The Stories of Silk and Stones

By Leo Luo

本文的作者利用暑期游歷了敦煌，參觀了莫高窟，騎駱駝行走過(guò)沙漠，沿著古絲綢之路的路線重溫了這里昔日的輝煌……敦煌之行就像一場(chǎng)夢(mèng)那么不真實(shí)。請(qǐng)和作者一起踏上他的這段旅程吧！

Stepping into the Freer Gallery, which is the Smithsonian museum of Asian artwork, I beheld the imposing wood statues of the Ni’o,guardians of Buddhist temples, positioned at each end of the marble hallway.1. Freer Gallery: 弗瑞爾美術(shù)館，位于美國(guó)首都華盛頓特區(qū)，和賽克勒博物館（The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery）合稱為“美國(guó)國(guó)立亞洲藝術(shù)博物館”；Smithsonian museum: 史密森尼博物院，是世界最大的博物館體系，它所屬的十六所博物館中保管著一億四千多萬(wàn)件藝術(shù)珍品和珍貴的標(biāo)本；behold: 看見(jiàn)；imposing: 給人深刻印象的；Ni’o: 哼哈二將；marble: 大理石；hallway: 門(mén)廳。Looming well above the heads of visitors, they glared at passers-by with their bulging eyes and terrifying grimaces.2. 它們?cè)谟慰蛡兊念^頂上赫然聳現(xiàn)，用它們凸起的眼睛和駭人的鬼臉怒視著過(guò)客。loom: 陰森森地逼近，赫然聳現(xiàn)；glare at: 怒視；bulging: 鼓出來(lái)的；grimace: 怪相，鬼臉。Their hyperrealistic muscles coiled with veins and tension, as if to spring to life at any moment.3. 它們極其夸張的肌肉上布滿了紋理，充滿著張力，好像隨時(shí)都會(huì)動(dòng)起來(lái)似的。coil: 盤(pán)繞；vein: 紋理；tension:張力；spring to life: 煥發(fā)生機(jī)，突然活躍起來(lái)。One Ni’o pouted his lips in a frown, representing the “Um” syllable, while its twin bared his teeth and snarled the “Ah” syllable.4. pout: 撅嘴；frown: 皺眉；syllable: 音節(jié)；bare: 露出；snarl: 咆哮地說(shuō)。Despite their grotesque appearances, these deities symbolize the personifications of the Beginning and the End, reminding ancient Buddhist pilgrims and modern tourists of the impermanence of the world.5. grotesque: 奇形怪狀的；deity: 神；personification: 化身；Buddhist: 佛教的；pilgrim: 信徒；impermanence:無(wú)常。It’s humbling to remember that one year ago, I had just thought that the Ni’o were simply wood statues of muscular Buddhist deities, not attributing any deeper significance to their presence.6. humbling: 使自慚的；muscular: 肌肉發(fā)達(dá)的。But after a summer of reconnecting with my roots and my history in China, I have not only gained a window into my past, but also a vision7. vision: 愿景。for the future.

Without a second glance at the other exhibits around me, I made a straight beeline8. beeline: 直線。for the gallery of Chinese Buddhist art. Displayed under soft white light, various carvings,statues and steles depicting Buddhist beliefs stood like portholes to a world long past.9. 在柔和的白光下，這里展示著各種各樣的雕刻物、雕像和記錄佛教信仰的石碑，它們立在那里，就像通向久遠(yuǎn)過(guò)往的窗口。stele: 石碑；depict: 描述；porthole: 舷窗，孔口。The artwork encompassed the entire range of the evolution of Buddhist art in China,starting from the primitive figures of the Northern Wei Dynasty and maturing to the peak of elegance during the Tang Dynasty.10. 這些藝術(shù)品包含了佛教藝術(shù)在中國(guó)完整的演變歷程，始于北魏的原始簡(jiǎn)單的畫(huà)像，在唐代發(fā)展成熟，達(dá)到高雅藝術(shù)的頂峰。 encompass:包含；primitive: 遠(yuǎn)古的，簡(jiǎn)單的；elegance: 典雅，高雅。But this time, every statue and carving revealed its secrets to me, for I was now armed with the knowledge of Buddhism that I had acquired over the summer. The security guards must have given me puzzled looks as I admired the sculptures, my nose inches away from the stone. But I did not care, for the knowledge that I garnered11. garner: 獲得。from both Peking University and my trip to Dunhuang was flooding back to me. It illuminated the subtleties and histories of each piece of artwork,12. illuminate: 闡明，解釋；subtlety: 細(xì)微之處。whispering fine details that were invisible to the common tourist. There, in the midst of all those stories, I was plunged once again into the magic and the wonder that overwhelmed me when I had gone to the Mogao Caves13. plunge: 使陷入，使投入；overwhelm: （強(qiáng)烈地影響而）使不知所措；Mogao Caves: 莫高窟。at Dunhuang this summer.

