小朋友的西安游記姍姍來遲……

A Walk in Xi‘a(chǎn)n

步量西安

With a stomach-wrenching jolt, the plane literally dropped from cloud cover and made a turn that would have let your stomach churn for ages. Golden sunlight streamed from the window hole as the landscape below us grew more and more distinct.

一陣反胃的不適將我從清晨朦朧的小憩中喚醒，飛機(jī)正從云層疾速下探。金色的陽光從舷窗透了進(jìn)來，我不禁向下俯視，十三朝古都的輪廓越發(fā)清晰起來。

The first impression of Xi'an on me was not so hot as I expected as we arose slowly on the escalator towards ground level. Away from the coolness of the metro station and coaches. The heat, not desolating, still made a significant impact on me. Sweat dripped from my forehead as we shuffled slowly towards the hotel, which seemed one thousand kilometers away.

當(dāng)我們乘坐扶梯從地鐵站上到地面層時(shí)，西安帶給我的初體驗(yàn)雖不如想象中那般炎熱得令人絕望，卻也比在地鐵站內(nèi)享受空調(diào)的冷風(fēng)要痛苦的多，汗水不知不覺從額頭流下，通往旅館的路仿佛幾千公里般遙不可及。

The sun was unleashing its energy fully by the time our stomachs started grumbling. We wandered around, looking for a suitable restaurant to have lunch. Finally, we chose an old-fashioned restaurant to have a few dishes and some bottles of drinks.

太陽淋漓盡致地?fù)]灑著它的熱情，我們的肚子卻咕咕大叫起來。沒辦法，我們頭頂烈日，游逛在西安的大街上，想要找尋一家飯店來填飽肚子。最終我們走進(jìn)一家裝修古樸的酒店，簡(jiǎn)單地享用了一頓西安地方小吃。

In the afternoon, we visited some fascinating tomb paintings dating back to the Tang dynasty. I was shocked by four images entitled to be a set from Prince Lishou's tomb. These images show the four mystical creatures guarding the four sides of the earth, the giant turtle of the north, the red bird of the south, the white tiger of the west, and the dragon of the east. How amazing!

下午我們啟程前往陜西歷史博物館，開啟我們西安之行的第一站——欣賞珍貴的唐代壁畫。我被從唐太子李壽墓中出土的一組壁畫給深深震撼住了。這組壁畫一共四幅，分別雕畫出了中古古代鎮(zhèn)守四象的四大神獸： 東為青龍，西是白虎，北為玄武，南是朱雀。真的是精妙絕倫！

In the Shaanxi History Museum, it felt like walking through a tunnel of time. From the head bones of pre-historic people to the terracotta army (only part of them), I thought I was riding on enormous waves, viewing history replayed in front of my eyes. Livelier than movies, it was a great joy to see their stories taken out of the shadow of time. I was walking in a dazed, dream-like state, so that I didn’t notice the pain in my legs.

陜歷博之行，猶如游走于時(shí)間的隧道：從遠(yuǎn)古人頭骨到兵馬俑，我如同在歷史的潮流中沖浪，一件件文物，一幕幕歷史畫面，從時(shí)光的幕后走了出來，為我們講述那些曾經(jīng)激動(dòng)人心的歲月。這種如夢(mèng)的感覺甚至讓我忘記了長(zhǎng)時(shí)間行走帶來的腿痛。

It was a pleasant morning the next day. The sun hung high in the sky, sending light and heat onto the world below. I was on my way to see the stone walls rebuilt in the Ming dynasty. There is a drawbridge above the moat, with a ditch two meters deep. The arrow tower stands high amongst the nearby buildings into the outer wall of Yongning Gate (the south gate of Ming City Wall). The arrow tower and the wall at the other sides make a small confined rectangular space to raid the enemy attacking from the moat.

第二天清晨，我被西安魅力四射的朝陽叫醒。我們?cè)缭绯霭l(fā)前往明城墻。走過橫跨在兩米多深的護(hù)城河上的吊橋，跨入明城墻南門永寧門的外墻，映入眼簾的便是高高聳立的箭樓。箭樓與其他三邊內(nèi)城墻一起圈成一個(gè)四方型空間，這種設(shè)計(jì)多用于古代戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)突襲敵人。

To prevent being burnt easily, the wooden doors of the arrow tower have a layer of mud over them. To keep the mud layers from peeling off, particular nails have been driven on the doors.

