The Soviet Union, the largest country in the world, sprawls across two continents, eleven time zones from West to East.
[00:04.83]（前）苏联是世界上面积最大的国家，由东至西横跨两大洲，覆盖十一个时区。
[00:09.67]But her greatest cities lie here in Europe:Leningrad in the north, a stone throw from Scandinavia,
[00:13.30]最大的城市列宁格勒位于欧洲北部，离斯堪的那维亚半岛很近。
[00:16.93]and Moscow on the great Russian plain, the centerpiece of the nation in every respect.
[00:20.24]莫斯科位于俄罗斯大平原上，是全国的综合中心城市。
[00:23.56]It was the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin who wrote:"Moscow, how violently the name plucks at any Russian heart."
[00:27.59]俄罗斯伟大的诗人亚历山大·普希金曾写道：“莫斯科，这名字多么强有力地拔动了第一个俄罗斯人的心弦。”
[00:31.61]For this is the focal point of the country:government, religion, education,
[00:34.74]莫斯科是全国的整治、宗教、教育重心所在，
[00:37.88]the very spirit of the Soviet Union makes its home in Moscow. Eight million people also live in the metropolis,
[00:43.68]是苏联特有的精神发源地。这个首都城市有八百万居民，人口
[00:49.48]about as many as in New York or London, but they are squeezed into an area only half London’s size.
[00:53.59]和纽约、伦敦的差不多，但集中分布的面积只有伦敦大小的一半。
[00:57.70]It was prince Yuri Dogoruki who in the year 1147 first established a settlement here on a bluff overlooking the Moscow river.
[01:02.72]1147年，尤利·多哥鲁奇王子首先在可以俯瞰莫斯科河的悬崖上建立起居住点。
[01:07.74]Despite being sacked and burnt by the invading Tartars in the next century,
[01:10.36]尽管在十三世纪里历经了鞑靼人入侵的劫掠和烧毁，
[01:12.99]Moscow soon became the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church and by the sixteenth century had grown outwards into a thriving city,
[01:17.37]莫斯科还是迅速地成长为俄国正教会的中心地，到十六世纪向克里姆林宫以外发展成为一个
[01:21.76]centered around the Kremlin, the headquarters of the Czars.
[01:25.05]以沙皇政权为核心的繁荣城市。
[01:28.35]In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with 600,000 troops. In a desperate attempt to keep Moscow out of Napoleon’s hands,
[01:32.62]1812年，拿破仑率领六十万大军进攻俄国。为了不让莫斯科沦陷于拿破仑的魔掌中，危急之下，
[01:36.89]the defenders set fire to their own capital. For three days Moscow burnt.
[01:39.51]护城者们放火燃烧他们的首都。大火烧了莫斯科三日。
[01:42.14]The Kremlin was badly damaged and two thirds of the city was erased.
[01:45.00]克里姆林宫的烧损非常严重，三分之二的城市销毁殆尽。
[01:47.86]The city was threatened again during World War II. This time it was 75 Nazi divisions who laid siege.
[01:51.80]二战期间，莫斯科再一次受到威胁。这一回，是遭到七十五个纳粹师团的围攻。
[01:55.75]Government officials, children and art treasures were evacuated as the Germans approached to within ten miles.
[01:59.59]在德军进攻到只有十英里处时，政府官员、儿童以及艺术瑰宝有组织地撤离出城。
[02:03.43]But for six months the city held fast. In the end the battle of Moscow proved to be the Nazis’ first major defeat of the war.
[02:08.91]坚持了六个月，莫斯科战役最终被证明是纳粹在战争中受到的第一次严重挫败。
[02:14.40]Through the centuries the heart of Moscow has always been the Kremlin, the seat of the government.
[02:17.22]数世纪以来，政府中心所在地克里姆林宫一直都是莫斯科的心脏腹地。
[02:20.04]A city within a city, surrounded by a wall one and a half miles long and up to twenty feet wide.
[02:23.29]城内有城，环绕的城墙有1.5英里长，20英尽高。
[02:26.55]The Kremlin’s sixty acres of palaces, museums and churches make it Europe’s most concentrated expression of the art,
[02:30.50]克里姆林宫占地60英里，其中有宫殿、博物馆和教堂、是俄国的艺术、
[02:34.46]architecture and history of a single nation. Russians go even further.
[02:37.20]建筑和历史在欧洲最集中的体现。而俄国人认为远不止这些。
[02:39.95]One playwright wrote:"The Earth, as we all know, begins at the Kremlin. It is her central point."
[02:43.59]有一位剧作家曾写道：“众所周知，地在方圆，唯克里姆林为始。此处乃地之中心。”
[02:47.24]The Kremlin’s most conspicuous landmark is the bell tower of Ivan the Great.
[02:49.59]克里姆林宫最引人注目的建筑要算是伊凡大帝时期的钟楼了。
[02:51.94]Built on the site of an old church nearly five hundred years ago,
[02:53.66]建于大约五百年前古教堂的旧址，
[02:55.39]the bell tower was until World War II Moscow’s tallest building.
[02:57.78]灯楼在二战前是莫斯科最高的建筑。
[03:00.17]Just outside of the Kremlin lies Red Square, which in Mediaeval times was an enormous market place.
[03:03.33]座落在克里姆林宫外的是红场，在中世纪时期红场曾是大商贸中心。
[03:06.49]Today the square is the setting for the Soviet Union’s most splendid pageantry:
[03:08.80]现在，它为（前）苏联提供地举办盛事：
[03:11.11]the May Day parade and the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, celebrate each October.
[03:13.93]五一节游行，以及每年十月都庆祝的俄国革命胜利纪念日。
[03:16.75]Red Square has always been a central gathering place, even in the days of the Czars.
[03:19.65]即使是在沙皇政权时期，红场也向来都是中心聚集地。
[03:22.55]In fact, its name in Old Slavonic actually means "main square" or "beautiful square."
[03:26.00]实际上，在斯拉夫语中，红场这名字的含义是“大广场”和“美丽的广场”。
[03:29.45]Also in Red Square is the tomb of Vladimir Ilici Lenin, founder of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and still revered as the father of the Revolution.
[03:35.52]有红场上还矗立着弗拉基米尔伊里奇·列宁的灵墓。列宁是苏联共产党的创始人，被人们尊为革命之父。
[03:41.60]The tomb, built of black granite six years after his death,
[03:43.63]灵墓在列宁逝世后六年用黑色花岗岩建成。
[03:45.67]is the scene of a solemn changing of the guard every hour of every day.
[03:49.16]每天守卫士兵一小时一次的换岗已经成为庄严的一景。 |