敦煌莫高窟

The caves were perhaps some of the most mystifying14. mystifying: 神秘的。things that I had ever seen. Originally meant as places of quiet contemplation and worship, these caves also served to signify the exorbitant wealth of the patrons that commissioned them.15. 這些洞穴最初是作為冥想和敬拜之地，同時(shí)也顯示出了建造者的巨大財(cái)富。contemplation:沉思；signify: 意味，表示；exorbitant: 過(guò)度的，過(guò)分的；commission: 委托。And over a thousand years after they were carved out of the cliff faces, they still retained their intended magnificence.16. cliff face: 懸崖壁；retain: 保留。As our tour guide, who was a treasure trove of knowledge herself,shone her flashlight upon the frescos and carvings, darkness gave way to colours and scenes were charged with energy.17. treasure trove: 寶藏；shone: shine的過(guò)去式，照射；fresco: 壁畫(huà)；charge with: 使充滿。The vast crimson palace complexes of the Western Paradise, cradled by azure mountains veiled by soft mists, unfolded on the walls before our eyes.18. 廣袤的西方天堂的深紅色宮殿群，由青山所環(huán)繞，薄霧所籠罩，就這樣在我們眼前的墻壁上呈現(xiàn)出來(lái)。crimson: 深紅色；palace complex:宮殿群；azure: 天青；veil: 遮蔽；mist: 薄霧。Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, draped in robes of flowing gold, lined paintings with their serene expressions.19. Bodhisattva: 菩薩；drape in: （用大塊布等）遮蓋；robe: 長(zhǎng)袍；serene:平靜的，安詳?shù)?。Overhead, flying immortals, known as Feitian（飛天） in Chinese,let their gossamer scarves flutter in the wind as they serenaded and gathered deities with all sorts of traditional instruments.20. immortal: 神仙，不朽人物；gossamer:薄紗； flutter: 擺動(dòng)； serenade: 唱小夜曲。We were even fortunate to see the flying immortal that inspired the symbol of Dunhuang: the Fantanpipa（反彈琵琶）, the immortal playing the pipa behind her head, who balanced on one foot while she arched her slender back, entranced in a passionate dance.21. arch: 拱起；slender: 細(xì)長(zhǎng)的；entrance: 使出神，使入迷。All around her, real flakes of gold glittered in waves as the guide’s flashlight passed over them.22.當(dāng)向?qū)У氖蛛娡矡艄饣芜^(guò)的時(shí)候，真金薄片如波浪般閃閃發(fā)光。 flake: 小薄片；glitter: 閃光。I stood breathless, captivated by the splendour of this cultural treasure, and even more proud that I could claim this as part of my Chinese heritage.23. captivate: 迷住，迷惑；splendour:輝煌；heritage: 遺產(chǎn)，繼承物。

