国人天价卖走乾隆瓷瓶 引发爱国惹议
The 18th century piece - branded "one of the most important Chinese vases to be offered this century" - was found at a house in Ruislip, Northwest London, which was cleared by siblings after their parents died. And it was bought by a person for the equivAlent of $85.6 million last week, the highest price ever at an auction.
居住在伦敦西北部如斯里普的一对兄妹在父母去世后清理房间时，发现了一个18世纪中国最重要的瓷瓶之一—乾隆时期瓷瓶。上周以大约八千五百六十万美元（大约5.5亿元人民币）的价格被一人买走，这也是拍卖史上最高的价格。
While many speculated that the unidentified buyer is probably Chinese, as has been the case at recent auctions, a Financial Times reporter, Alexandra Stevenson, concluded that this trend is a new wave of "patriotism" from Chinese businessmen and government-backed cultural representatives keen on getting back national treasures.
虽然很多人猜测，不愿意透露姓名的买家很可能是中国人，但是据金融时报记者亚历山德拉·史蒂文森总结，正如最近的拍卖案例，这股高价购买流失文物趋势掀起了中国商人和由政府支持的文化代表们的"爱国主义"之情，他们不惜代价热衷于买回他们失去的国家文物。
This "patriotism" has pushed the price of these treasures to record levels. Emperor Qianlong's vase that sold in Britain had a price more than 40 times higher than the initial estimate.
这股"爱国主义"推动了这些珍品的价格上涨，创下世界纪录。这只在英国出售的乾隆时期瓷瓶最后售价高于最初估价的40倍。
Just a month ago, Chinese buyers in Hong Kong snapped up a similar vase for $18 million and another for a record $32 million.
就在一个月前，中国买家在香港以一千八百万美元购得一只相似的瓷瓶，以三千二百万美元购得另一只瓷瓶。
In some experts' eyes, the bronze animal head stolen by British and French troops more than a century ago were not highly appraised. Yet they sold for hundreds of millions of yuan.
在一些专家看来，一个世纪以前被英法联军抢走的青铜兽首虽然以数亿人名币出售，但是并未给中国带来荣耀。
The drive to get back China's lost treasures at all costs is not really a wise move. It has actually given the former colonists a chance to loot China again, this time in the form of cash. The purchase has also in a sense, justified the looting as legal, which will make future efforts to retrieve the treasures even more difficult.
不惜代价找回中国失去的珍宝不是明智之举。实际上是给前殖民者又一次掠夺中国的机会，只不过这次是以现金的形式。在某种意义上，这次高价购买使掠夺合法化，这将使未来挽回宝物的工作更加困难。
Some of these treasures were bought for investment instead of patriotism. But the insane bidding in overseas auction houses has brought the cost of Chinese relics to ridiculous levels. This will boost already rampant tomb-raiding and smuggling in China.
有些人购买宝物出于投资目的，并非为了爱国。但是，在海外拍卖行进行的疯狂拍卖行为使中国文物价格上涨到非常荒谬的程度。也使中国业已猖獗的盗墓和走私活动愈演愈烈。
According to UNESCO's statistics, there are more than 1.67 million Chinese antiques in about 200 museums in 47 countries, and tens of millions of items lost in private hands all over the world. No matter how hard China tries, it is impossible to buy back every treasure.
根据联合国教科文组织的统计，中国有超过一百六十七万件古董流落在四十七个国家的两百个博物馆里，还有几千万文物被私人收藏。不管中国作出怎样的巨大努力，都不可能将每件宝物悉数买回。
