VOA慢速英语2021--研究人员重建了古代仪器

Researchers Re-create Ancient Instruments

Ancient bells and organ pipes from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem gave researchers the idea to re-create music as it may have sounded almost 800 years ago.

David Catalunya, a researcher from the universities of Oxford¹, England, and Wuerzburg, Germany, is leading a project to build copies of the instruments.

Catalunya said that mid-13th century soldiers, known as Crusaders, buried the 13 bronze bells near the church because they were worried that the instruments might be destroyed. They covered the instruments in animal fat to protect them from rust², he said.

Catalunya described re-creating the bells as "a very long process."

With early research complete, he estimates it will take about five years to make fully³ usable copies.

Meanwhile, a touch of the hand is enough to bring a clear, high-pitched sound from the originals. The Custody⁴ of the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church holds the rare objects and recently showed them to the Reuters news agency.

"It's half of the original sound, (which) was much richer and louder and a little bit lower," Catalunya said.

The bells were part of a set that played while people sang inside the church, said Franciscan friar Father Stephane, the Custody's liturgist⁵. A liturgist leads church members in ritual prayer.

The bells were discovered in the early 20th century, along with 222 medieval copper⁶ pipes from the Church of the Nativity's organ, Father Stephane said. He added that the discovery happened during a building project at the church's Franciscan compound.

The collection also includes the scepter of the Bishop⁷ of Bethlehem and candlesticks from the 12th century which, Catalunya said, were made in France.

This suggests a shared source with the bells and organ pipes, which Father Stephane says are the oldest in Christendom.

Father Stephane said he hoped the collection would be displayed, and played, at a Jerusalem museum the Custody plans to open by 2024. He used the term significant – meaning very important – when talking about the bells.

"These bells are very significant for us because they are the bells of Bethlehem (and a) symbol of Nativity in the Christian⁸ world," he said.

Words in This Story

organ – n. a musical instrument that has a keyboard and pipes of different lengths and that makes sound by pushing air through the pipes

original – n. a document, film, painting, etc., which is created by someone and from which a copy or translation is made

scepter – n. a long decorated stick

symbol –n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 liturgist   

n.礼拜仪式的权威

参考例句：

6 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

7 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。