Abraham Lincoln was famous for his intelligence, cool head, and powerful speeches. But he was never known for his good looks. In fact, in his time, Lincoln was teased2 for being ugly. Some people said he resembled a baboon3. Even Gutzon Borglum, who sculpted4 the heads on Mount Rushmore5, said the president’s face looked primitive6.
Now, two doctors might have figured out why. Using bronze and plaster copies of masks7 of Lincoln’s face, they created a 3-D8 image on a computer so they could study his bone structure.
The image shows that Lincoln had a defect called cranial9 facial microsomia10. “The left side of his face was smaller than the right,” study author11 and retired eye doctor Ronald Fishman told WR News. The defect makes it look like Lincoln is raising his left eyebrow questioningly in some photos.
The defect resulted in a loss of coordination12 between his eyes. Historians note that sometimes the president’s left eye would roll straight up into his head. The condition occasionally caused him to see double. In fact, Lincoln reportedly once saw two images of himself in a mirror—and chalked it up13 to a ghostly experience.
Lincoln’s defect was mild, but Fishman says its discovery offers a valuable lesson. “Not every body works perfectly,” he says. “Some kids have handicaps14, and they can overcome their handicaps just like Abraham Lincoln did.”
亚伯拉罕·林肯以其聪明才智、冷静的头脑和雄辩的演说闻名于世。但他从未因帅气的长相而闻名。事实上，在他那个年代，林肯因貌丑而遭人嘲笑。一些人说他长得像一只狒狒。甚至连拉什莫尔山上伟人头像的雕塑者古曾·伯格勒姆也说，这位总统的脸看上去很粗糙。
如今，两位医生也许找到了其中的原因。他们用青铜和石膏制作了数个林肯的面部模型，然后在电脑上绘制出一个三维图像，以便研究他的头骨结构。
图像显示林肯患有一种被称为头颅面部短小的缺陷。“他的左脸比右脸小，”研究发起人、退休眼科医生罗纳德·费什曼对《每周文摘》说。这个缺陷使得一些照片中的林肯看上去好像故意抬高左眉，在质疑什么。
这个缺陷导致他的双眼之间失去协调性。历史学家们注意到总统的左眼有时会往上翻白眼，这种情况偶尔使他看到重影。事实上，据传林肯曾在镜子里看见自己的两个影像——并把它归于一次鬼怪经历。
林肯的缺陷并不严重，但费什曼说这个发现为我们提供了一个宝贵经验。“并非每个人的身体都完美无缺，”他说，“有些孩子患有残疾，但他们可以克服这些残疾，就像亚伯拉罕·林肯那样。”
1. lopsided adj. 不平衡的，不对称的
2. tease v. 嘲弄，取笑
3. baboon n. 狒狒
4. sculpt v. 雕刻
5. Mount Rushmore 拉什莫尔山，位于美国南达科他州西部，海拔1,708米。山石上雕有华盛顿、杰佛逊、林肯和西奥多·罗斯福的巨大头像。
6. primitive adj. 原始的，粗糙的
7. mask n. 面部模型
8. 3-D three-dimensional 三维的，立体的
9. cranial adj. 头盖的，头颅的
10. microsomia n. 短小，矮小
11. author n. 发起人，创始人
12. coordination n. 协调，协同
13. chalk up 把…归于
14. handicap n. 残疾；障碍