纪录片《文明》 第38期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（38）

The stairway we see today has been reconstructed,

我们今天看到的石阶已经过重建

but around it, we can see the chaos¹ of the collapse².

但在它周围能看到垮塌造成的狼藉

The stairway was built as the Mayans were suffering a drought

石阶是在玛雅人经历一场

that would last decades,

持续数十年的旱灾时所修建

and the promise of rain

并且对雨水的承诺

had been a central plank³ of royal authority.

是支撑王族权威的核心

Shortly afterwards,

很快

the kingdom of Copan itself collapsed⁴ completely.

科潘王国彻底灭亡

All across the Mayan territories,

纵观玛雅属地

art and authority were out of step with reality.

艺术和权威与残酷的现实脱节

There was nothing grand or stately about starvation.

饥荒一点也不宏伟庄严

And the ordinary people of the Maya saw that their civilisation⁵

玛雅平民看到他们的文明

had become a death trap and walked away,

成为了死亡陷阱 于是纷纷离开

left kings and cities and art behind.

丢下了国王 城市 和艺术

They went back to simpler lives in the surrounding forest.

他们又回到周围的森林里过着更简单的生活

And their descendants are still very much alive.

他们的后裔今天仍然活得很好

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。