美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: Amid Devastation, Paris Firefighters' Bravery Is An Inspiration

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

More than 400 firefighters answered the call when fire broke out in the Notre Dame¹ Cathedral this Holy Week. As Lieutenant² Colonel Gabriel Plus, spokesperson for the Paris firefighters, told the Agence France-Presse, one doesn't imagine as a Paris firefighter one day intervening to save Notre Dame. Time worked against us, he said. The wind was against us, and we needed to retake control.

Father Jean-Marc Fournier, a fire department chaplain on the scene, told The New York Times artworks can be reproduced, while a human life can't. But firefighters risked their lives to save the art and relics³ that have been kept in Notre Dame in a kind of trust for the world.

Father Fournier helped lead a group to the locked chest that held the crown of thorns said to have been worn by Jesus. While Father Fournier searched for the keys to the chest, firefighters resorted to blunt force and broke it open. A human chain of emergency workers delivered the crown to safety. Gabriel Plus said, there is so much emotion and a little satisfaction to have been able to save what we were able to.

Every inch of France is mapped from the center of Notre Dame. People tell time by the toll⁴ of its bells. The cathedral has been the scene of royal coronations and the crowning of cardinals⁵, while its grounds are the setting for protest, concerts, picnics, painters, pickup⁶ soccer games and countless⁷ strolls by families, tourists and lovers.

After all these centuries, Notre Dame is still a working church. It hums with masses, baptisms, communions and millions of murmured, silent, everyday prayers, uttered over flickering⁸ vigil candles.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, told firefighters when they received the nation's Medal of Honor yesterday, you risked your lives to save what is a part of all of us.

Billionaires, corporations and ordinary citizens immediately pledged a billion dollars to rebuild Notre Dame. Their efforts may have encouraged more than $2 million in contributions to an American campaign to rebuild the three African American Baptist churches set aflame in Louisiana.

Holy Week may be exactly the time to wonder how the world can find so much so quickly to rebuild an extraordinary house of faith while so many people in the world are left to struggle with so little in refugee camps and shattered cities. But the fortitude⁹ of Paris firefighters can remind us, as much as the cathedral itself, of the majesty¹⁰ of human effort. The most magnificent edifices¹¹ can be fragile. Courage, kindness and faith endure.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHILIPPE ENTREMONT PERFORMANCE OF ERIK SATIE'S "GYMNOPEDIE NO. 1")

1 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

2 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

3 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

6 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

7 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

8 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

9 fortitude   

n.坚忍不拔；刚毅

参考例句：

• His dauntless fortitude makes him absolutely fearless.他不屈不挠的坚韧让他绝无恐惧。
• He bore the pain with great fortitude.他以极大的毅力忍受了痛苦。

10 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

11 edifices   

n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They complain that the monstrous edifices interfere with television reception. 他们抱怨说，那些怪物般的庞大建筑，干扰了电视接收。 来自辞典例句
• Wealthy officials and landlords built these queer edifices a thousand years ago. 有钱的官吏和地主在一千年前就修建了这种奇怪的建筑物。 来自辞典例句