Melania Trump¹ has prompted consternation², some anger and much derision by choosing a pith helmet -- a symbol of colonial rule across Africa -- as headwear for a brief safari³ in Kenya.

近日，梅拉尼娅·特朗普因为选择一顶木髓头盔--一种非洲殖民统治的象征--作为肯尼亚短途野外探险期间的头饰，而引起了网民的惊愕、愤怒和嘲笑。

On the penultimate day of her tour of the continent -- her first solo trip overseas -- the first lady visited an orphanage⁴ in Nairobi before heading to a national park near the city.

这是梅拉尼娅第一次海外独自旅行。在访问非洲大陆的倒数第二天，她前往了内罗毕的一家孤儿院，然后去了该市附近的国家公园。

Dressed in riding pants, boots and a spotless white pith helmet, the former model climbed into an open-air vehicle for the safari, taking photos on her iPhone of zebras, giraffes, impalas, rhinos⁵ and hippos.

穿着骑行裤、靴子和一尘不染的白色木髓头盔，这位前模特爬上了一辆露天车进行野外探险，并用iPhone拍下了斑马、长颈鹿、黑斑羚、犀牛和河马的照片。

She also stopped at a site where 105 tons of ivory was burned as part of an effort to discourage the trade.

另外，她还在一个焚烧了105吨象牙的地方停下来，焚烧象牙是阻止象牙贸易的一项进程。

But it was the headgear that attracted most attention. Pith helmets -- so-called because they are made of the material sholapith -- were worn by European explorers and imperial administrators⁶ in Africa, parts of Asia and the Middle East in the 19th century before being adopted by military officers, rapidly becoming a symbol of status -- and oppression.

但是引起最多关注的是她的头盔。木髓头盔，因由一种叫做田皂角木髓的材料制成而得名，在19世纪，欧洲探险家和帝国行政人员在非洲、亚洲部分地区和中东地区都喜爱戴这种头盔，而后这种头盔被军官穿戴，迅速成为地位和压迫的象征。

Soldiers, guides and wildlife specialists replaced the pith helmet long ago with more practical and less controversial headgear, but they are still in ceremonial use in a handful of countries -- and by tourists in Africa who have limited experience of local conditions and sensibilities.

士兵、导游和野生动物专家很早就开始用穿戴更实用、争议更小的帽子来替代这种头盔了，但此类头盔仍然用于少数几个国家的某些仪式上，有时候来非洲旅游的游客也会戴它们，因为这些人对当地的情况和认识很有限。

"That pith helmet you have carried was used by colonialists during the dark days. Doesn't sit well with us Africans. Who advised you?" wrote Pauleen Mwalo, of Nairobi, on Twitter.

来自内罗毕的鲍琳·姆瓦罗在Twitter上写道：“在昔日黑暗的日子里，殖民主义者会戴你戴的这种木髓头盔。非洲人民不能接受，到底是谁建议你戴的？”