為了防止火災(zāi)，箭樓等建筑上的木門表層都涂加了土層來進(jìn)行保護(hù)；而為了防止土層脫落，工匠們又發(fā)明并使用了特制的釘子來進(jìn)行封裝。

Near the Yongning Gate lies the famed Beilin Museum. Beilin means "forest of steles" in Chinese. Beilin treasures about 2700 steles, of which 1000 of them are in exhibit. The collection has the original work of various calligraphers, including Yan Zhenqing's Duo Bao Ta Bei. It is an excellent place, but the unexpected trouble there was mosquitos.

離永寧門不遠(yuǎn)，便是聞名遐邇的碑林博物館。博物館中收藏了2700多件石碑書法作品，其中現(xiàn)在在展的約有1000多件。這些收藏中包含很有古代書法家的真跡，比如顏真卿的多寶塔碑，是中華民族名副其實(shí)的書法藝術(shù)的寶庫。但在如此充滿藝術(shù)氣息的博物館中暢游卻不免遭受蚊蟲的叮咬，實(shí)屬一段意外的小插曲。

As I touched the smooth markings edged onto steles by skilled artisans, I questioned:" Why do some steles have turtles under them? "This kind of "turtle" was the sixth son of the dragon, named Baxia, as the myths of our country said. To have Baxia carrying your stele artwork was great glory.

當(dāng)我輕觸那些藝術(shù)家的精品之時(shí)，突然發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)問題：那就是很多的石碑下面都會(huì)有一只碩大無比的石龜，這又是什么東東呢？原來這些石龜是古代傳說中龍王的第六個(gè)兒子，名曰“霸下”。能得“霸下”背舉的書法石碑當(dāng)真是一種莫大的榮耀。

In a lonely corner of the museum, there is a whole exhibit dedicated to vivid steles of buddhas. Although the sculptures are fractured and old, I would still gaze upon the handiwork of sculptors centuries ago. What made me genuinely flabbergasted was some delicate pieces of stone. These stone pieces are like doors that lead to the buddha world, where hundreds of thousands of Buddhas live in harmony.

在一個(gè)略顯清冷的角落里，展出了一系列栩栩如生的佛像。雖然這些佛像殘缺不全，但卻依舊能讓人感受到千百年前雕塑家們的高超技藝。而透過這些精巧的石像，我們仿佛跨入了一道通往佛教世界的神奇之門，去感知千年佛教的傳承和發(fā)展。

In the center of the rectangle made by the 13.7-kilometer city wall, soars the landmark bell tower. The Bell Tower, built in 1384, has been the best preserved in our country. It was designed for Ming Tai Zu's wish to change the capital city to Xi'an. Later, it has been a major site of revolution in the Twentieth Century. Gazing at the majesty of this most graceful building, I had the impression of a swan gliding towards the unknown that dominates the mysteries of the lands afar. Everything around has gone through uncountable changes from the glorious dynasty to the dark warring years. This pride of architecture has witnessed them all. Again and again, history has sounded his wailing call, the waves of time splashing on the beach that is humankind and humanity.

西安明城墻全長(zhǎng)13.7公里，將整個(gè)主城區(qū)護(hù)于其中。作為地標(biāo)建筑的鐘樓便位于內(nèi)城區(qū)的中心點(diǎn)上。西安鐘樓建于1384年，是中國至今保存最為完整的鐘樓。它的建設(shè)初衷原始于明太祖遷都西安的愿望，后來又成了20世紀(jì)中國革命力量萌發(fā)的源泉地。遠(yuǎn)觀這莊嚴(yán)、素雅的古老建筑，空中的白云如同大雁掠過鐘樓，飛向未知的遠(yuǎn)方。古老的鐘樓見證了西安這座城市的繁華與落寞，并用它那蒼老的鐘聲記錄下了人類文明的光輝。

The weather broadcasts said that it would be raining on the third day I've been in Xi'an. A mysterious gray enveloped everything, giving the mountains the Terracotta Warriors resided a slight sense of unease. The steep slope seemed to be endless and bring us an infinite daydream.

不知不覺，我的西安之旅已來到了第三天，據(jù)天氣預(yù)報(bào)說今天會(huì)下雨，清早的天空中烏云遮蔽，給駐守有秦兵的驪山帶來了些許神秘。通往秦始皇兵馬俑的山坡似乎遠(yuǎn)接入云，不禁讓人想入非非。

Following the summon of the Terracotta Army, we flew to Xi'an to pursue the national strength and prestige of the Qin dynasty. And now，with a whoosh of joy, I sighted the sprawling complex at the top.

