【精英翻譯】的部落格

The Amazing Legacy of the Unknown Woman of the Seine

CPR安妮的前世今生

精英翻譯社轉自https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0062/351227/web/

The face of an unknown young woman who drowned in the Seine River would go on to be famous.

一位溺斃於塞納河、身分不詳的年輕女子，其臉龐後來變得非常著名。

According to a Parisian legend, sometime in the late 19th century, the dead body of a young woman was pulled out of the Seine River. No one knew who she was, so the Paris mortuary put her on public display, hoping that someone would identify her. No one came forward and to this day, her identity remains a mystery. However, an attendant at the mortuary found her peaceful half-smile so beautiful that he had a death mask made from her face. This is how L’Inconnue de la Seine (The Unknown Woman of the Seine) was born.

根據一則巴黎的傳說，在十九世紀末某時，一具年輕女屍從塞納河被撈了上來。沒有人知道她是誰，因此巴黎殯儀館將她公開示眾，以期找到能辨識其身分的人。當時始終沒有人出面，時至今日她的身分仍是個謎。然而，一位殯儀館人員發現她平靜的淺笑非常美麗而用她的臉做了一個死亡面具（編按：死亡面具用途常為保存對死者的回憶，或於十八、九世紀時作為確認遺體身分之用）。「塞納河的無名少女」就此誕生。

The face of L’Inconnue may have started as a plaster cast, but it quickly spread from the mortuary to nearby souvenir shops. From there, casts of her gently smiling face spread across Europe and inspired painters, poets, and novelists. Images of L’Inconnue’s face appeared on the walls of upper and middle class homes as a must-have decoration.

「無名少女」的臉也許最初是一張石膏翻模，但它很快地從殯儀館轉傳到鄰近的紀念品店。從那之後，她婉約微笑臉龐的模具風靡了歐洲，並啟發了畫家、詩人以及小說家。「無名少女」臉龐的圖像遂出現在上流及中產階級家中的牆上，成為一種必備裝飾。

Since then, the girl called “the Mona Lisa of Paris” has been brought back to life time and again.

從那時開始，這位被稱為「巴黎蒙娜麗莎」的女孩便不斷獲得重生的機會。