英語聽力文摘594 為什么埃及艷后要化妝？
- 聽力原文
- 參考譯文
Why Did Cleopatra Wear Makeup?
Over five thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians used eye shadow, not only for cosmetic but practical purposes as well. Dark pigment painted around the eye helped protect the eye from the bright midday sun glaring off the desert sands.
The earliest eye paint in ancient Egypt was a thick, bright green paste made from the mineral malachite.
By the time Queen Cleopatra came to power in the 1st century BC, Egyptian women had at their disposal a whole rainbow of cosmetics, all of which were made from rocks, minerals, and plants in the region. Cleopatra used the bright green malachite paste of the ancient Egyptians on her lower eyelids.
On her upper eyelids, she used a deep blue eye shadow with gold-colored pyrite flecks, made from ground lapis lazuli stone. She darkened her eyebrows and lengthened her eyelashes with black kohl, a mixture of powdered lead sulfide and animal fat. And for lipstick and rouge, Cleopatra used red ochre, a type of clay colored red by iron oxide.
The Egyptian queen even wore nail polish, made of the reddish-brown dye called henna, which comes from the Egyptian privet tree. And Cleopatra often had her palms painted with henna in elaborate designs. Like the ancient Egyptians before her,
Cleopatra used her cosmetics not simply for beauty’s sake, but for certain benefits that beauty might bring. With Julius Caesar as her lover and, later, Marc Antony as her husband, Cleopatra consolidated Egypt’s power with that of Rome.
為什么埃及艷后要化妝?
5000多年以前，古埃及人畫眼影不僅僅只是追求漂亮，其實它是有實際用途的。正午的艷陽照射著沙漠，抹在眼部周圍的黑色涂料能夠保護(hù)眼睛免受強(qiáng)光的傷害。
古埃及人最早使用的眼影是由一種礦物質(zhì)—孔雀石制成的它，看起來就像一團(tuán)厚厚的亮綠色糊狀物。
公元前1世紀(jì)，埃及艷后克里奧佩德拉開始掌權(quán)后，埃及女性便可以自由使用各種各樣的化妝品，這些化妝品均由當(dāng)?shù)氐氖瘔K，礦物質(zhì)及一些植物制成。埃及艷后則在她的下眼瞼上涂抹古埃及人曾使用的孔雀石眼影。
在上眼瞼中，她會用一種帶有金色黃鐵礦斑點的深綠色眼影，這種眼影的原材料是天青石。同時，她還會描眉，用黑色的眼圈粉來拉長睫毛。這種眼圈粉是由粉狀的硫化鉛和動物油脂混合而成。對于口紅和腮紅的選擇，埃及艷后則會選用赤鐵礦粘土，這種粘土?xí)蜓趸F的作用呈現(xiàn)出紅色。
埃及艷后甚至還懂得亮甲，她的指甲油是由叫做指甲花的紅褐色染料制成，這種指甲花生長在埃及女貞樹上。同時，埃及艷后也經(jīng)常會在手掌中用指甲花做出各種各樣的精致圖案，就像在她之前的古埃及人那樣。
埃及艷后使用化妝品不純粹為了追求漂亮，而是漂亮之余帶來的一些好處，埃及艷后曾做過朱利葉斯凱撒的情人，后來又嫁給了馬克安東尼，她利用自己在羅馬的勢力鞏固了埃及政權(quán)。
