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There is a British redcoat, right on the edge of frame,
这里有位英国士兵 就在画面的边上
slinking off into the distance with his Indian mistress.
正和他的印度情妇偷偷溜走
This is the British and the Indians,
这是英国人和印度人
enjoying one another's company.
互相享受着对方的陪伴
Socialising, interacting together in easy informality.
放松随意地交流着
What there is no hint of whatsoever, in this painting,
这幅画中没有提到的是
is the sort of deeply distrustful and highly racialised relationship
一种极度不信任且种族间泾渭分明的关系
that was going to develop
在之后的十九世纪
between the British and the Indians later on in the 19th century.
英国人和印度人之间会变成这样
By 1800, India was a land in transition.
十九世纪初 印度正经历转型
As dissent and poor leadership
当政治分歧和糟糕的统治
had eroded the Mughal dynasty's power,
削弱了莫卧儿王朝的力量
the British East India Company had wasted no time
英国东印度公司毫不浪费时间
in increasing its influence.
急速扩张它的影响力
On the throne in Delhi
德里王位上坐着的是
sat the blind puppet emperor Shah Alam,
目盲的傀儡皇帝沙.阿拉姆二世
described by one poet as merely a chessboard king.
一位诗人说他就是棋盘上的王
Yet he was heir to a lavish court,
不过他继承了奢华的宫廷
and a centuries-old tradition of Mughal art,
以及莫卧儿几百年来的艺术传统
painted in vivid, jewel-like colours.
画中有着宝石般的明艳颜色
To this court came William Fraser,
来到这宫廷的是威廉.弗雷泽
a young, Scottish representative of the East India Company.
一位东印度公司年轻的苏格兰代表
Fraser was not himself a painter, but a patron of art.
弗雷泽自己并不是画家而是艺术赞助者
And though he was surrounded
虽然他身处在
by the decaying remains of a royal city in decline,
一座衰败腐朽的皇室都城
he was also dazzled by the art, the poetry,
他还是为这里的艺术 诗歌
and above all, the people of Delhi.
尤其是德里的人而目眩神迷
The more Fraser learned about the culture around him,
随着弗雷泽越来越熟悉周围的文化
the more he himself changed.
他自己的变化也越来越多
He began to wear Indian clothes.
他开始穿上印度服饰
He grew his beard in an Indian style
蓄起印度风格的胡子
and he fathered children with Indian women.
和印度女子一起生养子女
He had, in the parlance of the day, gone native.
按照当时的说法 他已经成了一个本地人
Fraser was one of several company men
弗雷泽是当时公司里负责
who commissioned Indian artists
委托印度艺术家来记录这个国家
to document the country's rich, complex culture.
丰富而复杂的文化的几人之一
