Decorating your birthday suit would add another personal story

裝飾你的身體，可以為至少8000年的紋身歷史中

to a history of tattoos stretching back at least 8000 years.

增添另一道個人故事

Tattooed mummies from around the world attest to the universality

世界各地的紋身木乃伊證實了

of body modification across the millennia,

幾千年以來修改身體的普遍性

and to the fact that you really were stuck with it forever

也證實了如果你的文明沒有成功發明雷射去除手術

if your civilization never got around to inventing laser removal.

刺青真的會永遠地跟著你

A mummy from the Chinchorro culture in pre-Incan Peru

一個在秘魯前印加文明的新克羅文化的木乃伊

has a mustache tattooed on his upper lip.

在他的上唇有個鬍子的刺青

Ötzi, mummified iceman of the Alps, has patterned charcoal tats along his spine,

Ötzi，被木乃伊化的阿爾卑斯山冰人，沿著他的脊椎

behind his knee and around his ankles,

膝蓋後方及腳踝周圍都有木炭刺青的圖騰

which might be from an early sort of acupuncture.

這可能是早期針灸的結果

The mummy of Amunet, a priestess in Middle Kingdom Egypt,

名為Amunet的埃及中王國時期女祭司的木乃伊

features tattoos thought to symbolize sexuality and fertility.

則是因被認為象徵性慾及生殖能力的紋身而著名

Even older than the mummies,

遠在木乃伊出現以前

figurines of seemingly tattooed people,

就有看似紋身人物的小雕像

and tools possibly used for tattooing date back tens of thousands of years.

以及可能用來紋身的工具，其歷史可追朔到好幾萬年前

Tattoos don't have one historical origin point that we know of,

就我們所知，紋身並沒有單一的歷史起源

but why do we English speakers call them all tattoos?

但是為何在英文裡統稱他們為tattoos?

The word is an anglophonic modification of "tatao,"

這個字是由在大溪地使用的玻里尼西亞字 tatao

a Polynesian word used in Tahiti,

修改而成的英文

where English captain James Cook landed in 1769

英國船長James Cook在1769年登陸大溪地

and encountered heavily tattooed men and women.

並且遇到身上佈滿紋身的男男女女

Stories of Cook's findings and the tattoos his crew acquired

Cook船長故事裡的發現，以及他船員們所紋的刺青

cemented our usage of "tattoo" over previous words like

確立了我們對 tattoo 這個字的使用

"scarring," "painting," and "staining,"

而不是 scarring, painting, staining 這些字

and sparked a craze in Victorian English high society.

並且引起了英國維多莉亞時期的上流社會一陣瘋狂

We might think of Victorians having Victorian attitudes

雖然我們可能認為維多莉亞時期的人

about such a risque thing,

對這種妨礙風俗的事物，有種「維多莉亞態度」

and you can find such sentiments, and even bans, on tattooing throughout history.

你可以從整個紋身的歷史中，發現相似的想法甚至是禁令

But while publicly some Brits looked down their noses at tattoos,

儘管有些英國人公開的貶低紋身

behind closed doors and away from their noses, lots of people had them

但私底下卻有很多人紋身

Reputedly, Queen Victoria had a tiger fighting a python,

據說維多莉亞女王甚至有個老虎大戰蟒蛇的刺青

and tattoos became very popular among Cook's fellow soldiers,

而且紋身在Cook的同儕士兵中廣為盛行

who used them to note their travels.

他們用紋身來記錄他們的旅途

You crossed the Atlantic? Get an anchor.

你橫越了大西洋？ 來個錨的刺青吧

Been south of the Equator? Time for your turtle tat.

曾到過赤道以南？ 是時候來個烏龜的刺青了

But Westerners sported tattoos long before meeting

但西方人早在遇到南太平洋上的

the Samoans and Maori of the South Pacific.

薩摩亞人跟毛利人之前，就開始紋身了

Crusaders got the Jerusalem Cross so if they died in battle,

如果十字軍在戰鬥時陣亡，他們會被紋上耶路薩冷十字

they'd get a Christian burial.

並以基督教喪禮下葬

Roman soldiers on Hadrian's Wall had military tattoos

駐守在哈德良長城上的羅馬士兵有著軍事紋身

and called the Picts beyond it "Picts," for the pictures painted on them.

他們因為長城外皮克特人身上有著圖案，而稱其為 Picts

There's also a long tradition of people being tattooed unwillingly.

還有在人們不情願的情況下紋身的悠久歷史

Greeks and Romans tattooed slaves and mercenaries to discourage

古希臘和羅馬人都會在他們的奴隸跟傭人身上刺青

escape and desertion.

