2018-09-19

Before the concept of countries existed, Luzia walked the broad savanna of what is now south-central Brazil. Her remains were buried in the Vermelha Cave about 11, 500 years ago until they were found and studied in the 20th century. Researchers later said her existence challenged the basic understanding of how humans migrated, and when.

在国家概念出现之前，Luzia走过了现在巴西中南部的广阔草原。她的遗体大约在11,500年前被埋在Vermelha洞穴里，直到20世纪才被发现和研究。研究人员后来说，她的存在挑战了人类如何迁移以及何时迁移的基本理解。

Luzia's remains are among nearly 20 million items feared incinerated after a blaze roared through Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum on Sunday, in an inferno that Brazilian officials and scientists are describing as an unbearable erasure of human history potentially caused by years of neglect.

周日，巴西里约热内卢国家博物馆(里约热内卢de Janeiro de Janeiro)发生一场大火，近2000万件文物被火化，Luzia的遗体是其中之一。巴西官员和科学家称，这场大火对人类历史的抹杀令人无法忍受，可能是多年忽视造成的。

The fire was like “a lobotomy of the Brazilian mory, ” said Marina Silva, a former environment minister and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, according to the Guardian. Video of the blaze showed twin columns of towering fire reaching against black sky.

President Michel Temer said Monday the loss was “incalculable to Brazil”.

据《卫报》报道，前环境部长、即将到来的总统大选候选人玛丽娜·席尔瓦(Marina Silva)说，大火就像“切除了巴西人的记忆”。大火的视频显示，两列高耸的火柱直指漆黑的天空。

巴西总统米歇尔•特梅尔(Michel Temer)周一表示，损失“对巴西来说不可估量”。

Police clad in riot gear held back an angry, massive crowd calling for Temer's resignation at the smoldering museum. BBC reporter Katy Wilson said “thousands” at the scene blamed the fire on years of austerity measures for lack of funding and modernization efforts at museum.

身穿防暴装备的警察阻止了在冒烟的博物馆里要求特梅尔辞职的愤怒的人群。BBC记者凯蒂·威尔逊说，现场的“数千人”将火灾归咎于多年的紧缩措施，认为博物馆缺乏资金和现代化努力。

Brazil has struggled to emerge from a 2014 recession and the political fallout that followed, and the museum blaze threatens to become a symbol for angry Brazilians frustrated by high unemployment and glacial economic growth.

巴西一直在努力摆脱2014年的经济衰退和随之而来的政治影响，而博物馆大火可能会成为巴西人因高失业率和缓慢的经济增长而感到沮丧的愤怒象征。

The museum, which celebrated its 200th anniversary this year, was founded a few years before the country itself. It is the biggest natural history museum in Latin America.

今年，这座博物馆迎来了它的200周年纪念。它是拉丁美洲最大的自然历史博物馆。