a theory singularly supported by the peculiar stairlike formation of all four sides of those edifices;  这些大建筑物的四周都构筑有特殊的梯形;

whereby, with prodigious long upliftings of their legs, those old astronomers were wont to mount to the apex, and sing out for new stars; even as the look-outs of a modern ship sing out for a sail, or a whale just bearing in sight.  这样,那些古代的考古学家就用他们那双非常善于登高的长腿,习以为常地攀上顶尖,大声叫喊要找新的星星;正和现代的船只上的望者大声叫喊着看到了一条船,或者看到了一条刚冒了头的大鲸一样。

In Saint Stylites, the famous Christian hermit of old times, who built him a lofty stone pillar in the desert and spent the whole latter portion of his life on its summit, hoisting his food from the ground with a tackle;  在那些柱上苦行者,他在各种柱顶上住了三十七年,每次更换的柱都一次比一次高,最后一个柱顶高达六十六英尺。有一个古代著名的基督教隐士,他在沙漠中给自己建立了一支高高的石柱后,就在那柱顶上度过了他整整的下半生,食物由一只滑轳从地上吊上去。

in him we have a remarkable instance of a dauntless stander-of-mast-heads; who was not to be driven from his place by fogs or frosts, rain, hail, or sleet;  这人便为我们提供了一个不屈不挠的桅顶望者的特出的榜样;迷雾,霜雪,雨露,雹霰都吓跑不了他;

but valiantly facing everything out to the last, literally died at his post. Of modern standers-of-mast-heads we have but a lifeless set; mere stone, iron, and bronze men;  他无畏地面向一切,坚持到底,明白地说,就是死在他的岗位上。至于现代的桅顶望者,我们只看到一群没有生命的人;

who, though well capable of facing out a stiff gale, are still entirely incompetent to the business of singing out upon discovering any strange sight.  不过是些石凿,铁打和铜铸的人;他们虽然很能抗拒猛烈的飓风,在发现任何奇观的,及时大声叫喊这项差使上,却是完全不能胜任的。

There is Napoleon; who, upon the top of the column of Vendome stands with arms folded, some one hundred and fifty feet in the air; careless, now, who rules the decks below, whether Louis Philippe, Louis Blanc, or Louis the Devil.  我们看到那个站在旺多姆圆柱上的拿破仑,抱着双手,立在一百五十英尺左右的上空,现在是谁在统治下界,是路易士黑,路易士白,还是路易士魔鬼;他都不管了。

Great Washington, too, stands high aloft on his towering main-mast in Baltimore, and like one of Hercules' pillars, his column marks that point of human grandeur beyond which few mortals will go.  伟大的华盛顿也高高地站在巴尔的摩的矗立的桅顶上,象是一根海格立斯的柱子,他的柱子标志出一般人不能企及的那种人类的壮丽的特点。