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文章导读 本文选自《经济学人》2019年4月15日文章。这两天，全世界的目光都给了法国，给了巴黎圣母院。法国当地时间4月15日傍晚，巴黎圣母院突然燃起大火，大火烧毁了圣母院塔尖、橡木横梁屋顶、玫瑰花窗，对圣母院内部也造成巨大破坏。这座在塞纳河畔伫立了850年的巴黎圣母院见证了无数历史、躲过无数战争，却在和平时期、让人最意想不到的时刻蒙遭大火，整个世界都为它心碎。巴黎也是多灾多难，诸事不顺，近年来，其引起世界瞩目的似乎都是悲剧。 这篇《经济学人》文章虽然是在火灾发生后仓促写就，但遣词造句处处体现《经济学人》典雅风格，其文笔是众多外媒的相关报道文章中最优雅的，用词也是最讲究的，值得大家深入学习。
01 选文精讲 Fire in the heart of Paris 火燃巴黎心脏 A terrible blaze devastates Notre Dame cathedral 恐怖的大火摧毁巴黎圣母院 Stunned Parisians watch centuries of history dissolve in flames 惊恐的巴黎人眼睁睁看着数百年历史被大火吞噬
惊恐的；dissolve: 原意是“溶解、分解、消失”，这里指“消亡、被吞噬”的意思，这两个词用的非常好，这句话也足见《经济学人》遣词造句的典雅，“惊恐的巴黎人眼睁睁看着数百年历史被大火吞噬”，非常具有画面感，体现巴黎人在目睹大火吞噬巴黎圣母院时的震惊、无能为力和心痛。 THEY GATHERED on the bridges over the Seine to watch in disbelief. Some Parisians were in tears; most watched in eerie silence. The devastating fire that broke out in the wood-timbered roof of the gothic cathedral of Notre Dame in the early evening of April 15th rapidly spread before their eyes, consuming the central spire and defeating the efforts of fire-fighters to bring the flames under control. President Emmanuel Macron, spoke for many across France when he tweeted that he was witnessing “part of us burn.”
可怕的、怪异的；eerie silence: 可怕的沉寂，非常文邹邹的词。
这句话很长，其主体是“The devastating fire rapidly spead”（致命大火迅速蔓延）,The devastating fire 后跟了一个从句“that broke out in the wood-timbered roof of the gothic cathedral of Notre Dame in the early evening of April 15th”(这个大火是4月15日傍晚在巴黎圣母院哥特式教堂木质屋顶突燃的)，逗号后面又接了一个从句“consuming the central spire and defeating the efforts of fire-fighters to bring the flames under control” （吞噬了教堂的中心塔尖，挫败了消防员控制火势的努力）。
人们站在在塞纳河上的桥上，难以置信地看着，一些巴黎人流下眼泪，大多数人在可怕的死寂中注视着。4月15日傍晚，巴黎圣母院哥特式教堂木质屋顶突燃大火，致命的大火就在他们眼前迅速蔓延，吞噬了教堂的中心塔尖，消防员极尽全力也难以控制火势。法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙代表法国各地的众人在推特上说，他目睹了“我们的一部分被烧毁”。 By midnight in Paris the worst seemed to be over. The main stone structure appeared to have been saved, and the prompt action of hundreds of fire-fighters had rescued many works of art and relics from the burning building. But as well as the medieval oak-beamed roof and the later-built spire, the damage to the interior has been immense.
到了巴黎的午夜时分，最糟糕的时刻似乎已经过去。主体的石头结构似乎已经被保住，数百名消防队员行动迅速，从燃烧的建筑物中救出了许多艺术品和文物。但是，中世纪的橡木横梁屋顶和后来建造的塔尖在被毁，大火对内部的破坏也是巨大的。 The 850-year-old edifice had survived war, revolution and Nazi occupation, an emblem of resistance in the face of a constantly disrupted history. It was the site of Napoleon’s coronation in 1804 and the inspiration for literary works, most famously Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, and one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, visited by 13m tourists each year. Notre Dame was at once a living place of worship for the French Catholic church and the property of the French secular state: a symbol in itself of the country’s history and its present, in all its glorious contradictions.
这座有着850年历史的建筑经历了战争、革命和纳粹的占领，在不断被破坏的历史面前，它是一种抵抗力的象征。它是拿破仑1804年加冕的地方，也是文学作品的灵感来源，其中最有名的是维克多·雨果的《巴黎圣母院》，也是巴黎最具标志性的建筑之一，每年吸引1300万游客。圣母院是法国天主教堂礼拜之所，是世俗法国国家财产的所在地:它本身就是这个国家历史和现状的象征，也是它所有光辉矛盾的象征。 |
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