgasm on the purified, sanctified land and tribes. We together create some imaginary land where the prestine human life still survive and will never fall. This collective falsification implied that the massive, monolized civilization we are living in today has nothing surprising to be expected.
In lots of tribes of latin america who believe in spiritual animal and transcedental experience, the adolescnet risk their life venturing into extreme environment to seek a chance of breaking the social norm and order, to appell the supernatual force by torturing their physical body and henceforce bestowd with super power. The ventur into those marginal area where social norms cease to have any meaning, and where the protective laws and demands of the group no longer prevail. the author use the modern french adolscent to adress this behavior again as so many young man venture to different community, go to climb mountian and do those dangerous, exploring sport in order to come back their own community with the super power that betow them the priviledge to write bestseller, leacutre in packed halls and even just share with family members...
thanks to time and forgetfulness, author after 20 years of finishing his seeking over the world, now found his memories conjure up landscapes regarless of period, location and time. His earlier expeirence which may have no relationships to each other now stand side to side like an edifice in his memory. It is in this newly constructed world of oblivion,author manage to overcome his self delimma and revisit moments and locations as a whole.
Chateaubriand, 'everyman, carries within him a world which is composed of all that he has seen and loved, and to which he constantly returns, even when he is travelling through, and seems to be living in, some different world.' after 20 years of forgiveness, LS finally establish his communion with his earlier experience when he fail to understand its significance or appreciate its essence.
disposed towards doing sth,倾向于做某事儿； disposed towards sb, 偏向于，偏爱某人；antipodes,处于地球正负两级的；clumps, 大块儿的； kiosks，报刊亭； permeated, v.弥漫充满；crept in（creep in),悄悄混进；piecemeal,adj.逐渐的，零碎的；Pun, 双关语；barren of meaning, 没有意义的，意义贫乏的；tegucigalpa,洪都拉斯共和国首都；indifference,漠不关心的；extermination,灭绝,绝种；luncheon，正式的午餐；voice the offical view, 发出官方的看法；countenance，外表，面容；incumbent, 在职的，担负责任的； incumbent upon doing, 觉得有义务做什么事儿；expatriate,移居外国的；pastime,消磨时光；instinctive, 本能的，直觉的，天生的；vanity,虚荣心；temperament, 气质，性格；pedestal,基座，支架；affectation, 装腔作势,矫揉造作；exclaim，大声叫嚷; descendent, 祖传的，后裔；upheaval, 动乱；
5. Looking Back
A call at the morning of 1934 from Celestin Bougle decided Levi Strauss's career as an anthropologist. After heaing his proposal, the author still remember every detail of the image conjured up in mind at that moment. He imagined Brazil as the antipodes of France where everything should be radically different from his community. He also uncounsciously recognized brazil, due to its verbal similarity witht the word gresiller, as burning perfume. This interpretation of Brazil still remian in his mind.
the author and his supervisors had made assuptions thingking brazil as a territory with remaining Indians but in a luncheon party the Brazil ambasaddor surprised them with the official view saying that Indians have all been exterminated during 16th century and as sociologists they would not come across a single indian in brazil. Brazillian elite at that time can not bear the allusion of there were barbarious leftover in their country, which result in the extermination of indian tribes from 1918 to 1935. When author arrive Brazil in 1935, there were not a single indian left in san paulo but 3000 kilometers inside the jungle.
author use rest of the chapter to recount his friend and mentor, Victor Margueritte. He describes his temperament in detail and hail him as the best of acting as the descendent of whoel french literature. For LS, VM is such an entertaining figure in his early career.
