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More than a monster
哥斯拉：怪兽界的超级英雄
"Kaiju" is a Japanese word. In English, it's sometimes translated as "monster". The two do bear a certain resemblance if you think about it: The latter often reminds us of the bloodthirsty killing machine in Alien and the highly intelligent great white shark in Jaws, while the former is a similar destructive type – they are mighty beasts that destroy cities.
“Kaiju”（怪兽）是个日语词。英文中有时会译成“monster”（怪物）。如果你仔细想想，这两个词的确存在一定的相似性：后者往往令我们想起《异形》中嗜血的杀人机器，以及《大白鲨》中拥有高智商的大白鲨，而前者也是具备类似破坏性的生物 ——能够毁灭城市的巨兽。
But kaijus and monsters also have one huge difference: Kaijus aren't always evil. In the latest Godzilla film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which opens in Chinese mainland cinemas on May 31, Earth is under threat from an extraterrestrial kaiju – Ghidorah – in the form of a flying, three-headed dragon.
但“怪兽”和“怪物”还有一大区别：怪兽并非都是邪恶的。“哥斯拉”系列电影的新作《哥斯拉2：怪兽之王》将于5月31日在中国大陆上映，电影中，地球正遭到一只来自外星的三头飞龙怪兽“基多拉”的威胁。
The only hope of the human race is that Godzilla, the mightiest kaiju of them all, teams up with the other two kaijus – Gamera and Mothra – to fight against Ghidorah together. In other words, we're counting on Godzilla to save Earth from destruction.
人类的唯一希望只有最强大的怪兽哥斯拉，它和另外两只怪兽——加美拉和摩斯拉，共同对抗基多拉。换言之，我们寄希望于哥斯拉拯救地球，使其免遭毁灭。
This, some say, means that Godzilla has a soft spot for human beings and that some emotional connections have been built up between us. But we're probably just flattering ourselves. According to the original Godzilla story, the kaiju was not created, but woken by a human nuclear test, meaning that we're not at all his creator – humans and Godzilla are very different beings.
一些人认为，这意味着哥斯拉被人类打动，彼此之间产生了一些情感纽带。但这或许只是我们的自命不凡。在哥斯拉的原作故事中，怪兽并非是被创造出来的，而是被一场人类的核试验所唤醒，这意味着我们并非是它的创造者 —— 人类和哥斯拉是两种完全不同的生物。
"I've always believed that Godzilla is sort of Mother Nature's enforcer," Michael Dougherty, the film's director, said at the debut of King of the Monsters in Beijing on May 13. "He steps in to correct any species that might threaten our planet, whether that threat is 400 feet (about 122 meters) tall or human beings."
“我一直认为，哥斯拉是大自然的执行者，”该片导演迈克尔·道赫蒂在5月13日的《哥斯拉2：怪兽之王》北京首映礼上说道。“它会介入并纠正任何可能对地球带来威胁的物种，不论这一威胁有400英尺（约122米）高还是区区人类。
So kaijus might be "monstrous", but they're not always "monsters". They can be superheroes. In fact, to Dougherty, Godzilla is even more than that. "Godzilla is something much more ancient and profound than superheroes," he said. "More powerful."
因此，怪兽或许十分“骇人”，它们并非都是“怪物”。它们能够成为超级英雄。事实上，对于道赫蒂而言，哥斯拉甚至不止于此。“哥斯拉相比超级英雄更加远古，更加深奥，”他表示。“更有力量。”
