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From Swampy to Stately: St. Petersburg, Russia 圣彼得堡建城史

 

课文朗读

 

课文讲解

 

繁體中文譯本

 

Georgia, a sales representative for a Taiwanese export company, is visiting Ivan, a client in St. Petersburg, Russia:  乔琪亚是一名台湾外销厂商代表，正在拜访俄罗斯圣彼得堡的客户艾凡：

 

G: I can’t believe the magnitude of these three hundredth anniversary celebrations! Your city has already gone all out.

我实在无法想象三百年周年的庆祝规模，你们全市真是卯足了劲全力以赴。

 

I: Well, we do have a reputation to uphold. The hundredth and two hundredth anniversaries were also marked by magnificent festivities.

嗯，我们可不能坏了这个名声，一百周年与两百周年也都举行盛大的庆祝活动。

 

G: Not this impressive, I’m sure. Orchestras playing in the parks, masses of flowers everywhere, military parades …. It’s just spectacular!

肯定没有这么壮观，公园里有管弦乐队演出、到处是一片花海、阅兵……真是令人叹为观止！

 

I: Perhaps, but this is par for the course. Back in 1803 and 1903 they fired cannons, decorated the entire city and had parades of ships too!

或许吧，但这不算什么。1803与1903年他们发射礼炮、全市装饰起来、还有船只的游行！

 

G: Did those celebrations also last for eight days long?

这些庆祝活动也持续八天吗？

 

I: No. Back then the party was only a few days long. I guess people then didn’t have as much leisure time as we do today.

不，那时的庆祝活动只有几天而已。我想那时候的人不像我们今天有那么多休闲时间。

 

G: And because people were more religious then, I imagine the church played a bigger role too.

而且因为那时候的人宗教信仰也比较虔诚，我猜那时候教会扮演比较重要的角色。

 

I: Definitely. The whole tone was much more somber and activities were primarily focused on paying homage to Peter the Great.

一点也没错。活动整体的感觉较严肃，而且主要是在纪念圣彼得大帝。

 

G: I’m glad the tercentennial celebrations will be more fun! I’d love to check out some of the outdoor theater performances and fireworks.

我很高兴三百周年庆的活动比较有趣！我想看看一些户外的戏剧表演和烟火秀。

 

I: That should be easy to arrange. In fact, I don’t think you’ll be able to avoid them tonight!

那倒容易安排，事实上，妳今晚是很难错过这些节目的！

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

magnitude [ˋmægnə͵tjud] n. 量；大小；强度

go all out 全力以赴, 鼓足干劲 perform a task as well as possible

uphold [ʌpˋhold] v. 维护；维持

mark [mɑrk] v. 记下，录下

par for the course 正常的（事），意料之中的（事）usual; typical

cannon [ˋkænən] n. 大炮，火炮；榴弹炮

tone [ton] n. 风气，气氛

somber [ˋsɑmbɚ] adj. 忧郁的；闷闷不乐的

pay homage to 向某人致敬

homage [ˋhɑmidʒ] n. 尊敬；敬意；崇敬

tercentennial [tɝsɛnˋtɛnɪəl] adj. 三百年的

 

 

Sentence of the Day

There'll be dancing in the streets.

大家会狂欢。

 

 

 

 

课文讲解

 

swamp to great city  沧海桑田

 

The baroque beauty of modern St. Petersburg belies the fact that until Czar Peter the Great arrived there the area was little more than a muddy no-man’s-land, considered unfit for human habitation. Peter needed a strong presence in the region to ensure that his recently-captured territory did not fall back into Swedish hands, so on May 27^th, 1703, the fortress of St. Petersburg was officially founded.

具有巴洛克之美的现代圣彼得堡，在沙皇彼得大帝到达之前，不过仅仅是一个荒凉的泥泞地区，不宜人居。彼得大帝需要在他的领土上拥有一个壮观的场面，确保他刚刚占领的土地不会落入瑞典人的手中，所以在1703年5月27日，圣彼得堡正式建立。

 

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the soldiers and peasants who endured floods and huger as they worked to build the czar’s dream city, by 1712 swampland had been transformed into the stately capital of Russia. St. Petersburg residents traveled to the city’s many markets, churches, inns, and lavish gardens along the river by boat, thus earning St. Petersburg the appellation “the Venice of the North.”

拜士兵及农夫终日辛勤努力之赐，他们在建造沙皇梦想之都时得忍受水患和饥荒之苦，到了1712年，沼泽地已经转变为庄严的俄罗斯首都。圣彼得堡居民常搭船沿着河游历这座城市中的许多市集、教堂、小旅店和耀眼夺目的花园，因此让圣彼得堡赢得「北方威尼斯」的美誉。

 

Following the death of Peter the Great, his daughter Elizabeth took over construction of his dream city. However, it was Elizabeth’s nephew’s wife, Catherine the Great, who transformed the city into a beacon of refined culture for all of Europe. During her thirty-four year reign, the construction of the Hermitage museum, a public library, and the magnificent Winter Palace firmly established St. Petersburg as one of Europe’s great cities.

