How big was that fish you caught? This big? This big? This big?
你抓到的鱼有多大？这么大？这么大？还是这么大？
Without photographic evidence, there's nothing that proves you caught a whopper,
没有照片当证据，你就没法证明你抓了一条大鱼，
and that's been true since the dawn of fishing.
自人类捕鱼以来，一直都是如此。
In fact, hundreds of years ago, long before photography could capture the moment,
事实上，几百年前，早在照片可捕捉瞬间前，
Japanese fishermen invented their own way to record trophy catches. They called it Gyotaku.
日本渔民就发明了一套自己的方法，来记录值得炫耀的战利品。他们把这技术叫鱼拓。
Gyotaku is the ancient art of printing fish that originated in Japan as a way to record trophy catches prior to the modern day camera.
鱼拓是指把鱼类拓印下来的古老艺术，发源自日本，用来记录战利品，起源比相机还早。
Gyo means fish and taku means impression.
Gyo的意思是鱼，而taku的意思是拓印。
There are several different stories about how Gyotaku came about,
关于鱼拓的由来有好几种不同说法，
but it basically started with fishermen needing a way to record the species and size of the fish they caught over 100 years ago.
但总体上来说起源于一百多年前，当时渔民需要有方法来记录抓到的鱼种及大小。
Fishermen took paper, ink, and brushes out to sea with them.
渔民会带着纸、墨汁和毛笔一同出海。
They told stories of great adventures at sea.
来讲述海上的伟大冒险故事。
Since the Japanese revered certain fish, the fishermen would take a rubbing from these fish and release them.
因为日本人崇敬某些鱼类，所以渔民会先将鱼拓印起来，再把它们放走。
To make the rubbing, they would paint the fish with non-toxic sumi-e ink and print them on rice paper.
要制作拓印，渔民会先将鱼涂上无毒的墨汁，然后拓印在宣纸上。
This way they could be released or cleaned and sold at market.
这样就可以把鱼放回去或是洗干净，再拿去市场卖。
The first prints like this were for records only with no extra details.
像这张早期的鱼拓只是用来记录，并没有额外的信息。
It wasn't until the mid 1800's that they began painting eye details and other embellishments onto the prints.
直到十九世纪中期，渔民才开始在拓印上画出眼睛的细节及其他附加装饰。
One famous nobleman, Lord Sakai, was an avid fisherman, and, when he made a large catch,
一位名叫“酒井”的著名诸侯，是个狂热的捕鱼爱好者，有一次他捕到了一条大鱼
he wanted to preserve the memory of the large, red sea bream.
他想保存这只又大又红的海鲷鱼的记录。

To do so, he commissioned a fisherman to print his catch.
因此，他委托一位渔民帮他拓印。
After this, many fisherman would bring their Gyotaku prints to Lord Sakai,
此后，许多渔民就会带着他们的鱼拓来找酒井诸侯。
and if he liked their work, he would hire them to print for him.
如果酒井喜欢他们的作品，就会雇用他们来帮忙制作鱼拓。
Many prints hung in the palace during the Edo period.
江户时期，宫殿里挂着许多鱼拓。
After this period, Gyotaku was not as popular and began to fade away.
这一时期之后，鱼拓就不流行了，开始被淡忘。
Today, Gyotaku has become a popular art form, enjoyed by many.
现如今，鱼拓再度成为一种流行的艺术形式，受到许多人的喜爱。
And the prints are said to bring good luck to the fishermen.
而且据说鱼拓会为捕鱼者带来好运。
But the art form is quite different than it used to be.
但这艺术形式和昔日有很大的不同。
Most artists today learn on their own by trial and error.
许多现代艺术家在尝试、错误中学习。
Before the artist begins to print, the fish needs to be prepared for printing.
艺术家在开始拓印前，要先把鱼准备好。
First, the artist places the fish on a hollowed out surface.
首先，艺术家把鱼放在一个凹陷的平面。
Then the artist spreads the fins out and pins them down on the board to dry.
接着艺术家会把鱼鳍展开，用大头针固定在板子上风干。
They then clean the fish with water.
之后，他们用水来清洗鱼。
When it comes time to print, there are two different methods.
要拓印时，有两种不同的方法。
The indirect method begins with pasting moist fabric or paper onto the fish using rice paste.
“间接法”是指先将潮湿的布或纸张用浆糊贴在鱼上。
Then, the artist uses a tompo, or a cotton ball covered in silk,
接着艺术家会用“拓包”，也就是包了丝绸的棉球，
to put ink on the fabric or paper to produce the print.
沾墨到布料或纸张上进行拓印。
This method requires more skill and great care needs to be taken when pulling the paper off the fish so the paper doesn't tear.
这个方法需要较高的技巧，也要非常小心地将纸张和鱼分离，这样纸才不会破掉。
In the direct method, the artist paints directly on the fish,
而“直接法”，指的是艺术家直接将鱼上墨，
and then gently presses the moist fabric or paper into the fish.
然后轻轻地将潮湿的布或纸张压在鱼身上。
With both of these methods, no two prints are exactly alike, but both reveal dramatic images of the fish.
通过这两种方法，就不会存在两张一模一样的鱼拓了，而且都能生动的展现鱼的形象。
For the final touch, the artist uses a chop, or a stamp,
最后一步，艺术家会盖“印”，就是印章，
and signs their work, and can hold it up to say, "The fish was exactly this big!"
然后为其作品签名，接着就可拿着说：“那条鱼就是这么大！”