Returning from my reverie, I sighed with nostalgia and ventured into another gallery that exhibited samples of artwork from the Silk Road.24. reverie: 幻想；sigh: 嘆息；nostalgia:鄉(xiāng)愁，懷舊之情。Despite the small size of the room, it still contained valuable relics that reflected the cultural significance of the ancient trade route. Behind the images of caravans and camels laden with lucrative goods winding across shifting dunes,25. caravan:（穿過(guò)沙漠地帶的）商隊(duì)；(be) laden with: 載滿；lucrative:賺錢(qián)的；shifting: 移動(dòng)的；dune: 沙丘。the Silk Road also represents the first global highway for the exchange of cultures. Greek in fluences from the Hellenistic26. Hellenistic: 希臘風(fēng)格的，希臘文化的。kingdoms in Asia traveled along with merchants to India and China, completely changing the development of Buddhist art. Seeing the presence of a Pegasus27. Pegasus: 珀加索斯，生有雙翼的神馬，被其足蹄踩過(guò)的地方有泉水涌出，詩(shī)人飲之可獲靈感。, the winged horse of Greek mythology, carved on a Tang dynasty Chinese mirror reminded me of that cultural exchange. My thoughts turned to the merchants and emissaries28. emissary: 使者。who flowed like rivers of life and trade for the Silk Road, and I thought back to the experience of riding a camel at Dunhuang.

Those camels were truly ships of the desert. I planted myself between the twin humps, and barely had time to grab onto the harness before the camel set sail.29. hump: 駝峰；harness: 駱駝上的安全帶；set sail: 啟航。It lurched forward as its rear legs shot up,30. 當(dāng)它的兩條后腿一下子發(fā)力站立起來(lái)時(shí)，駱駝猛然前傾。lurch: 突然傾斜；shoot up: 快速立起來(lái)。and then almost threw me backwards as it stood up to its full height. With a shout from the camel guide, the beast set off,as if bourne by currents in the sea of sand.31. bourne: 小溪；current: 水流。The stories were true.The desert breeze engulfed me, and I envisioned myself no longer a tourist snapping away with my camera, but a merchant seeking lucre beyond measure with my caravan.32. 沙漠的微風(fēng)吞沒(méi)了我，我想象自己不再是一個(gè)拍照的游客，而是一個(gè)和我的商隊(duì)一起尋找巨大財(cái)富的商人。engulf: 吞沒(méi)；envision: 想象；snap away: 快速拍攝；lucre:錢(qián)財(cái)；beyond measure: 無(wú)法估量。I looked down and saw the shadows of the camels stretching on and on across the desert,and I saw within those silhouettes that I was following the same path that men both as famous as Aurel Stein and as common as a merchant traveled.33. 我低頭看去，駱駝群走過(guò)的地方，留下連綿不斷的陰影，我在這些剪影中看到自己正沿著前人走過(guò)的路前行，這些人中有如奧萊爾·斯坦因這樣的名人，也有普通的商旅。silhouette: 輪廓，剪影；Aurel Stein: 奧萊爾·斯坦因，世界著名考古學(xué)家和探險(xiǎn)家，國(guó)際敦煌學(xué)開(kāi)山鼻祖之一。

But back in the reality of the Smithsonian exhibition, I kept returning to the room of Buddhist art, eager to listen to the stories once more. Yet my eyes were always drawn to the depictions of the flying immortals in the Buddhist carvings. Although they arrived in China from Central Asian in fluences, as seen through their flowing robes, but have now become an integral34. integral: 不可分割的。part of Chinese Buddhist art.

The invisible presence of the flying immortals spurred me to ponder what they could represent in reality.35. spur: 激勵(lì)；ponder: 考慮，沉思。Perhaps it could be described as a person without a history or heritage. Your heritage definitely does not define who you are, and yet it is a piece that can never be shed36. shed: 去除，擺脫。. To understand, and ultimately accept, one’s heritage allows for a greater understanding of one’s place in the world. Before, when I admired the works of Asian art, I was only able to see the super ficial details. But now, after reconnecting with my past this summer with classes and a trip to Dunhuang,I feel as though I understand the artwork on a deeper level and am able to appreciate it so much more. Just as the Silk Road was able to bring the flying immortal to China and enrich the culture and imagination of its people, my generation and I are standing on the cusp of the next Silk Road, with the proliferation of globalization and the Internet.37. cusp: 尖端；proliferation: 擴(kuò)散。Perhaps now it is more important than ever to promote global understanding and cooperation, and that only begins through knowing one’s own history, and the history of others, for only then can you see the whole picture, just like looking at an artifact38. artifact: 人工制品，手工藝品。from the Silk Road.

反彈琵琶