Unit 4 传说中“圣地”的吸引力：南亚西亚世界文化遗产

4.1 The Taj Mahal——Undying Monument to Romantic Love泰姬陵——不朽的爱情丰碑

泰姬陵全称为“泰姬•玛哈尔陵”，是印度知名度最高的古迹之一。作为莫卧儿王朝最伟大的陵寝，它既是印度建筑中最著名的代表，也是印度文化融合不同传统影响的体现。它由殿堂、钟楼、尖塔、水池等构成，全部用纯白色大理石建筑，用玻璃、玛瑙镶嵌，具有极高的艺术价值，是伊斯兰教建筑中的代表作。泰姬陵的构思和布局充分体现了伊斯兰建筑艺术庄严肃穆、气势宏伟的特点，整个建筑富于哲理，是一个完美无缺的艺术珍品。泰姬陵在早中晚所呈现出的面貌各不相同，早上是灿烂的金色，白天的阳光下是耀眼的白色，斜阳夕照下，白色的泰姬陵从灰黄、金黄，逐渐变成粉红、暗红、淡青色，而在月光下又成了银白色，白色大理石映著淡淡的蓝色萤光，更给人一种恍若仙境的感觉。有人说，不看泰姬陵，就不算到过印度；不在月光下来到泰姬陵，就不算到过泰姬陵。

毫无疑问，泰姬陵是世界上完美艺术的典范。它不仅表达了沙•贾汗对爱妻的深切纪念，也是他给人类的一份厚礼。泰姬陵因爱情而生，而这段爱情的生命又因它的光彩被后世续写。泰姬陵超越了简单的建筑学意义，默默地美丽着，不为别的，只为世人心中那一点对爱情的美好向往。

Arguably the most perfect building on Earth, the Taj Mahal is an Indian ruler's timeless memorial to his lost, lamented（令人惋惜的）love. This white marble pearl of architecture was once described by poet Rabindranath Tagore as "a teardrop on the cheek of eternity". Like love and tears, it cannot be captured in mere words.

The perfectly symmetrical（对称的）Taj—a central dome surrounded by four smaller domes, with minarets（尖塔）at each corner, all reflected in a long pool—appears exceptionally lovely at dawn and sunset, when the luminescent marble building seems almost to float on air. Its beauty changes throughout the day. Sometimes the Taj Mahal is veiled in mist, at other times glowing soft pink, or shadowed in pearl gray, or softening to creamy yellow, or gleaming white under the blazing sun of Agra. The changing illumination is actually a decorative motif, designed to produce an assortment（各种各样）of responses in the viewer. And according to the principles of Mogul architecture, light symbolizes the presence of Allah.

Completed in 1653, the Taj Mahal was erected by the Mogul ruler Shah Jahan to honor the memory and enshrine the body of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal ("Elect of the Palace"), who died while giving birth to their 14th child. Building the mausoleum（陵墓）took 22 years and 20,000 workers. A convoy（护送）of 1,000 elephants hauled the marble blocks, each weighing more than two tons, from quarries more than 200 miles away.

The massive scale and grandeur of the Taj Mahal is counterpoised（均衡）by the extreme delicacy of its ornamentation. Particularly elegant adornments are the floral inlays of precious stones brought from various locales: lapis lazuli（天青石）from Sri Lanka, turquoise from Tibet, mother of pearl from the Indian Ocean, carnelian（玛瑙）from Iraq, crystal and green jade from Turkistan.

Like a treasure, the Taj Mahal is protected behind a towering gateway of red sandstone that looms 100 feet high. Next comes a garden laid out in typical Mogul style, with symmetry as the guiding rule. Waterways divide the garden into quarters to symbolize the Islamic Gardens of Paradise, whose four rivers run with water, milk, wine, and honey. In the garden's former days of glory, bright fish filled the waterways, colorful birds flitted through（轻快地飞过）the air, and symmetrically planted trees symbolized death (cypresses) and life (fruit trees).

The tomb is flanked by a mosque of red sandstone that consecrates the grounds and by an identical replica called the Jawab ("answer"), whose doorway faces away from Makkah, making the building unusable for prayer. At the tomb's four corners stand minarets that slant（倾斜）outward ever so slightly—a precaution in case of earthquake, designed to ensure that the tall, slender towers fall away from the tomb rather than collapse onto it.

True to Mogul principles of architectural symmetry, the tomb itself takes the shape of a square, measuring 186 feet on each side. Its central arch is set off on either side by smaller arches. The width of the marble pedestal（基座）on which the tomb stands equals the tomb's height. And the height of the dome is equal to the height of the facade below.

The globular dome resembles a pearl, recalling Muhammad's portrayal of the throne of God as a dome of white pearl resting upon four pillars. Using an architectural innovation developed in Central Asia, the dome is actually of double construction, a design that allows more height.

The tomb's octagonal（八角形的）main chamber holds the memorial to Mumtaz Mahal, set behind a delicately cut marble screen that transmits an illumination as ethereal（轻的）as lace. Shah Jahan's memorial is beside it. The inlay of precious stones is so elaborate on these monuments that a single leaf or flower may be fashioned of up to 60 or 70 separate pieces. The actual tombs of the royal duo lie directly below, in the crypt.

When Shah Jahan built this undying（不朽的）monument to romantic love, Mogul power was on the wane, and the project consumed much of the empire's wealth. Furthermore, the inconsolable（极为伤心的）ruler was quite distracted from matters of state. Eventually his son, Aurangzeb, staged a coup（政变）and seized power. Strict and devout, the son imprisoned the father in the nearby fort at Agra. The despondent Shah Jahan spent his last years gazing across at his wife's memorial of pure white marble, the magnificent Taj Mahal.

用英语畅谈Taj Mahal黄金句

☺ Arguably the most perfect building on Earth, the Taj Mahal is an Indian ruler's timeless memorial to his lost, lamented love.不管能不能称得上是地球上最完美的建筑，泰姬陵都代表了一位印度君主对他亡妻的无尽思念。

☺ This white marble pearl of architecture was once described by poet Rabindranath Tagore as “a teardrop on the cheek of eternity”.诗人泰戈尔曾经将这个白色大理石建筑说成是“永恒面颊上的一滴眼泪”。

☺ Its beauty changes throughout the day.它的美在同一天内会呈现出不同的色彩。

☺ Building the mausoleum took 22 years and 20,000 workers. 2万工匠历时22年完成了泰姬陵的修建。

☺ The massive scale and grandeur of the Taj Mahal is counterpoised by the extreme delicacy of its ornamentation.泰姬陵精美的装饰与它宏伟的规模相得益彰。

☺ Waterways divide the garden into quarters to symbolize the Islamic Gardens of Paradise.水道将花园分成四个部分，代表了伊斯兰教中的天堂花园。

☺ The globular dome resembles a pearl, recalling Muhammad's portrayal of the throne of God as a dome of white pearl resting upon four pillars.壮观的圆顶就像一颗珍珠，让人想起穆罕默德描述的神的王座：四个立柱撑起了一个白珍珠色的圆顶。

用英语畅谈Taj Mahal