As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I’ve become preoccupied with looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling ( what better way to shatter the image of 19th-century prudery?).
【生词】preoccupied adj.全神贯注的，入神的, 被抢先占有的, 心事重重的
【翻译】作为一名始终致力于寻找那些能促使我们重新审视过去的文字或图像的历史学家，我如今格外热衷于搜寻那些展现我们维多利亚时代先辈微笑的照片——这无疑是打破19世纪保守主义形象的最佳方式。
I’ve found quite a few, and—since I started posting them on Twitter—they have been causing quite a stir.
【生词】stir vt.& vi.（使）移动, 搅拌, （使）行动, （使）微动; vt.使打起精神, 使奋起, 叫醒, 唤起; vi.苏醒, 奋起, 传播, 发生; n.搅动, 骚乱, 激动, 微动
【翻译】我发现了不少这样的内容；自从我开始将它们发布到Twitter 上以来，它们引发了相当大的反响。
People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could,and did, laugh.
【翻译】人们看到相关证据，发现维多利亚时代的人们也乐在其中，而且确实会笑，这令他们感到惊讶。
They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter.
【翻译】他们注意到，随着将我们分隔开的约一百年时光因我们共同的欢笑体验而逐渐消逝，维多利亚时代的人们似乎突然间变得更具人性了。
Of course, I need to concede that my collection of ‘Smiling Victorians’makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance.How do we explain this trend?
【生词】concede v.承认, 让步, 认输, 授予（权利、特权）
catalogue n.目录（簿）, 一连串（坏事）; v.列入目录, 列举
portraiture n.肖像画法, 描绘, 描写, 传真
backdrop n.<戏>背景幕布, 背景,
【翻译】当然，我必须承认，我所收藏的“微笑维多利亚时代肖像”仅占 1840 年至 1900 年间创作的浩瀚肖像摄影作品目录中的极小部分；而这些作品中的大多数都描绘了被摄者在画作背景前摆出苦涩而僵硬的姿势，或心不在焉地凝视着远方。我们该如何解释这一现象呢？
During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were notoriously long: the daguerreotype photographic method (producing an image on a silvered copper plate) could take several minutes to complete, resulting in blurred images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their limbs.
【生词】notoriously adv.恶名昭彰地, 声名狼藉地, 著名地, 众所周知地
daguerreotype n.（早期）银板照相（法）
【翻译】在19 世纪 40 至 50 年代摄影术发展的初期，曝光时间 notoriously 较长：达盖尔银版摄影法（在镀银铜板上成像）可能需要数分钟才能完成曝光，若被摄者移动位置或调整肢体，便会导致图像模糊。
The thought of holding a fixed grin as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a non-committal blank stare became the norm.
【生词】grin v.露齿而笑，咧嘴大笑; n.露齿的笑，咧嘴的笑
blank adj.空（白）的, 没表情的，不感兴趣的, 彻底的; n.空格，空白处
stare v.凝视; n.注视
【翻译】想到在摄像机施展其神奇魔力时仍要维持着固定的微笑，这种念头实在难以承受，于是，一种漫不经心的茫然注视成为了常态。
But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s, and the introduction of the Box Brownie and other portable cameras meant that, though slow by today’s digital standards, the exposure was almost instantaneous.
【生词】portable adj.轻便的; n.手提式电视机
instantaneous adj.瞬间的, 即刻的, 猝发的
【翻译】然而，到19世纪80年代，相机的曝光时间已大幅缩短；而Box Brownie等便携式相机的问世意味着，尽管按当今的数字摄影标准来看曝光速度仍显缓慢，但实际上曝光几乎是瞬时完成的。
Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile.
【生词】spontaneous adj.自发的, 自然的, 天然产生的, 无意识的
【翻译】到19世纪90年代，捕捉到自发性微笑已相对容易，因此我们应从其他方面寻找解释，以了解为何维多利亚时代的人们仍不愿微笑。
One explanation might be the loss of dignity displayed through a cheesy grin.
【生词】cheesy adj.有干酪味的, 劣质的, 虚伪的
【翻译】一种解释可能是通过那种俗气的微笑所流露的尊严丧失感。
“Nature gave us lips to conceal our teeth,”ran one popular Victorian maxim, alluding to the fact that before the birth of proper dentistry, mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene.
【生词】conceal v.隐藏, 隐瞒，掩饰, 遮住
dentistry n.牙医业, 牙医学, 牙科医术
hygiene n.卫生，卫生学, 保健法
【翻译】“大自然赋予了我们嘴唇来遮掩牙齿，”——这句广为流传的维多利亚时代格言，意在暗示在正规牙科医学诞生之前，人们的口腔卫生状况往往令人咋舌。
A flashing set of healthy and clean, regular ‘pearly whites’was a rare sight in Victorian society, the preserve of the super-rich (and even then,dental hygiene was not guaranteed).
【翻译】在维多利亚时代的社会中，出现一组健康、洁净且色泽均匀的“珍珠白”牙齿实属罕见——这种牙齿状态通常是超级富豪才拥有的（即便在当时，人们的口腔卫生状况也并非得到保障）。
A toothy grin ( especially when there were gaps or blackened gnashers) lacked class: drunks,tramps,and music hall performers might gurn and grin with a smile as wide as Lewis Carroll’s gum-exposing Cheshire Cat, but it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons.
【翻译】咧嘴大笑（尤其是当牙齿间存在间隙或牙龈发黑时）显得格格不入：醉汉、流浪汉以及音乐厅表演者或许会露出一副与刘易斯·卡罗尔笔下那只露出牙缝的柴郡猫同样灿烂的笑容，但这种表情对于举止得体的正统人士而言并不相称。
Even Mark Twain, a man who enjoyed a hearty laugh, said that when it came to photographic portraits there could be “nothing more damning than a silly, foolish smile fixed forever”.
【翻译】就连以幽默风趣著称的马克·吐温也曾说过，谈到摄影肖像时，“没有什么比一张呆板、愚蠢的、永远定格的微笑更令人遗憾的了”。