巴比倫空中花園英文介紹
巴比倫空中花園，是世界八大奇蹟之一，又稱懸園。在公元前6世紀由巴比倫王國的尼布甲尼撒二世(Nebuchadnezzar)在巴比倫城爲其患思鄉病的王妃安美依迪絲(Amyitis)修建的。
古巴比倫王國曾出現過一座漂浮在半空中的園林,考古學家至今仍未能找到它的確實位置。事實上,大半描繪空中花園的人都從未涉足巴比倫,只知東方有座奇妙的花園,波斯王稱之爲“天堂”,而在兩相湊合下,形成遙遠的巴比倫夢幻花園。由於花園比宮牆還要高,給人感覺像是整個御花園懸掛在空中,因此被稱爲“空中花園”,又叫“懸苑”。當年到巴比倫城朝拜、經商或旅遊的人們老遠就可以看到空中城樓上的金色屋頂在陽光下熠熠生輝。所以,到公元2世紀,希臘學者在品評世界各地著名建築和雕塑品時,把“空中花園”列爲“世界七大奇觀”之一。從此以後,“空中花園”更是聞名遐邇。
The Love Story Behind the Hanging Gardens
There has been a beautiful love story behind the building of the Hanging Gardens.
The Hanging Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon around 600 BC. He married Amytis, the princess of Media. The beautiful princess was so adorable (可愛的) that the king loved her very much. Not long after their marriage, the princess became very frustrated and looked very sad. The king cared for his wife but didn’t know why she was unhappy.
The princess told him that she was homesick(想家的). She said that there were plenty of trees and flowers in her homeland(家鄉), surrounded by mountains. While here in Babylon, only endless plains were in view(看得見) and even a small hill can not be found. How I wish to see the winding trails (小徑) and mountains in my homeland!
Then, the king ordered to build gardens to imitate (模仿) the scenery in Media, the homeland of Amitys. Gardens with the appearance of a theatre, waterfalls, animals, fruits and plants were built. These were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
空中花園背後的愛情故事
在建造空中花園的背後,有着一個美麗的愛情故事。
空中花園是由巴比倫國王尼布甲尼撒二世於大約公元前600年主持建造。他娶了米底的公主米梯斯爲王后,美麗的王后非常惹人疼愛,國王對她寵愛有加。但婚後不久,公主變得非常失落,看起來很傷心。國王關心她的愛妻但不明白其中緣由。
公主告訴國王,她非常想家。她說,家鄉米底山巒疊翠,花草叢生;而在這裏只能看見一望無際的平原,連個小山丘都看不到。我多麼希望能看到家鄉的盤山小道和山巒呀!
於是,國王下令,模仿米梯斯家鄉——米底的景色,在他的宮殿裏,建造花園。花園建造成露天劇場的形狀,裏面有瀑布、動物、水果和花草。這就是古巴比倫的空中花園。
Description of the Hanging Gardens
The path to the Garden sloped (傾斜) like a hillside (山坡) and several parts of the structure (結構) rose from tier (層,階梯) upon tier... On all this, the earth had been piled (堆疊), and was thickly planted with all kinds of trees. Their great size and other charms (魅力) gave pleasure to the viewers... The water machines raised the water from the river, although no one outside could see it.
Fruits and flowers... Waterfalls... Gardens hanging from the palace terraces(臺地). Exotic(奇異的) animals... This is the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in most people’s mind. It may be surprising to know that they might have never existed except in the mind of the Greek poets and historians!
空中花園的描述
通往花園的道路象山坡一樣傾斜着,建築物的幾個部分一層一層地向上交錯排列着……泥土在這些上面堆積着……並且濃密地種植着各種各樣的花草樹木,它們以其巨大的身軀和其他一些魅力,令觀賞者賞心悅目……抽水的機器把大量的水從河中提升到花園中,儘管沒有人從外面能看到它。
水果、鮮花、瀑布、花園高懸在宮殿的陽臺上,奇異的動物……,這是大多數人想象中的巴比倫空中花園。讓人吃驚的是,空中花園除了在希臘詩人和歷史學家的頭腦中出現過外,可能從來就沒有存在過。
The Water Supply System of the Hanging Gardens
The most amazing part of the Hanging Gardens is their water supply system. As rainfall was quite rare in Babylon and the relics of the Hanging Gardens were far from the Euphrates River, it is believed that there must have been plenty of water supply devices in the gardens. Slaves pushed the handles of the gear wheel (齒輪) on and on to lift the water to the highest tank. Then, the water form the highest tank would flow into the gardens through the artificial waterways (人工河道).
空中花園的供水系統
巴比倫空中花園最令人稱奇的地方是供水系統,因爲巴比倫雨水不多,而空中花園的遺址亦遠離幼發拉底河,所以人們認爲空中花園應該有不少的供水設備。奴隸不停地推動着齒輪的把手,把地下水運到最高一層的儲水池。然後,儲水池中的水再經人工河道流入花園之中。
The Maintainance of the Hanging Gardens
Another challenge of the Hanging Gardens is the maintainance(保養) of the gardens. It is impossible on for ordinary buildings to maintain for a long time with the flush of the water. Blocks were rare on Mesopotamia plain, so it was believed that the blocks used for building the Hanging Gardens, which contained reeds, pitch (瀝青), and tiles (瓦片,瓷磚), were different from the ordinary blocks. Some documents even figured out that layers of lead(鉛) was added to the blocks to prevent the water from penetrating into the foundation.
空中花園的保養
另一個難題是空中花園的保養。對於一般建築物來說,要長年經受河水的侵蝕而維持保養下來是不可能的。由於美索不達米亞平原(Mesopotamian plain)沒有太多石塊,因此人們相信空中花園所用的磚塊與一般石塊不同,它們中摻入了蘆葦、瀝青及瓦。還有文獻指出石塊中被加入了一層鉛,以防止河水滲入地基。
It was not until the twentieth century that some mysteries about the Hanging Gardens were revealed (揭示). Archaeologists (考古學家) are still struggling to gather enough evidences before reaching the final conclusions about the location, the irrigation system, and their true appearance of the Gardens.
直到二十世紀,圍繞着空中花園的一些不解之迷才被揭示出來。在得出關於花園的地理位置、灌溉系統和真正面目的最終結論之前,考古學家們仍在努力地收集足夠的證據。
結束語:
公元前三世紀菲羅曾記述:“園中種滿樹木,無異山中之國,其中某些部份層層疊長,有如劇院一樣,栽種密集枝葉扶疏,幾乎樹樹相觸,形成舒適的遮蔭,泉水由高高噴泉涌出,先滲入地面,然後再扭曲旋轉噴發,通過水管沖刷旋流,充沛的水氣滋潤樹根土壤,永遠保持溼潤。”歷史學家更發表出這樣的評論:“從壯大與寬廣這一點看,空中花園顯然遠不及尼布甲尼撒二世殿或巴塔,但是它的美麗、優雅以及難以抗拒的魅力,是其他建築所望塵莫及的。”
淹沒於黃沙之中,空中花園曾經的美麗壯觀,穿過千年的歷史長流,仍然散出奪目的光彩。如今,我們只能通過文獻記載和褪去光豔的遺址來想象它那攝人心魄的美麗。