來阻礙他們的逃亡

Criminals in Japan were tattooed as such as far back as the 7th century.

最早在7世紀的時候，日本的罪犯就會被紋身

Most infamously, the Nazis tattooed numbers on the chest or arms

最惡名昭彰的就是納粹在奧斯威辛集中營內的猶太人及其他囚犯的

of Jews and other prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp

胸膛、或是手臂上刺上編號

in order to identify stripped corpses.

以便辨認赤裸的屍體

But tattoos forced on prisoners and outcasts can be redefined

但是隨著人們接受囚犯跟被放逐的人們的身分及過往

as people take ownership of that status or history.

他們身上的紋身可被賦予新的意義

Primo Levi survived Auschwitz and wore short sleeves to Germany after the war

Primo Levi在奧斯威辛集中營中存活下來，並在戰後德國穿著短袖

to remind people of the crime his number represented.

好讓人們記得他手上號碼代表的罪行

Today, some Holocaust survivors' descendants

時至今日，有部分大屠殺受害者的後代子孫們

have their relatives numbers' tattooed on their arms.

都會把他們親戚的號碼刺在他們的手臂上

The Torah has rules against tattoos,

希伯來聖經有條文禁止紋身

but what if you want to make indelible what you feel should never be forgotten?

但是如果你想要銘記那些永不想忘記的事情怎麼辦？

And those criminals and outcasts of Japan, where tattooing was eventually outlawed

雖然在19世紀中期至二戰後的這段時間內

from the mid-19th century to just after World War II,

紋身在日本是會被取締的

added decoration to their penal tattoos,

但是那些罪犯及流亡者們仍會在他們受刑紋身上

with designs borrowed from woodblock prints, popular literature

加上有浮世繪、通俗文學

and mythical spirtual iconography.

及心靈信仰圖像設計的裝飾

Yakuza gangs viewed their outsider tattoos as signs of lifelong loyalty and courage.

日本極道組織視外人入會的紋身為一生的忠心及勇氣的表現

After all, they lasted forever and it really hurt to get them.

畢竟，它們會永久地存在，而且要獲得刺青真的很痛

For the Maori, whose tattoos were an accepted mainstream tradition.

對毛利人來說，紋身是個被接受的主流文化

If you shied away from the excruciating chiseling in of your moko design,

如果你逃避這痛苦的毛利圖騰的鑿入過程

your unfinished tattoo marked your cowardice.

你未完成的紋身就是你懦弱的標記

Today, unless you go the traditional route,

今日，除非你採取傳統的方法

your tattoo artist will probably use a tattoo machine

你的紋身工作者大概會使用一個刺青的機器

based on the one patented by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891,

由Samuel O'Reilly在1891年的專利改造而來

itself based on Thomas Edison's stencil machine from 1876.

這專利則是由1876年Thomas Edison的模印機改良而來

But with the incredibly broad history of tattoos giving you so many options,

廣闊無比的歷史給了你這麼多選擇

what are you going to get?

那你要刺什麼圖案呢？

This is a bold-lined expression of who you are,

紋身是個用粗線表現自我

or you want to appear to be.

或是表現你心中理想自我的方法

As the naturalist aboard Cook's ship said of the tataoed Tahitians,

就如登上Cook船的博物學家針對紋身的大溪地人所說的一樣

"Everyone is marked, thus in different parts of his body,

「每個人都有標記，或許根據他的幽默

according maybe to his humor or different circumstances of his life."

也或許根據他的人生境遇，而在他身上不同的地方留下記錄」

Maybe your particular humor and circumstances

或許你特定的幽默及境遇

suggest getting a symbol of cultural heritage,

促使你刺個文化遺產的圖騰

a sign of spirituality, sexual energy,

或是代表靈性、性能量的圖騰

or good old-fashioned avant-garde defiance.

甚至是復古與前衛對立的圖騰

A reminder of a great accomplishment,

或是對某個偉大成就的回憶

or of how you think it would look cool if Hulk Hogan rode a Rhino.

或者是刺Hul Hogan（美國職業摔角選手）騎著犀牛，如果你認為這看起來會很酷的話

It's your expression, your body, so it's your call.

這是你的表達方式、你的身體，所以這操之在你

Just two rules:

只有兩個法則

you have to find a tattooist who won't be ashamed to draw your idea,

你得找個不會因畫出你想法而感到羞愧的紋身工作者

and when in doubt, you can never go wrong with "Mom."

另外一點就是，當你心有懷疑時，刺個「媽媽」永遠都不會錯