那些年學校教給我們的十個最大"謊言"(3)

Gogh Cut Off His Own Ear

3.梵高自割其耳

If you ask a random person to describe Vincent van Gogh, they're more than likely to tell you he cut off his ear and mailed it to his girlfriend. None of that ever happened—but the truth is probably even more gruesome.

你只要隨便找個人問關於文森特·梵高的事，他極有可能告訴你，梵高自割其耳並將其贈與女友。實際上，這純屬子虛烏有，但真相甚至更爲殘酷。

The new theory on van Gogh's ear is that it was sliced off by his fellow painter Paul Gauguin during a fight. After looking through old records and letters from van Gogh, historian Hans Kaufmann believes that the two painters got into a scuffle, during which van Gogh threw a wine glass at his friend. Gauguin responded by unsheathing his sword—as you do—and sliced off van Gogh's ear; he then made up the entire story of van Gogh going mad so that he wouldn't be arrested.

有新的研究表明，梵高的耳朵是被他的好友畫家保羅·高更用劍削下。歷史學家考夫曼（Hans Kaufmann）對梵高書信及相關著作進行一番研究之後認爲，梵高與高更曾有過一次爭執，梵高將一杯葡萄酒潑在高更身上，高更自然不甘示弱地拔劍相向（換做你也會這樣），並砍下了梵高的一隻耳朵。隨後高更編造了整個故事，稱梵高已瘋，如此他便逃脫了牢獄之災。

There was obviously a rash of it going around because the homosexual lovers Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine got into a similar scuffle. In their case Rimbaud stabbed Verlaine in the hand with a fork—under the influence of absinthe—and then proceeded to get a rather painful reprimand in the behind, which landed Verlaine in the clink.

很顯然，這可能不過是高更憤怒下的魯莽之舉，因爲同性戀人亞瑟·蘭波 （Arthur Rimbaud）與保爾·魏爾倫 （Paul Verlaine）也曾有過類似的打鬥，期間，醉酒的魏爾倫用刀刺傷了蘭波的手腕，事後他也被逮捕入獄，受到相應的懲罰。

ns Evolved from Apes

2.人類由類人猿進化而來

In this scenario Christians have it right—but not the way they think. Early classes on evolution usually leave one basic impression: humans evolved from apes. Go to a zoo, and you can watch your genetic ancestors frolicking and flinging poop at each other.

基督徒在這個問題上的看法雖然正確，但事實卻不是他們所想的那樣。早期關於人類進化的觀點通常都有這樣一個基本思想：人類由類人猿進化而來。去動物園逛逛，你就能夠看見你的遺傳祖先嬉戲玩鬧，互擲糞便。

But that's not the way it happened. After all, evolution works by eliminating the inferior species while the stronger, better-adapted ones thrive. If that had happened then there wouldn't be any apes left, because we would have outcompeted them. The more likely theory is that humans and the great apes—chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans—started with a common ancestor, and then evolved in separate directions over the years. Specifically: four, eight, and twelve million years ago, respectively.

但事實遠非如此。可別忘了，進化是在淘汰弱者，留下更能適應環境的強者基礎上進行的。如果我們當真是由類人猿進化而來，那現在就不應該有類人猿的存在，因爲它們本該在"優勝劣汰"的原則下爲我們所淘汰。關於進化現在有了一個可能性比較大的新解，即人類與類人猿（黑猩猩、大猩猩和紅猩猩）曾擁有共同的祖先，然後隨着時間的推移分化成兩支。具體產生分支的時間分別是：四百萬、八百萬和一千二百萬年前。

And it's still happening—in the animal kingdom, at least. Researchers believe that less than one million years ago the eastern and western gorillas parted evolutionary ways, and are now developing in different directions.

這種分支過程現在仍在發生——至少動物界還存在類似分支過程。研究人員認爲，一百萬年前左右東西方大猩猩就曾產生分支，現在它們各自向着不同的方向繼續發展。

ksgiving (All of It)

1.感恩節（及其有關的一切）

Here's the lie: Pilgrims on the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Unprepared for the harsh winter, they were saved by the friendly natives, who gave them food and taught them how to plant corn. The following autumn, on their first harvest in the New World, they had a feast to commemorate the hardships they had survived, and Pilgrim and Indian (sorry, Native Americans) joined hands in celebration.

我們的教科書是如此描述的：1620年英國清教徒搭乘"五月花"號船抵達 "普利茅斯聖巖"（Plymouth Rock），由於沒有爲嚴冬做好足夠的準備，友好的當地人對他們施以援手，爲他們提供食物並教授他們如何種植玉米。不久他們便在這片新大陸上迎來了第一個豐收之秋，並且特意舉行了一次盛宴以紀念他們過去的艱辛，其間，清教徒與印第安人（抱歉，應該是美洲原住民）歡聚一堂，其樂融融。但這不過又是一個謊言。

The real story is a touch more cruel, murderous, and genocidal. Three years before the Pilgrims arrived, European fisherman and settlers had introduced a plague that had swept through the tribes of coastal New England and wiped out nearly ninety-six percent of the entire population. There were reportedly so many bodies that settlers would leave the towns rather than deal with them—only to introduce the bug to the next tribe they encountered. One report from a man named Howard Simpson stated, "Villages lay in ruins because there was no one to tend them. The ground was strewn with the skulls and the bones of thousands of Indians who had died and none was left to bury them."

真實的歷史更爲殘酷血腥，甚至近似於種族滅絕。三年前清教徒還未來到這裏時，歐洲漁民和定居者就曾帶來了一場瘟疫，新英格蘭地區的所有部落都遭逢此難，96%的居民因此喪生。據稱，當時歐洲定居者對因瘟疫喪生的屍體不加處理，任其留在印第安人的居住範圍之內，最後導致瘟疫向其他各個部落蔓延開來。霍華德·辛普森（Howard Simpson）曾經提到，"村莊成了廢墟，無人照管。成千上萬的印第安人屍骸遍地，無人埋葬"。

There's also evidence that the Pilgrims already knew about the plague, and so chose Cape Cod because they knew that the Indians had already been wiped out, leaving cleared lands and corn fields ripe for the taking. Even worse, the Pilgrims would steal food and tools from any Indians left alive, who were too weak to fight back. But the settlers in Virginia were actually eating the Indians, so I guess the Pilgrims weren't that bad by comparison. Yes, I did say eating them.

有證據表明，這些清教徒原本就已經知道這裏曾爆發過瘟疫，正是由於這樣他們才選擇在科德角（Cape Cod）登陸。他們早就知道印第安人幾近滅絕，留下大片領土和等待收割的玉米地。更糟的是，這些清教徒甚至從無力抵抗的倖存者手中掠奪糧食和工具。但相較於弗吉尼亞曾經的歐洲定居者嗜食印第安人的行爲，我覺得這些清教徒倒是仁慈了許多。對，你沒聽錯，歐洲定居者曾經的確嗜食過印第安人，這可是不爭的事實。

翻譯：李念 來源：前十網