彼得大帝去世之后，他的女儿伊丽莎白接手他的梦想之都建造工程。然而，是伊丽莎白外甥之妻西泽琳大帝将那座城市变成欧洲精致文化的标竿。她在位的三十四年期间，建造爱尔米塔什博物馆、一座公立图书馆、和雄伟壮丽的冬宫，着实让圣彼得堡成为欧洲的伟大城市。

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

baroque [bəˋrok] adj. 巴洛克式的

belie [bɪˋlaɪ] v. 使人对…产生错觉; 使人对…误解; 掩饰

czar [zɑr] n.（帝俄的）皇帝，沙皇

little more than 和…无差别[一样]

muddy [ˋmʌdɪ] adj. 多烂泥的；泥泞的

unfit [ʌnˋfɪt] adj. 不相宜的，不合适的

presence [ˋprɛzns] n. 风采；风度

fortress [ˋfɔrtrɪs] n. 要塞，堡垒

tireless [ˋtaɪrlɪs] adj. 不知疲倦的﹐ 孜孜不倦的

peasant [ˋpɛznt] n.〔贫穷国家的或从前的〕农民﹐ 农夫

swampland [ˋswɑmp͵lænd] n. 沼泽地

stately [ˋstetlɪ] adj. 宏伟的，堂皇的；庄严的

appellation [͵æpəˋleʃən] n. 名称；称号

beacon [ˋbikən] n. 指路明灯；指引者；楷模

 

 

Sentence of the Day

It was a diamond in the rough.

深藏不漏。

 

a diamond in the rough 未经琢磨的钻石; 未经训练但有资质的人

 

 

 

 

课文讲解

 

Imperial →communist→republic transitions  帝制、共产到共和国的转变

 

By the turn of the twentieth century, St. Petersburg was the cradle of Russian art, literature, and music, but hard times were ahead. The city itself had come to epitomize the luxury and decadence of imperial Russia, and there was mounting discontent among the citizenry.

二十世纪之初，圣彼得堡是俄罗斯艺术、文学、及音乐的摇篮，但艰困的日子还在后头。这座城市变成俄罗斯皇室奢华、堕落的缩影，市民的抱怨与日俱增。

 

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the name “St. Petersburg” was changed to the less German-sounding “Petrograd.” Wartime food shortages and transportation breakdowns exacerbated people’s frustration with the exorbitant wealth of the Russian elite. It was fitting, therefore, that Petrograd – the old imperial heartland – be the site of the first gunshots of the communist revolution of 1917. To honor revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, the city received yet another new name in 1924: Leningrad.

随着1914年第一次世界大战爆发，「圣彼得堡」改为听来较不像德文的「彼得格勤」。战时食物的短缺与交通瘫痪，让人对于俄罗斯上层阶级的铺张和奢华更加厌恶，因此旧皇室的中心「彼得格勒」，成为1917年共产革命的起义之地，并不令人意外。1924年为了纪念革命领袖列宁，这座城市另获新名：列宁格勒。

 

The years following the revolution were hard: food and jobs were scarce, and the capital was moved to Moscow. Nevertheless, the city remained extraordinarily resilient; during the Nazi siege of Leningrad from September 1941 to January 1944, citizens refused to surrender despite near starvation and isolation from the rest of Russia. In many ways, this city encapsulates Russia’s history and, as Russia experienced a rebirth in 1991 with collapse of the Soviet Union, the city re-embraced its three hundred year-old history and returned to the name “St. Petersburg.”

革命之后的几年非常艰辛，包括食物及工作短缺，因此俄罗斯迁都到莫斯科。不过圣彼得堡仍韧性十足；从1941年9月到1944年1月纳粹封锁期间，即使在几近饥饿与孤立（与俄罗斯其他地方隔绝）的情况下，圣彼得堡的市民还是拒绝投降。从许多方面来看，这座城市几乎是俄罗斯历史的缩影，在1991年历经苏维埃政权垮台而重生后，她也重新拥抱其三百年的历史，并回复本名──圣彼得堡。

 

－by Francoise Raunet

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

transition [trænˋzɪʃən] n. 转变，变迁；变革

cradle [ˋkred!] n. 发源地; 摇篮

epitomize [ɪˋpɪtə͵maɪz] v. 象征；作为……的缩影; 成为…的典型

decadence [ˋdɛkədəns] n. 衰微；堕落

mounting [ˋmaʊntɪŋ] adj. 上升的，增长的

discontent [dɪskənˋtɛnt] n. 不满；不满足

citizenry [ˋsɪtɪznrɪ] n.（集合名词）公民；市民

exacerbate [ɪgˋzæsɚ͵bet] v. 使恶化；使加重

exorbitant [ɪgˋzɔrbətənt] adj.（要求，收费等的）过高的；过分的

heartland [ˋhɑrt͵lænd] n. 心脏地带﹐中心区域

scarce [skɛrs] adj. 缺乏的；不足的

resilient [rɪˋzɪlɪənt] adj. 能恢复活力的; 坚韧的; 适应力强的

siege [sidʒ] n. 围攻；包围；围城

encapsulate [ɪnˋkæpsə͵let] v. 压缩﹐ 概括; 将……装入胶囊

 

 

Sentence of the Day

They fought tooth and nail.

他们全力反抗。

 

fight tooth and nail  猛烈或顽强地斗争等

 

 

 

Saint Petersburg - Russia  - Joe Journeys