The Stonehenge

The Stonehenge

     

This ancient monument of huge stones standing¹ on the vast Salisbury plains in England has captured our imaginations for centuries. It's the most ¹⁾enigmatic ²⁾pre-historic monument on earth.

What makes the structure at Stonehenge ³⁾unique is the fact that for the first time they're shaping stones on a massive scale.

Dating back as far as 2950 B.C., theories about who built Stonehenge have included the ⁴⁾druids and the Greeks. ⁵⁾Speculation² as to its purpose, range from ⁶⁾astronomy to a ⁷⁾UFO landing site.

Now a ruin with many of the original stones fallen or removed, this site still attracts nearly five thousand tourists everyday.

Around the same time as the ancient Egyptians were building the pyramids, the first stones arrived here at Stonehenge. The mystery of this stone is that they are only found in the Brescelly Mountains in south Wales, nearly 150 miles away.

It was a huge job to transport these stones from Wales, because originally there were about 80 of them here at Stonehenge weighing up to four tons each. Now, if I got in my car it would take me about 5 hours to drive all the way to Wales. But to those people, it would've been an enormous distance.

The stones were brought by boat from the mountains and pulled from the coast by ⁸⁾sledge³ to the site.

I think, you need a minimum of about 150 people, simply to move on of these massive forty-ton stones.

Getting the stones to the site was an amazing ⁹⁾feat⁴, but building Stonehenge was much more complex. It is not just simply one stone piled on top of another, they're joined together, this hole in the section here that's been ¹⁰⁾pounded out using stone hammers, and that originally fitted on top of that ¹¹⁾protruding^{5 12)}knob on top of that stone.

After nearly 5,000 years Stonehenge is still standing. We now know how it was built. The question "why" is a bit more ¹³⁾problematic. Twenty first century followers⁶ of ancient mystical beliefs are sure that Stonehenge has a connection with the summer and winter ¹⁴⁾solstices. "As a druid, as a priest of the land, I feel Stonehenge to be one of the key sacred temples in the world. Stonehenge evokes⁷ in us a connection between some deep ¹⁵⁾ancestral intuitive soul and the power of nature around us."

Nature may well know all the answers, but science has yet to prove its theories. It seems Stonehenge isn't ready to reveal all its secrets just yet.

 

巨石阵

古老的巨石阵屹立在英格兰索尔兹伯里平原上，数世纪以来，它的丰姿赋予了我们丰富的想象力。它是地球上最神秘的史前遗迹。

巨石阵是独一无二的，因为它是首次出现的最大规模巨石。

究竟是谁建造了巨石阵？这要追溯到公元前2950年，有两种说法：一种认为是特鲁伊特教的教徒，另一种说法则认为是希腊人。有关巨石阵作用的推测也是众说纷纭，上至天文学意义，下至不明飞行体的降落点，尚无定论。

现在，尽管很多巨石已经倒塌，或给搬走，但是这古迹仍然每天吸引着近五千名游客观光。

差不多就在古埃及人建造金字塔的时候，巨石阵的第一批石头被运达英格兰索尔兹伯里平原。巨石的神秘之处在于，它只能从南威尔士的普雷西山脉取材，而那里位于150英里开外。

从威尔士搬运石材是个艰巨的工作，因为最初的巨石阵中约有80多块巨石，每块重达4吨。现在如果从巨石阵开车去威尔士，全程需要大概5小时。可对于古人来说，这实在是条遥遥长路。

巨石从大山里开采出来后，先用船只运抵海岸，然后再利用撬具从海岸运到现在的地址。

仅仅是搬运这些重达四十吨的巨石，就需要大约150人。

能把些巨石运送到这里已是惊人之举。但建造巨石阵所花费的工夫更是复杂。因为巨石并不是简单地堆叠在一起，而是被巧妙地连接在一起：石块上这一部分的孔眼是用石锤开出来的，它原来刚好可以套住顶上另一块巨石的石楦。

经历了五千年的风风雨雨，巨石仍然屹立不倒。现在我们已经知道它是如何建成的了。但问题是，为什么要建造这样一个巨石阵呢？古代密教的21世纪追随者则确信不疑：巨石阵与夏至、冬至日有关。“身为特鲁伊特信徒以及这片土地的神职者，我认为巨石阵是世上最重要的圣殿之一。它唤醒我们，在深藏的祖传直觉精神与大自然力量之间是有着某种联系的。”

大自然也许知道一切答案，但理论有待于用科学去进一步考证。看来巨石阵似乎还不愿意将神秘面纱全部揭开哩。

 

注释：

1) enigmatic [7eni^5mAtik] a. 谜一般的，高深莫测的

2) pre-historic [7pri:his5tCrik] a. 史前的，古老的

3) unique [ju:5ni:k] a. 独特的

4) druid [5dru:Id] n. 德鲁伊特教团员

5) speculation [7spekju5leiFEn] n. 思索

6) astronomy [E5strRnEmI] n. 天文学

7) UFO即unidentified flying object，飞碟，不明飞行物

8) sledge [sledV] n. 雪橇

9) feat [fi:t] n. 壮举

10) pound [paund] v. 连续重击

11) protruding [prE5trU:dIN] a. 突出的

12) knob [5nRb] n. 突出物

13) problematic [prRblE5mAtIk] a. 问题的，有疑问的

14) solstice [5sClstis] n. （天文）至日，至点

15) ancestral [An5sestrEl] a. 祖先的，祖传的

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 sledge   

n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往

参考例句：

• The sledge gained momentum as it ran down the hill.雪橇从山上下冲时的动力越来越大。
• The sledge slid across the snow as lightly as a boat on the water.雪橇在雪原上轻巧地滑行，就象船在水上行驶一样。

4 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

5 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。