纪录片《中国春节》 第33期 团聚（11）

Back in Beijing, we are in one of the oldest parts of the city, the Bell Tower.

让我们回到北京，这里是北京城里历史最为悠久的地方之一，钟楼

It has been on this site since 1420, that's nearly 600 years old.

这座钟楼从1420年起就矗立于此，有近600年的历史

That is a long time. Look at the view!

好长一段时间啊，看那里哦

Now Beijing has changed a lot but it still has some of its ancient buildings.

今天的北京日新月异，但这里仍有不少古建筑

And what you can see over there, that is the Drum Tower, which is in direct line of sight from here, the Bell Tower.

你从这里看过去，看到的是鼓楼，从这儿看过去，它和钟楼在一直线上

The Bell Tower, it houses this gigantic bronze bell.

钟楼里有一座巨大的铜钟

It weighs in at a whopping 63 tonnes, and it plays a vitally significant part in the New Year's Eve celebrations.

它的重量实在惊人，达63吨。新年庆典时，这座钟的作用至关重要

Precisely¹ at 12 o'clock on the dot, it is struck.

时间到达12点整时，大钟敲响

It is a bit like Beijing's Big Ben and that lets the New Year in.

它有点像是北京的大本钟，宣告着新年的来临

Now the bell is struck by a big wooden ram² in the shape of the wheel.

用于敲钟的是一根轮状的大木锤

It is struck 108 times, because that's significant as a lucky number for the Chinese.

要敲108响，因为对中国人而言，108是个重要的吉祥数字

Now there is a point, we cannot strike the bell.

现在的情况是，我们不能敲响大钟

The reason being that some time ago, the bell ringers were practising.

原因是在不久以前，敲钟人在练习敲钟

The city thought there was an earthquake or a sort of disaster,

大家觉得可能是地震了或者出啥大事了

so there is no ringing of the bell until New Year's Eve.

所以在除夕之前，大钟都不能敲响

But, you know, it is an incredible feat³ of engineering.

这真是一个令人难以置信的工程壮举

First, it is 600 years ago that the bell, a model was made in butter and beeswax.

首先，建造时间是600年前，大钟的模具由黄油和蜂蜡制成

How mad is that! Butter and beeswax.

这多疯狂啊，用黄油和蜂蜡

And then, a massive pit was dug and they worked from the top to the bottom.

然后，挖了一个巨大的坑，然后工匠从上往下弄

They cast it and poured 63 tonnes of molten bronze into that cast.

浇铸成模，接着灌63吨，青铜熔液到那铸件中

Amazing. Ding-dong. And I cannot wait to hear the bell sound on New Year's Eve.

了不起。叮咚。我迫不及待要听到除夕夜的钟声

Talking of which, dude, we have a party to get ready for.

说到这，伙计，我们有一个聚会要准备

1 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

2 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

3 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。