循著秦始皇兵馬俑的召喚，我們不遠(yuǎn)千里來到西安，去追尋大秦帝國曾經(jīng)的軍威與國風(fēng)，而今，我們終于在歡呼聲中站到了秦始皇兵馬俑博物院所在的山坡上。

So far, four grave pits have been excavated, but only three have soldiers in them; Qin Shi Huang had been dead before the fourth vault finished, leaving the empty room for us to guess.

迄今為止，秦始皇兵馬俑共發(fā)掘出土了四個(gè)墓坑，但只有三個(gè)墓坑中裝有兵馬俑，第四個(gè)坑在秦始皇仙逝之時(shí)仍未完工，因此匆匆了事，獨(dú)留空白讓人遐想。

The first grave is the largest of all. The clay soldiers with different expressions stand in ranks inside, staring at me from the pit as if woken from a deep sleep. At the far side, a bronze chariot would have been fatigued with the journey from the Qin dynasty. Repairment to the broken warriors takes place on the land that the archeologists didn't excavate. According to our guide, archeologists have long to repair these warriors and renew them completely. The bricks in Grave One are all etched with the builder's names, written in a unique script. One of these stones can be worth six million yuan.

一號(hào)坑是迄今發(fā)掘出來的最大的墓坑。千人千面的灰色人俑按照等級(jí)陣列其中，他們仿佛剛剛從沉夢(mèng)中蘇醒過來，直直地盯著我！不遠(yuǎn)處一套青銅馬車風(fēng)塵仆仆地從大秦王朝緩緩駛來！未被發(fā)掘的空地處是考古學(xué)家修補(bǔ)兵馬俑的地方。據(jù)我們導(dǎo)游介紹，考古學(xué)家需要花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間來修補(bǔ)破損的兵馬俑，以便讓它們最大限度地恢復(fù)原貌。墓坑旁的磚塊上都刻有當(dāng)時(shí)制俑工匠的名字，現(xiàn)在即使一小塊秦磚的價(jià)值也在600萬以上。

What is interesting in Grave Two is the two deep and long tunnels that tomb robbers dug ago. The tomb robber, unknowing the value of the broken pottery shards, dug on to find no gold.

二號(hào)坑中最有趣的是兩個(gè)又深又長(zhǎng)的盜墓洞。盜墓賊們只為去挖金銀珠寶，卻不知碎落的陶片也價(jià)值連城。

The people of the Qin dynasty knew techniques in metal forging millennia ago. A bent bronze sword discovered there sprang straight suddenly just after its discovery; the bronze weapons found have chromium to keep them being rusty and fragile.

大秦帝國的青銅鍛造技術(shù)也已非常成熟。據(jù)說一柄被上面的兵馬俑壓彎了兩千多年的青銅劍，在出土的瞬間，居然能立馬恢復(fù)筆直的狀態(tài)，真的是讓人匪夷所思啊！而經(jīng)過考古學(xué)家研究，這些秦代出土的青銅器中都含有鉻的成分，能很好地防止這些武器生銹或腐朽。

One of the earliest health checks was in the Qin dynasty. Soldiers wore armor made of Lantian jade and trained for some time. The jade would absorb the sweat on the soldier's back. If the jade felt watery and shone like polished metal, then the soldier was healthy.

可能人類歷史上最早的體檢設(shè)備也出自秦朝。據(jù)說當(dāng)時(shí)的 秦兵穿著的盔甲中含有藍(lán)田玉，這些玉石會(huì)吸收士兵訓(xùn)練時(shí)溢出的汗液，從而會(huì)改變玉石的狀態(tài)。如果玉石水潤(rùn)有光澤，則表示士兵健康、強(qiáng)壯！

A bus ride later, the quiet beauty of the Huaqing Palace welcomed us into its history. The palace, built in the Tang dynasty, was a resort for the king when he had a trip to the outer parts of the city. Listen, the poem "Chang Hen Ge" written by Bai Juyi lingered around, as if telling us the love story of Tang Xuan Zong and Yang Gui Fei, who had enjoyed themselves here. Huaqing palace is history's scrapbook, where all the prints related to humanity stay permanent. Up the mountains, down the gentle hills, the old harmony reverberates inside. Across the rivers, amid the lakes, the tune of peace still sounds faintly in the distance.

