In this episode, we will take the plunge into the story of Ariel, the Little Mermaid, to find out how and why Disney turned these stories into happy endings.

在本集，我們將深入探討小美人魚愛麗兒的故事，了解迪士尼如何以及為何將這些故事變成幸福的結局。

In the year 1712, a mermaid was captured just off the coast of the Island of Ambon in Indonesia.

1712年，一條美人魚在印尼安汶島海岸被捕獲。

According to lore, she survived in a tub for 4 days and 7 hours in the home of Samuel Fallours, an artist employed by the Dutch East India trading company, and then died.

根據傳說，她在荷蘭東印度貿易公司僱用的藝術家 Samuel Fallours 家中的浴缸裡存活了 4 天 7 個小時，然後死亡。

His drawing of the mermaid made it into the scientific marine biology book called "Natuurlyke Historie", or "Natural History", published in 1719, as if the mermaid was as real as any other fish in the sea.

他畫的美人魚被收入了 1719 年出版的科學海洋生物學書籍《Natuurlyke Historie》或《自然史》中，彷彿美人魚和海裡的其他魚一樣真實。

The belief in mythological creatures in the 18th century was still widespread, especially amongst sailors.

18 世紀，人們對神話生物的信念仍然很普遍，尤其是在水手中。

And if you have ever been on the open ocean, you can imagine why.

如果你曾經到過公海，你就可以想像為什麼。

There is something mysterious about a vast body of water ⏤ you never know what's lurking in the deep.

廣闊的水域有一些神秘的東西⏤你永遠不知道深處潛藏著什麼。

Although most of these mythological creatures are now in the realm of fables, some could actually be based on living animals, like the frightening Kraken.

儘管大多數神話生物現在都存在於寓言領域，但有些實際上可能是取材自活體動物，例如可怕的海妖。

It was long thought that sightings of giant squids were all fantasy, until Japanese researchers managed to actually record one on camera in 2004.

長久以來，人們一直認為巨型烏賊的目擊事件純粹是幻想，直到 2004 年日本研究人員成功用相機記錄了這一幕。

The first stories of mermaids date back to 5000 BC, and were part of Babylonian and Sumerian religions.

第一個美人魚的故事可以追溯到公元前 5000 年，是巴比倫和蘇美宗教的一部分。

Both cultures worshipped a god of the seas that had the torso of a human and the tail of a fish.

兩種文化都崇拜具有人軀幹和魚尾巴的海神。

In Greek Mythology, the so-called "sirens" with fishtails first made their appearance in the 7th century Before Christ (BC).

在希臘神話中，所謂的魚尾「塞壬」首次出現於西元前七世紀。

These sirens were known for shipwrecking sailors by luring them onto the rocks with their sweet singing voices and their pretty looks.

這些海妖以甜美的歌聲和漂亮的外表引誘失事的水手落入岩石而聞名。

By the middle ages, the Catholic Church adopted these stories to warn their followers about the dangers of seduction.

到了中世紀，天主教會採用這些故事來警告追隨者有關誘惑的危險。

And it worked; western sailors feared mermaids, as they were now associated with shipwrecks and drowning.

它奏效了； 西方水手害怕美人魚，因為它們現在與沉船和溺水聯繫在一起。

The enchanting nature of mermaids made them a very popular subject amongst artists.

美人魚的迷人本質使它們成為藝術家中非常受歡迎的主題。

Throughout the centuries, we see images of young and attractive half-human, half-fish creatures.

幾個世紀以來，我們看到了年輕而迷人的半人半魚生物的圖像。

And sometimes, they were accompanied by their male counterparts, the merman.

有時，他們會有男性同伴──人魚──陪伴。

But it was the image of the young and pretty mermaids that stuck and inspired Hans Christian Andersen to write his 1837 masterpiece, "The Little Mermaid".

但年輕漂亮的美人魚的形象卻深深吸引了安徒生，並啟發他於 1837 年寫下了他的傑作《小美人魚》。

In 1989, Disney adopted this story and gave life to one of their most iconic characters of all time, Ariel.

