3.Van Gogh Cut Off His Own Ear
3.梵高自割其耳
If you ask a random person to describe Vincent van Gogh, they're more than likely to tell you he cut off his ear and mailed it to his girlfriend. None of that ever happened—but the truth is probably even more gruesome.
你只要随便找个人问关于文森特·梵高的事，他极有可能告诉你，梵高自割其耳并将其赠与女友。实际上，这纯属子虚乌有，但真相甚至更为残酷。
The new theory on van Gogh's ear is that it was sliced off by his fellow painter Paul Gauguin during a fight. After looking through old records and letters from van Gogh, historian Hans Kaufmann believes that the two painters got into a scuffle, during which van Gogh threw a wine glass at his friend. Gauguin responded by unsheathing his sword—as you do—and sliced off van Gogh's ear; he then made up the entire story of van Gogh going mad so that he wouldn't be arrested.
有新的研究表明，梵高的耳朵是被他的好友画家保罗·高更用剑削下。历史学家考夫曼（Hans Kaufmann）对梵高书信及相关著作进行一番研究之后认为，梵高与高更曾有过一次争执，梵高将一杯葡萄酒泼在高更身上，高更自然不甘示弱地拔剑相向（换做你也会这样），并砍下了梵高的一只耳朵。随后高更编造了整个故事，称梵高已疯，如此他便逃脱了牢狱之灾。
There was obviously a rash of it going around because the homosexual lovers Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine got into a similar scuffle. In their case Rimbaud stabbed Verlaine in the hand with a fork—under the influence of absinthe—and then proceeded to get a rather painful reprimand in the behind, which landed Verlaine in the clink.
很显然，这可能不过是高更愤怒下的鲁莽之举，因为同性恋人亚瑟·兰波 （Arthur Rimbaud）与保尔·魏尔伦 （Paul Verlaine）也曾有过类似的打斗，期间，醉酒的魏尔伦用刀刺伤了兰波的手腕，事后他也被逮捕入狱，受到相应的惩罚。
2.Humans Evolved from Apes
2.人类由类人猿进化而来
In this scenario Christians have it right—but not the way they think. Early classes on evolution usually leave one basic impression: humans evolved from apes. Go to a zoo, and you can watch your genetic ancestors frolicking and flinging poop at each other.
基督徒在这个问题上的看法虽然正确，但事实却不是他们所想的那样。早期关于人类进化的观点通常都有这样一个基本思想：人类由类人猿进化而来。去动物园逛逛，你就能够看见你的遗传祖先嬉戏玩闹，互掷粪便。
But that's not the way it happened. After all, evolution works by eliminating the inferior species while the stronger, better-adapted ones thrive. If that had happened then there wouldn't be any apes left, because we would have outcompeted them. The more likely theory is that humans and the great apes—chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans—started with a common ancestor, and then evolved in separate directions over the years. Specifically: four, eight, and twelve million years ago, respectively.
但事实远非如此。可别忘了，进化是在淘汰弱者，留下更能适应环境的强者基础上进行的。如果我们当真是由类人猿进化而来，那现在就不应该有类人猿的存在，因为它们本该在"优胜劣汰"的原则下为我们所淘汰。关于进化现在有了一个可能性比较大的新解，即人类与类人猿（黑猩猩、大猩猩和红猩猩）曾拥有共同的祖先，然后随着时间的推移分化成两支。具体产生分支的时间分别是：四百万、八百万和一千二百万年前。
And it's still happening—in the animal kingdom, at least. Researchers believe that less than one million years ago the eastern and western gorillas parted evolutionary ways, and are now developing in different directions.
这种分支过程现在仍在发生——至少动物界还存在类似分支过程。研究人员认为，一百万年前左右东西方大猩猩就曾产生分支，现在它们各自向着不同的方向继续发展。
1.Thanksgiving (All of It)
1.感恩节（及其有关的一切）
Here's the lie: Pilgrims on the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Unprepared for the harsh winter, they were saved by the friendly natives, who gave them food and taught them how to plant corn. The following autumn, on their first harvest in the New World, they had a feast to commemorate the hardships they had survived, and Pilgrim and Indian (sorry, Native Americans) joined hands in celebration.
我们的教科书是如此描述的：1620年英国清教徒搭乘"五月花"号船抵达 "普利茅斯圣岩"（Plymouth Rock），由于没有为严冬做好足够的准备，友好的当地人对他们施以援手，为他们提供食物并教授他们如何种植玉米。不久他们便在这片新大陆上迎来了第一个丰收之秋，并且特意举行了一次盛宴以纪念他们过去的艰辛，其间，清教徒与印第安人（抱歉，应该是美洲原住民）欢聚一堂，其乐融融。但这不过又是一个谎言。
The real story is a touch more cruel, murderous, and genocidal. Three years before the Pilgrims arrived, European fisherman and settlers had introduced a plague that had swept through the tribes of coastal New England and wiped out nearly ninety-six percent of the entire population. There were reportedly so many bodies that settlers would leave the towns rather than deal with them—only to introduce the bug to the next tribe they encountered. One report from a man named Howard Simpson stated, "Villages lay in ruins because there was no one to tend them. The ground was strewn with the skulls and the bones of thousands of Indians who had died and none was left to bury them."
真实的历史更为残酷血腥，甚至近似于种族灭绝。三年前清教徒还未来到这里时，欧洲渔民和定居者就曾带来了一场瘟疫，新英格兰地区的所有部落都遭逢此难，96%的居民因此丧生。据称，当时欧洲定居者对因瘟疫丧生的尸体不加处理，任其留在印第安人的居住范围之内，最后导致瘟疫向其他各个部落蔓延开来。霍华德·辛普森（Howard Simpson）曾经提到，"村庄成了废墟，无人照管。成千上万的印第安人尸骸遍地，无人埋葬"。
There's also evidence that the Pilgrims already knew about the plague, and so chose Cape Cod because they knew that the Indians had already been wiped out, leaving cleared lands and corn fields ripe for the taking. Even worse, the Pilgrims would steal food and tools from any Indians left alive, who were too weak to fight back. But the settlers in Virginia were actually eating the Indians, so I guess the Pilgrims weren't that bad by comparison. Yes, I did say eating them.
有证据表明，这些清教徒原本就已经知道这里曾爆发过瘟疫，正是由于这样他们才选择在科德角（Cape Cod）登陆。他们早就知道印第安人几近灭绝，留下大片领土和等待收割的玉米地。更糟的是，这些清教徒甚至从无力抵抗的幸存者手中掠夺粮食和工具。但相较于弗吉尼亚曾经的欧洲定居者嗜食印第安人的行为，我觉得这些清教徒倒是仁慈了许多。对，你没听错，欧洲定居者曾经的确嗜食过印第安人，这可是不争的事实。
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