抗议捕鲸，丹麦小美人鱼雕像被喷红漆

丹麦的小美人鱼雕像最近又遭殃了，浑身被喷上了红漆，看上去“血淋淋的”，惨不忍睹。原来是动物保护者借此抗议人们残忍的捕鲸行动。自从1963年以来，小美人鱼屡屡成为文物破坏者的目标，多次被涂油漆、割头、割手臂，甚至被炸掉。这座小美人鱼雕像能“幸存”到今天，没有像安徒生童话中一样化为泡沫，还真是不易。

A Little Mermaid statue has been coated in red paint by animal rights activists protesting brutal whale hunts in Denmark. 
为抵制丹麦残忍的捕鲸活动，动物权利保护人士将小美人鱼雕像涂满了红漆。

The 94-year-old monument, a tribute to Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, was found covered in paint on Tuesday morning. 
周二清晨，小美人鱼雕像被发现喷满了红漆。这座有94年历史的雕像是为了向丹麦童话作家汉斯•克里斯蒂安•安徒生致敬。

Vandals had then written 'Denmark defend the whales of the Faroe Islands' on a footpath nearby. 
破坏者还在附近的一条小径上写下“丹麦应当保护法罗群岛的鲸鱼”。

Every year around 800 pilot whales are herded into coves on the Faroe Islands before being stabbed to death during a hunt known as grindadrap - or 'the grind'. 
每年，约八百头领航鲸被赶进法罗群岛的海湾，然后在被称为“法罗群岛捕鲸行动”中被杀死。

Traditionally a bonfire was lit when a pod of whales was spotted near the islands in order to alert fishermen to ready their boats. 
传统习惯是，每当在岛屿附近出现一群鲸鱼，就会有人点燃篝火，提醒渔民准备船只出航捕猎。

Today word spreads on social media before the vessels head out to drive the mammals into the shore. 
而现在，在船只驱赶鲸鱼靠岸前，捕鲸的消息会通过社交媒体传播。

Hunters armed with knives mounted on long poles then gather in a cove, where they kill the animals by severing their spinal chords and arteries. 
捕鲸者们会带上有长杆的刀，聚集在一个海湾旁。在那里，他们会切断鲸鱼的脊椎和动脉来杀死它们。

The practice dates back at least 300 years. Locals say the whales are not under threat and the killings violate no laws. 
这样的捕鲸行动可以追溯到至少300年前。当地人说，鲸鱼并没有受到数量锐减的威胁，而且这种捕鲸行动是并不违法。

The Faroe Islands comprises 17 inhabited islands located around 260 miles north of John O'Groats, Scotland. 
法罗群岛位于苏格兰约翰奥格罗茨以北约260英里处，包含17个有人居住的岛屿。

In the 1940s the population voted to succeed from Denmark, but after the government failed to agree a deal the proposal was dropped in favour of laws allowing greater home rule. 
在二十世纪四十年代，法罗群岛通过公投脱离丹麦，但政府未能达成协议，所以该提案被放弃了，取而代之的是更加宽松的群岛内部法。

Today the islands are largely self-governing, though still technically part of the Kingdom of Denmark. 
如今，法罗群岛在很大程度上都是自治的，不过，从严格意义上讲，该群岛仍是丹麦王国的一部分。

Pilot whales are highly sociable and intelligent creatures, and researchers believe they are capable of grief and may even possess their own culture. 
领航鲸是具有高级社交能力和智力的生物。研究人员认为它们有悲伤的能力，甚至可能拥有自己的文化。

The Faroese hunts rely on the whales' loyalty to work, as the mammals will attempt to defend each other even while being hacked to death. 
法罗群岛捕鲸活动主要利用的是鲸鱼对族群的忠诚。因为这种哺乳动物即便要被袭击杀死也会试图保护彼此。

小美人鱼雕像屡次成为故意损害文物者的目标

Finished in 1913, the Little Mermaid statue spent its first 50 years virtually untouched, before becoming a target for politically-minded vandals. 
小美人鱼雕像于1913年完工，前五十年一直安然无恙，直到被有政治头脑的破坏者设为目标。

The bronze sculpture was first doused with paint in 1963, with copycat vandalisms in 1972, 2006, and two in 2007. 
这座青铜雕塑在1963年首次被破坏者涂上了油漆，接着在1972年和2006年各有一次类似的遭遇，2007年被涂了两次。

The most well-known defacing occurred in 1964 when the mermaid's head was cut off and stolen by artists from the Situationist movement. 
最臭名昭著的损毁雕像事件发生在1964年，雕塑的头部被几个情境主义运动艺术家切下并偷走。

Police never recovered the head, and a new one had to be cast. 
警方未能追回雕塑的头部，不得不为小美人鱼重新浇筑了一个头。

In 1984 the right arm was cut off from the wrist to the shoulder, before being returned two days later. 
1984年，小美人鱼的右臂被从肩膀处割断，两天后才被还回来。

There was another failed decapitation in 1990, before someone succeeded in removing the head again in 1998. 
1990年，有人蓄谋再次割下小美人鱼的头部，但是失败了。而在1998年，小美人鱼的头部又被割走了。

Again the culprit was never caught, though this time the head was returned to a local television station and reattached. 
同上一次一样，作案者一直未被抓获。但是这一次雕塑头部被送回了当地的一家电视台，后来又被重新安了回去。

In 2004 explosives were used to blow the mermaid off her pedestal, and she was later found floating in the harbour with holes in her knee and waist. 
2004年，有人用炸药将小美人鱼从基座上炸了下来，被发现漂浮在港口附近，膝盖和腰部布满了小洞。