美国学生世界地理教材 第122期:死亡而又活着的城市(3)

 There are no windows at all in the Pantheon, but there is a large hole in the top of the saucer called an “eye”  万神庙里没有一扇窗户，但是在“茶碟”的顶部有一个巨大的孔，这个孔朝向天，被称之为“眼睛”。

which looks toward heaven, and through this eye the sun shines and the rain falls.  阳光可以穿过这个孔照射进来，雨水也可以通过这个孔滴进来。

It is so high above the floor, however, that the rain scarcely wets the floor beneath, but evaporates before reaching it. 然而，由于它高耸于地面之上，雨水几乎不能打湿下面的地面，因为雨滴还没有落到地面就已经蒸发了。

Most of the buildings in Rome that were built about the time of Christ are in ruins, but the Pantheon is still almost the same as it was when first built.  修建于基督时期的罗马建筑物，现在多数都成废墟了，但是，万神庙却依然如刚刚修建时一样。

Around and about the very old buildings the dust and dirt and rubbish of the city had collected for two thousand years  在古老建筑物的四周，积聚了两千年的城市尘土和垃圾越堆越高，

and had gradually piled higher and higher until the ruins were twenty feet or more lower than the present city, so that it has been necessary to dig them out. 直到废墟比现在的城市至少低20英尺，所以现在有必要把它们挖出来。

In those days long ago there was a great market-place in Rome called the Forum¹.  在很久以前的罗马，有一个超级大的市场，叫“广场”。

Around the Forum were beautiful palaces, court-houses, temples, and arches.  在广场四周，是美丽的皇宫、宫廷建筑群、庙宇和拱门。

The arches were built so that generals, when they returned from the wars they had fought and won, might ride in triumph through them.  修建这些拱门，是为了让那些打仗得胜归来的将军们可以骑着马耀武扬威地穿过拱门。

One of these arches is called the Arch of Titus.  其中有一扇拱门叫“提图斯凯旋门”。

Titus was a Roman Emperor who destroyed the capital city of the Jews called Jerusalem and this arch was built to celebrate the event.  提图斯是一位罗马皇帝，他摧毁了犹太人的首都耶路撒冷，于是就修建了这座拱门来庆祝这件事。

Another arch is the Arch of Constantine. Constantine was the first Emperor of Rome to believe in Christ.  还有一个拱门叫“君士坦丁大帝凯旋门”。

That was not until three hundred years after Christ had died. 君士坦丁是第一位信仰基督的罗马皇帝，那是基督死后三百年的事了。

The old Romans had a peculiar² idea of fun.  古罗马人有一种特别的取乐方式。

They liked to watch fights between men and wild animals such as lions and tigers, and they liked to see the men and animals kill each other.  他们喜欢观看人与诸如狮子、老虎之类的野兽进行搏斗，观看人与动物互相残杀。

Sometimes the men were prisoners who had been captured in battle, sometimes they were just Christians³ whom the Roman Emperors wanted to put to death.  有时候这些人是从战场上俘获的俘虏，有时候是罗马皇帝想要处死的基督徒。

So a great stadium was built where the Romans could sit in safety and watch these fights as we watch football or baseball games.  于是就修建了一座巨大的“体育场”，罗马人可以很安全地坐在里面观看人兽搏斗，就像我们观看足球或棒球比赛一样。

This stadium is called the Colosseum and, though it is partly in ruins,  这个“体育场”叫做“竞技场”。尽管有些部分已成为废墟，

most of it is still standing⁴ and you can still see the dens⁵ where the wild animals were kept before they were let loose into the arena⁶. 但是大部分还矗立在那儿，你依然可以看见当年野兽被放进竞技场之前关押它们的兽穴。

As the Christians were afraid to worship above ground where the Romans would see them,  由于基督徒们不敢在地面上敬拜神，担心被罗马人看见，

they hid in secret cellar-like places where they could worship as they pleased.  于是他们就偷偷躲在像地窖一样的房间里按自己的愿望敬拜神。

Just outside of Rome, underneath⁷ the ground, are miles upon miles of these cellar-like rooms where they worshiped and where they were buried when they died.  所以，就在罗马城外，在地面以下，这种像地窖一样的房子排起来有几十英里长，基督徒们在这儿敬拜神，他们死了也埋在这里。

They are called Catacombs. Millions of the Christians were buried in the Catacombs. 这儿被称作“地下墓窟”，成百上千万的基督徒埋葬在这里。

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 dens   

n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋

参考例句：

• Female bears tend to line their dens with leaves or grass. 母熊往往会在洞穴里垫些树叶或草。 来自辞典例句
• In winter bears usually hibernate in their dens. 冬天熊通常在穴里冬眠。 来自辞典例句

6 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

7 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。