1989 年，迪士尼採用了這個故事，並賦予了迪士尼有史以來最具標誌性的角色之一——愛麗兒生命。

It might surprise you how many Disney movies are adaptations of Andersen's work.

你可能會對於有多少迪士尼電影是根據安徒生的作品改編的而感到驚訝。

"The Ugly Duckling", "The Little Match Girl", and, of course, this one, "The Snow Queen".

《醜小鴨》、《賣火柴的小女孩》，當然還有這部《雪之女王》。

But the fairy tales by Andersen were a little darker than Disney's.

但安徒生的童話故事比迪士尼的童話故事更黑暗。

In the original version of "The Little Mermaid", she does not end up marrying the handsome prince and live happily ever after.

在原版《小美人魚》中，她並沒有最終嫁給英俊的王子並從此過著幸福快樂的生活。

Her ordeal includes excruciating pain with every step she takes with her new legs, a devious plot to kill the prince, and, in the end, even her own death.

她所經歷的磨難包括用新腿邁出的每一步都帶來劇痛，策劃謀殺王子的陰謀，甚至最終導致她自己的死亡。

Disney's insight was to make stories like these a little more sweet, happy, and suitable for all ages.

迪士尼的洞察力是讓這樣的故事變得更加甜蜜、快樂，並且適合所有年齡層。

They did this not only with Andersen's stories, but also with their adaptations of fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers.

他們不僅用安徒生的故事來做到這一點，還用格林兄弟童話故事的改編來做到這一點。

In the original Cinderella story, for example, the evil stepsisters mutilated themselves badly in order to fit the slipper.

例如，在最初的灰姑娘故事中，邪惡的繼姊為了穿上拖鞋而嚴重殘害自己。

The first stepsister cut off her toes and the second stepsister cut off her heels.

第一個繼姊妹砍掉了她的腳趾，第二個繼姊砍掉了她的腳跟。

And in the end, the elder sister even gets her eyes poked out by the white doves that are released at the Prince and Cinderella's wedding.

最後，姊姊甚至被王子和灰姑娘婚禮上放出的白鴿子戳瞎了眼睛。

Quite vindictive.

相當記仇。

Apparently, in the 19th century, people could still handle fairy tales that were dark and did not always have a happy ending.

顯然，在 19 世紀，人們仍然可以接受黑暗且不總是有美好結局的童話故事。

Walt Disney, however, decided that fairy tales should have happy endings.

然而，華特迪士尼認為童話故事應該有幸福的結局。

And this decision paid off⏤just look at the popularity of the modern remakes of their most famous movies.

這個決定得到了回報⏤只要看看他們最著名的電影的現代翻拍版的受歡迎程度就知道了。

The visual appearance of mermaids survived 5.000 years of history and has not changed that much, which is pretty impressive.

美人魚的視覺外觀經歷了5000年的歷史，並沒有太大的變化，這是相當令人印象深刻的。

However, stories surrounding mermaids have changed.

然而，有關美人魚的故事已經改變了。

From gods of the seas to evil demon temptresses to Ariel⏤quite a leap.

從海神到邪惡的惡魔誘惑者，再到愛麗兒⏤，這是一個很大的飛躍。

Fairy tales are like time capsules and can tell us a lot about the period they originated from.

童話故事就像時間膠囊，可以告訴我們很多關於它們起源的時期。

So... what does Ariel tell us about our time?

那麼......愛麗兒告訴我們關於我們這個時代的什麼？

And what do you think?

你覺得怎麼樣？

Is it art?

這是藝術嗎？

Let us know in the comments whether you think mermaids can be art or not, and let us know your suggestions for future episodes of "Is This Art?"

請在評論中告訴我們你是否認為美人魚可以成為藝術，並讓我們知道你對《這就是藝術嗎？》未來劇集的建議。

And if you have any other ideas, or feedback maybe, make sure to leave that as well!

如果你有任何其他想法或回饋，請務必留言！

Our team is always working hard to make sure that this series is the best it can be.

我們的團隊一直在努力確保這個系列是最好的。

Thanks for watching.

感謝收看。