告別兵馬俑的喧囂，我們乘車前往幽靜、美麗的華清宮。華清宮建于唐朝，是皇帝外出避暑、休閑的場(chǎng)所。聽！白居易的《長(zhǎng)恨歌》仿佛回響在耳畔，向我們講述著唐玄宗與楊貴妃的愛情悲劇。華清宮如同歷史的剪切簿，將人類文明的片段印制于其中。不論是遠(yuǎn)山幽谷，都深藏著遠(yuǎn)古的回聲；無論是江河湖海，都折射出歷史的幽鳴。

The scene of Daming Palace that I've seen in the documentary reoccurred in my mind when I swung on the metro. The beginning of my last tour was Danfeng Gate which was the main gate of Daming Palace.

西安旅途的最后一天，我坐在前往大明宮的地鐵上，之前看過的紀(jì)錄片《大明宮》的畫面不斷浮現(xiàn)在眼前，那種矛盾的情緒左右著我的心情。就讓我們從大明宮的正門——丹鳳門走入這座曾經(jīng)盛極一時(shí)的千年皇宮吧！

The rebuilt Danfeng Gate towers over the surrounding buildings symbolize how the phoenix is superior to other birds. Just looking at it reminded me of a phoenix, red as flame, flying off to the wilderness. Behind him, all the birds sounded a shrill, long call, wishing their king a good triumph.

重建的丹鳳門塔樓如同鳳凰展翅，高聳入云。看著眼前縮建的丹鳳門，感覺真的好像有一只紅似烈焰的火鳳凰凌空飛翔，而在他身后，萬鳥齊鳴，為他們至高無上的帝王朝賀！

Inside the recreated gate, the wreckage of Danfeng Gate consisted only of the door bases. The former glory had disappeared. Through the broken wood and stone structures, I could still sense energy pulsing, murmuring what had happened thousand years ago.

在重建的塔樓內(nèi)部，是真正的丹鳳門遺址。雖然之前的喧囂和榮耀都已褪去，但殘留的夯土依然在向我們呢喃著昔日的繁華與風(fēng)光。

Right behind the Danfeng Gate, three palaces lie in a straight line. The Hanyuan Palace is the biggest of all. As the main palace in the Daming Palace complex, it stands at eighty meters high (the earth has been rising, so it wasn't eighty meters high), only the base of the pillars can still be seen. It is hard to imagine that there was a magnificent structure here fourteen centuries ago.

跨過丹鳳門，大明宮中軸線上坐落著三大主殿，其中的含元殿最大，它坐落在80多米的地基之上，其當(dāng)年的雄姿可想而知。而今卻只剩低矮的柱墩……

The Xuanzheng and Zichen Palaces are to the north of Hanyuan Palace. Xuanzheng Palace was the place where commandments were given. Zichen Palace was the emperor's personal section. To be called to meet the emperor in the Zichen Palace was a great glory.

宣政殿和紫宸殿在含元殿的北面。宣政殿是皇帝理政、下達(dá)政令的地方。而紫宸殿則是皇帝的私人內(nèi)院，能在紫宸殿得到皇帝的召見是一種至高無上的榮譽(yù)。

There is a miniature model of the whole palace complex there. Though a miniature model, it still occupies an enormous mass of land. The Daming Palace has a mass of 4.5 Forbidden Cities and has been the vastest palace ever known on earth.

微縮版的大明宮為我們呈現(xiàn)出這座千年皇宮的整體概貌，雖然只是微縮模型，卻也占地不小，可想而知這座有著4.5個(gè)紫禁城那么大的皇家宮殿到底有多么恢宏，不愧是人類歷史上最偉大的壯舉。

Human has created miracles and then destroyed them himself. How contradictory！Civilizations flourish and crumble in an endless pattern. Is maintaining peace that hard? Is war the best way to solve problems? Historic rolls beckon us to grope for a road in the darkness leading to civilization in the future.

然而，人類創(chuàng)造了許多奇跡，卻又親手毀掉了他們！多么自相矛盾??！文明的繁榮與消亡不停地循環(huán)交替著，卻又沒有規(guī)律可循。但是人類維持和平真的很難嗎？解決爭(zhēng)端的最佳方式真的只有戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)嗎？歷史的車輪必將翻轉(zhuǎn)下去，召喚我們?cè)谕ㄍ碌奈拿鞯钠閸绲缆飞厦髑靶校?/p>

Twinkling stars wink at me out of the window hole as if bidding farewell. With a monstrous bellow, the plane's powerful engines came to life. I feel my ears closing up as the aircraft spiraled into the sky. Lights spread across the broad region spark invitingly at me, welcoming me to a warm reunion.

閃耀的星光向我道別珍重，發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的轟鳴將我?guī)Щ噩F(xiàn)實(shí)。飛機(jī)在夜空中盤旋，萬家燈火為我點(diǎn)亮歸途！