双语有声阅读：巴比伦空间中花园

Babylon Hanging Garden

 

巴比伦空间中花园

 

The Babylonian kingdom flourished under the rule of the famous King, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). It was not until the reign¹ of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty that the Mesopotamian civilization reached its ultimate glory. Nebuchadnezzar II (604 -562 BC) is credited for building the legendary² Hanging Gardens. It is said that the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife or concubine who had been "brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings".

 

古巴比伦王国在著名的国王汉误拉比(公元前1792-1750)的统治下曾经繁荣一时。但是直到新巴比伦王朝，美索不达米亚文明才达到了它的鼎盛时期。人们相信传说中的空中花园是由尼布甲尼撒二世(公元前 604年-562年)建造的。据传，尼布甲尼撒为了取悦于其在米底亚长大并对山景怀有深厚感情的王后或者是妃子而建造了空中花园。

 

While the most descriptive accounts of the Gardens come from Greek historians such as Berossus and Diodorus Siculus, Babylonian records stay silent on the matter. Tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar do not have a single reference to the Hanging Gardens, although descriptions of his palace, the city of Babylon, and the walls are found. Even the historians who give detailed³ descriptions of the Hanging Gardens never saw them. Modern historians argue that when Alexander's soldiers reached the fertile land of Mesopotamia and saw Babylon, they were impressed. When they later returned to their rugged⁴. homeland, they had stories to tell about the amazing gardens and palm trees at Mesopotamia... About the palace of Nebuchadnezzar... About the Tower of Babel and the ziggurats. And it was the imagination of poets and ancient historians that blended all these elements together to produce one of the World Wonders.

 

虽然对花园最详尽的记述走出自 Berossus和 Diodorus Siculus等希腊历史学家笔下，但巴比伦的历史记录却对此事 只字未提。尽管在尼布甲足，撒时期存留下的各种书写板上发现了对他的宫殿、巴比伦城以及巴比伦的城墙的种种描述，但这些书写板上却没有一处捉到过空中花园。甚至那些对空中花园进行过详细描述的历史学家们也从没有亲眼目睹过它们。现代历史学家争论说:当亚力山大的士兵们到达了富饶的美索不达米亚地区并看到了巴比伦时，他们深为(眼前的美景)所震撼。当他们后来回到崎岖不平的家乡时，带回了有关美索不达米亚的令人惊叹的花园和椰子树…有关尼布甲尼撒的宫殿…以及有关巳别塔和金字型神塔的各种故事。是诗人和古代历史学家的想象力把这所有的元素混合在一起制造出了世界奇观之一。

 

It wasn't until the twentieth century that some of the mysteries surrounding the Hanging Gardens were revealed. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system, and their true appearance.

 

直到二十世纪，围绕着空中花园的一些不解之迷才被揭示出来。在得到关于花园的地理位置、灌溉系统，和真正面目的最终结论之前，考古学家们仍在努力地收集足够的证据。

1 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

2 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。