世界小史 第42期:星星

 To be nearer to their stars, and also to see them better in a misty¹ land,

为了离他们的星星近一点，也为了在这个多雾的地方看星星看得更清楚些，

the Babylonians, and the Sumerians before them, erected² strange buildings with a wonderful name: ziggurats.

巴比伦人和早先的苏美尔人，都已经建造了奇特建筑物，它们有个优美的名字：金字形神塔。

These are tall, broad towers made up of terraces piled one on top of another, with formidable ramps³ and steep, narrow staircases.

这些又高又宽的塔由几个硕大的平台垒成，有巨大的扶墙和高耸的陡梯。

Right at the very top was a temple dedicated⁴ to the moon, or one of the other planets.

塔顶处才是祭祀月亮或行星的神庙。

People came from far and wide to ask the priests to read their fortunes in the stars, and brought offerings of great value.

人们远道而来，听祭司按星星预言自己的命运，他们带来昂贵的献祭品。

These half-ruined ziggurats can still be seen today, poking⁵ out of the rubble⁶ mounds⁷,

这些梯级塔的断垣残壁至今还凸出于废墟之上，

with inscriptions⁸ telling how this or that king built or restored them.

人们找到了国王们讲述他们如何建造或修复它们的铭文。

The earliest kings in this region lived as long ago as 3,000 BC, and the last around 550 BC.

这个地区的头几个国王也许生活在公元前3000年，最后几个国王大约生活在公元前550年。

1 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

2 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

3 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

6 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

7 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

8 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。