天声人语（日英汉对照版） 2010/12/24 「モナリザ」の目

abyssthinice

天声人語
VOX POPULI: No clue to the mystery deep in Mona Lisa's eyes

2010年12月24日（金）付


わが身が没するほどの愛を例えて、目に入れても痛くないという。砂粒ひとつ受け入れない急所なのに、かわいい子や孫なら中で転がして一体化したい。そんな思いだろう▼

The Japanese equivalent of the English idiom "the apple of one's eye" is "me ni iretemo itaku nai," which translates literally as "I feel no pain even when it gets in my eye."
The eye is a vital organ that feels considerable discomfort if a tiny grain of sand gets in it. But what the Japanese idiom implies is this: If you completely dote on your child or grandchild, you not only would feel no pain even if your little darling were to roll around in your eye, but you would also welcome the exquisite pleasure of feeling at one with the person who is the focus of your love.

形容忘我的爱，日语中说“目に入れても痛くない”（入目不痛）。本来是容不得一粒沙子的要害处，碰到疼爱的子孙，就愿意辗转其中、融为一体。是这么一种心情吧。


どんな溺愛（できあい）と同化の痕跡か、レオナルド・ダビンチの代表作「モナリザ」の目の中に、微細な文字が書かれていることがわかった。右の目には画家のイニシャルとおぼしき「ＬＶ」、左にも「ＣＥ」か「Ｂ」と読める字が確認された▼

Now, this obviously has nothing to do with that kind of dotage, but microscopic letters of the alphabet have been discovered in the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." Painted in her right pupil are the letters LV, which probably stand for the artist's initials. Her left pupil shows letters that read either as CE or B.

不知是何种溺爱和同化的痕迹，在列奥纳多·达芬奇的代表作《蒙娜丽莎》的眼中，发现写有细微的文字。已确认在右眼中有依稀为画家姓名首字母的“LV”，在左眼中也有可读为“CE”或“B”的字。


外電によれば、ルーブル美術館に出向いて発見したのはイタリアの文化遺産委員会。５０年前の本に〈モナリザの目は暗号に満ちている〉という記述を見つけ、高度の拡大鏡で調べてみたという。委員長は「５００年前の筆致は不鮮明だが、さらに謎を掘り下げたい」と語る▼

The letters were reportedly discovered by Italy's national committee for cultural heritage when it examined the famous painting with a powerful magnifying glass at the Louvre museum in Paris.
According to Silvano Vinceti, chairman of the committee, a book published half a century ago contends that Mona Lisa's eyes are "filled with hidden code," and his team of researchers decided to check it out.
"It was very difficult to make (the letters) out clearly... . You have to remember the picture is almost 500 years old. But we hope to be able to dig deeper into this mystery," Vinceti told reporters.

据外电报道，前往卢浮宫博物馆发现的是意大利的文化遗产委员会。据说在50年前的书中看到“蒙娜丽莎的眼睛充满密码”这一叙述，就用高倍放大镜试着查找。委员长说：“500年前的笔迹虽然模糊，但是还想进一步挖掘这个谜。”


ルネサンスの巨匠は、フランス国王の招きで渡仏した晩年まで、この絵を手元に置いて筆を入れ続けたとされる。微笑（ほほえ）むモデルは豪商の妻と伝わるが、「女装の自画像」とする説もある▼

The great Renaissance master spent the final years of his life in France at the invitation of Francis I and was said to have kept this painting by his side while he continued to touch it up. The model of this woman, wearing a faint smile, is commonly believed to be the wife of a wealthy businessman. However, some claim this is a "portrait of the artist himself in drag."

据信这位文艺复兴的巨匠直到晚年应法国国王之邀赴法，都将这幅画放在手头，不断润色。微笑的原型相传是富商的妻子，但也有一种说法是“男扮女装的自画像”。


天才は科学にも通じていた。解剖学への興味から目の研究も怠りなく、角膜の表面にたっぷり水をつけると視力を矯正できる、と考えていたらしい。『人工臓器物語』（筏義人〈いかだ・よしと〉著）にある。今のコンタクトレンズにつながる発想だ。眼中に忍ばせたサインは、後世の発明を見越した「特許願」にも見えてくる▼

A Renaissance Man par excellence, da Vinci was also well versed in science, and he studied the human eye out of his keen interest in anatomy.
According to Yoshito Ikada, author of "Jinko Zoki Monogatari" (Tales of artificial organs), da Vinci apparently believed that defective vision could be corrected by dousing the surface of the cornea with plenty of water. That basic concept anticipates the invention of contact lenses. In my fancy, I wonder if the secret code embedded in Mona Lisa's eyes could have been "patent applications" that da Vinci filed in anticipation of future inventions.

这位天才亦通晓科学。出于对解剖学的兴趣，也不懈地研究了眼睛，似乎想出了如果在角膜的表面附满水则能够矫正视力。见《人造器官的故事》（筏义人著）。这个想法导致今天隐形眼镜的出现。暗藏在眼中的签名也像是预见到后世发明的“专利申请”。


ダビンチの時代、魔法のルーペがあったとは思えない。では、肉眼で見えない字をいかにして書き入れたのか。一部始終を見届けたはずの瞳は、防弾ガラスの向こうから謎めいたまなざしを返すばかりである。

There wasn't anything like a magic magnifying glass in da Vinci's time. So how did he manage to inscribe such minuscule letters that cannot be seen by the naked eye?
Mona Lisa's mysterious eyes, which must have witnessed the entire procedure, only stare back at us from behind bulletproof glass.

在达芬奇的时代，不会有魔法般的放大镜。那么，肉眼看不见的字是如何写进去的呢？眼睛应该从头到尾目睹了这一切，却只是从防弹玻璃的背后回以神秘的目光。