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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
And, as you descend1 into them, what mind-boggling structures these wells are. Their early builders were capable of astonishing feats2 of engineering. The Chand Baori in Abhaneri, east of Jaipur (the capital of Rajasthan), resembles an inverted3 ziggurat. Its 13 storeys and 3,500 narrow steps prefigure M.C. Escher’s “impossible objects” by centuries. The Panna Meena Ka Kund stepwell, also near Jaipur, is another elaborate masterpiece. Hindu embellishments to baolis included covered arcades4 and pavilions that served as refuges from the heat and even as lodgings5. Sculptures and friezes6 were crammed7 with gods, animals and humans. Spreading Muslim rule introduced a more austere8, though no less impressive, architecture of arches and jaalis (stone lattice windows).
当你深入其中,你会发现这些井的结构是多么令人难以置信。早期的造井者具有惊人的工程才能。在斋浦尔(拉贾斯坦邦的首都)以东的阿巴涅里,Chand Baori就像一个倒立的金字型建筑。13层楼和3500个狭窄的台阶,预示着M.C.埃舍尔的“不可能图形”将存在数百年。同样位于斋浦尔附近的Panna Meena Ka Kund阶梯井是另一件精致的杰作。印度人对baoli的装饰包括有顶的拱廊和亭子,用作避暑的庇护所,甚至是住所。雕塑和楣板上刻画了神、动物和人类。穆斯林统治的扩张带来了一种更为简朴,但同样令人印象深刻的拱门和贾里斯(石格子窗)建筑。
But all this was abandoned. The decline of the stepwell began with the British raj, which insisted baolis were unhygienic havens9 of vermin and disease. They called for them to be filled in or barricaded10. The raj’s administrators11 were blind to their role in socialising and as subterranean12 caravanserais. Independent India’s encouragement of diesel-powered borewells proved to be the baoli’s death-knell.
但这一切都被抛弃了。阶梯井的衰落始于英国拉贾斯坦邦统治时期,当时的英国坚持认为,baoli是害虫和疾病的不卫生庇护所。他们要求将其填满或设置路障。拉贾斯坦邦的管理者对他们在社交和地下商队中的角色视而不见。独立后的印度鼓励以柴油为动力的钻井,这是baoli的丧钟。
Yet these borewells’ impactonthewater table, plus untrammelled urban development, have led to a drastic depletion13 of natural aquifers14 and a countrywide water crisis. That is one reason why the restoration efforts of the AKTC and like-minded groups have struck a chord: more Indians are wondering whether old-fashioned water-conservation methods have lessons for today.
然而,这些钻井对地下水位的影响,加上不受限制的城市发展,已经导致了自然含水层的急剧枯竭和全国性的水危机。这就是为什么阿加汗文化信托基金和志同道合的团体的恢复努力引起了共鸣的原因之一:越来越多的印度人想知道传统的节水方法对今天是否有借鉴意义。
At Nizamuddin dargah, the trust has saved the baoli. Its workers cleared the tank of tonnes of sludge, and relaid the neighbourhood’s sewage pipes. Marrying traditional workmanship with laser scans and ground-penetrating radar15, the trust rebuilt the baoli in a form as close to the original as possible. In the process, a subterranean passage from the saint’s tomb to the tank was uncovered, along with water springs and the well’s wooden foundations.
在Nizamuddin dargah,信托基金拯救了baoli。工人们清理了水箱里的数吨污泥,并重新铺设了附近的污水管道。该基金会将传统工艺与激光扫描和探地雷达相结合,以尽可能接近原始的形式重建了baoli。在这个过程中,发现了一个从圣人的坟墓到水槽的地下通道,还发现了泉水和井底的木质地基。
1 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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2 feats | |
功绩,伟业,技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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3 inverted | |
adj.反向的,倒转的v.使倒置,使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 arcades | |
n.商场( arcade的名词复数 );拱形走道(两旁有商店或娱乐设施);连拱廊;拱形建筑物 | |
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5 lodgings | |
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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6 friezes | |
n.(柱顶过梁和挑檐间的)雕带,(墙顶的)饰带( frieze的名词复数 ) | |
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7 crammed | |
adj.塞满的,挤满的;大口地吃;快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满;填入;临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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8 austere | |
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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9 havens | |
n.港口,安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口,安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 ) | |
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10 barricaded | |
设路障于,以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 ); 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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11 administrators | |
n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 );有管理(或行政)才能的人;(由遗嘱检验法庭指定的)遗产管理人;奉派暂管主教教区的牧师 | |
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12 subterranean | |
adj.地下的,地表下的 | |
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13 depletion | |
n.耗尽,枯竭 | |
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14 aquifers | |
n.地下蓄水层,砂石含水层( aquifer的名词复数 ) | |
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15 radar | |
n.雷达,无线电探测器 | |
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