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The 100-year-old magic trick 经典魔术 “人体切割” 诞生一百年

学习要点

有关 “magic（魔术）” 的词汇

边看边答

Who created this 100-year-old magic trick?

文字稿

Michael J. Fitch, who is just one of many magicians taking part in a global, online celebration of a magical moment.

迈克尔·J·菲奇只是众多参与全球线上庆祝魔术神奇时刻活动的魔术师之一。

Michael J. Fitch, Magician
Whenever anyone says, you know, you're a magician, the first line – we hear it every day – is “oh, can you saw my wife in half?” or yeah, “Can you saw my husband in half?” And it’s, it’s… for some reason that illusion has stuck in everybody's mind and captured their imagination.

迈克尔·J·菲奇     魔术师
“每当有人说：‘你是一个魔术师’，我们接下来总会听到这句玩笑话：‘那你能把我的妻子锯成两半吗？ ’或者 ‘那你能把我的丈夫锯成两半吗？’ 不知为什么，那个幻象魔术在大家的脑海中根深蒂固，抓住了人们的想象力。”

And this is the man who created the illusion: P.T. Selbit. His real name was Percy Tibbles, but not everyone was impressed with his new trick.

这就是创作了这个幻象魔术的人：P·T·塞尔比特。他的真名是珀西·蒂布尔斯，但一开始，并不是所有人都对他的新把戏拍案称奇。

Noel Britten, President of the Magic Circle  
It was performed for the first time on stage without an audience to a bunch of agents and bookers, and Neville Maskelyne, who was the owner of one of these - the owner of the very venue the illusion was performed in for the first time, dismissed it.

诺尔·布里顿     英国魔术圈协会（The Magic Circle）主席
“人体切割魔术首次登台时，台下没有观众，只有一群经纪人和演出预定代理商，而内维尔·马斯克林，就是这个幻象魔术首演所在场馆的所有者，却对这个魔术不屑一顾。”

And while this anniversary is a celebration of P.T. Selbit’s creation, it’s worth noting this is very much a two-person trick.

虽然这次周年纪念是为了庆祝 P·T·塞尔比特的魔术创作，但值得一提的是，这其实是个双人戏法。

David Sillito, BBC correspondent
Would I be right in saying that a lot of the work’s going on inside the box?

大卫·西利托      BBC通讯员
“我这样说对吗：这个戏法的很多工作是在箱子里进行的？”

Helen Fitch, Magician
Of course, yeah. All the hard work goes on inside the box. Michael just has to stand there and put some blades in or knives in – he gets the easy part. Yeah, definitely!

海伦·菲奇     魔术师
“当然了。所有艰苦的工作都在箱子里进行。迈克尔只需要站在那里，把刀片或刀子插进去就行了，所以他做的那部分工作是非常简单的。”

Michael J. Fitch, Magician
That’s not true. It's magic. It's magic and it's all me – it’s magic.

迈克尔·J·菲奇     魔术师
“不是这样的。这可是魔术。这是变魔术，这是我的魔法。”

David Sillito, BBC correspondent
So, is this another example of men doing all the talking, claiming all the glory, while the women do the work?

大卫·西利托      BBC通讯员
“所以，这是不是又是一个男人喋喋不休，抢功劳，而女人辛苦做事的例子？”

Helen Fitch, Magician
Yeah, it’s always the way, isn’t it? Always the way! It’s always the women who do the hard work. Yeah!

海伦·菲奇     魔术师
“是的，总是这样，不是吗？总是这样！辛苦做事的总是女人。”

It is, then, a magical landmark. But a hundred years on, it is also perhaps a good time to think about exactly who is doing the magic.

所以，这是一个神奇的里程碑。但一百年过去了，或许也是思考到底是谁在变魔术的好时机。

词汇

moment 时刻

illusion 幻象

captured their imagination 抓住了他们的想象力

glory 功劳，荣耀

landmark 里程碑

问题答案

P.T. Selbit created the 100-year-old trick. His real name was Percy Tibbles.