新庄园:古爱尔兰的神秘(全文)

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ewgrange is undoubtedly the best known megalithic monument in Ireland. Along with several other ancient monuments, it stands on a low ridge over-looking the Boyne Valley, a place famed in myth and legend. Newgrange is a chambered cairn, a 90 m diameter heap of stone and turf with a ring of 97 kerbstones around the base. The mound is roughly heart shaped and probably was originally built in the form of a truncated cone. The remains of a great circle of standing stones surround the mound. Four smaller satellite mounds, two to the east and two to the west, flank Newgrange and it can be seen from the hill of Tara, where over one-hundred Irish kings were inaugurated in prehistoric times.

According to the most reliable carbon dating, Newgrange was constructed in 3200 B.C., making it older than the pyramids of Giza. The origins of Newgrange are lost in Ireland's misty prehistory; although it almost certainly served a religious or political function. It is an important place in Irish mythology, and is mentioned many times in various texts. The Tuatha D?Danann, who were a mythological superhuman race, were said to have erected Newgrange as a burial place for their chief, Dagda M, and his three sons. CuChulain, Ireland's most famous mythical hero was said to have been conceived there. His mother, Dechtine, slept at Newgrange one night and his father, Lugh of the Long Arm visited her in a dream. Lugh, it is told, is buried inside it. In another famous Irish myth, the couple Aonghus and Caer fled their enemies by transforming into swans and spent the rest of their lives in Newgrange. Interestingly, Newgrange is a wintering ground for the Whooper Swan which migrates from Iceland every October and returns in March.

The site was re-discovered in 1699 when the local landlord, Charles Campbell set his workers removing stones from a convenient mound on his land. They soon had uncovered the entrance stone, and for the first time in over a thousand years people again entered the chamber of Newgrange.

The best known feature of Newgrange today is its orientation to the winter solstice sunrise. The entrance faces south-east and as the sun rises over a period of 22 days around December 21st, its rays enter the specially contrived roof-box structure over the door and penetrate 20 meters into the mound to illuminate the chamber for 17 minutes, allowing those inside to inspect the carvings on the interior walls. The Newgrange roof-box is a sophisticated structure which took a great deal of planning and engineering. Since the passage slopes gently up hill, the floor of the chamber is at the same level as the roof box. For years people have had to book a place to enter the chamber and witness the winter solstice sunbeam - the list is full for the next 12 years, so the chances of getting in are slim. At times, the planet Venus, during its eight-year cycle, is also visible inside the central chamber as is the moon during a 19-year cycle.

Newgrange has some of the finest megalithic art in Europe. The lintel of the roof-box is engraved with a series of eight lozenges which may reflect the division of the year into eight parts. The passage and chamber stones are also richly engraved with spiral, lozenge and zigzag motifs. The signature of the Newgrange builders is the famous triple spiral which appears on the entrance stone and in the end recess of the chamber. It is not known with any certainty how the larger stones which form the kerb and passage and chamber of Newgrange were brought to the site. As many of the 550 stones were found to be weathered, it is believed they were not quarried, so there would have been a huge logistical task in finding suitable boulders and transporting them uphill to the site, suggesting a highly organised community was behind its construction.

The corbelled roof of the chamber is one of the finest of its kind in Europe, and when Newgrange was excavated it was found to be standing intact without any repair work exactly as it had been when first built. The passage and chambers were constructed without the use of mortar and a drainage system was devised to keep the interior dry. Many experts point out that the interior layout of the structure resembles the female productive organs and this seems to be corroborated by the ancient Irish name for Newgrange, Bru na Boinne. The word "Bru" is sometimes translated as "mansion" but it could also mean "womb".

Throughout the ages this eminent masterpiece has always held a special place in the hearts of Irish people. It is the embodiment of a golden age and a lost Ireland, a magical, mythical place which existed when the world of man was young and when small but intelligent communities reached out towards the vault of the sky in order to bring heaven to earth and establish a connection with the Cosmos.

新庄园无疑是爱尔兰最出名的巨石墓碑。它与其它几座古代墓碑一样，矗立在一座低矮的山脊之上，俯瞰着一个以神话传说而闻名的地区――波恩河谷。新庄园是一座带有内厅的石冢，一个直径90米、底部环绕着97块镶边石的草石堆。这座土石丘大致呈心形，可能当初就是按无顶圆锥体的形状进行建造的。环绕在土石堆周围的是一大圈残缺不全的立石。新庄园在侧翼位置有四座较小的附丘，东西方向各有两座，而且从塔拉山――100多位爱尔兰国王在史前时期加冕的地方就可以看到它。

根据最可靠的碳元素测时法，新庄园建于公元前3200年，故而比吉萨金字塔群还要古老。虽然几乎可以肯定新庄园具有宗教或政治的功用，但它的起源却湮没在爱尔兰扑朔的史前史中。在爱尔兰神话中，它是一个重地，在不同的文献中被多次提及。据说，神话中的仙族――达南神族建造了新庄园，作为其首领达格达・摩尔和他三个儿子的墓地。而爱尔兰最伟大的神话英雄库克伦据说是在那里被怀上的。他的母亲黛柯蒂娜有一晚在新庄园过夜，而他的父亲“长臂”卢赫在梦中与她相会了。据传，卢赫也被葬在了那里。在另一个爱尔兰神话中，昂格斯、凯尔夫妇化成天鹅来躲避他们的敌人，并在新庄园度过了他们的余生。有意思的是，新庄园就是大天鹅的过冬之地，它们每年10月从冰岛迁徙而来，然后在3月归去。

1699年，在当地地主查尔斯・坎贝尔吩咐他的工人把石头从其田地中的一处近便土石丘上搬开时，这一遗址便被再度发掘出来。不久，他们就启开了门石，于是人们一千多年来首次再度进入到新庄园的内厅。

如今，新庄园最出名的特色在于它与冬至日出的方向相对。其入口面向东南，在12月21日前后总共22天的时间里，随着太阳的高升，光线进入到入口上方经过特殊设计的顶箱建筑，深入到土石丘内部20米处，将内厅照亮达17分钟之久，使得里面的人可以端详内壁上的雕刻。新庄园的顶箱是一个复杂的建筑，进行了大量的规划和工程设计。由于走廊沿山而上，微微倾斜，所以内厅的地面与顶箱是齐平的。数年来，人们要目睹冬至日光就必须预定进入内厅的席位――今后12年的名单都排满了，所以进去的机会是渺茫的。有时，在中央大厅内部，可以在金星历时8年的周转过程中看到它，而月亮在其历时19年的周转过程中也是可以一见的。

新庄园拥有欧洲最好的一些巨石艺术。顶箱的过梁被雕刻上了一串菱形，共有8个，可能是表示一年被分为了8个阶段。走廊和内厅的石头上也被刻上了丰富的螺旋形、菱形和锯齿形的图案。新庄园建造者的留名是著名的三螺旋，在门石上和大厅尽头处的壁凹里都有。而对于新庄园中筑造镶边石、走廊和内厅的更为巨大的石头是如何被运到这个地方的，是没有定论的。由于在总共550块石头中有许多被发现受到了风化，所以相信它们不是开采出来的，因而肯定存在着繁重的勤务工作，来寻找合适的巨砾并将其沿山而上运到这个地方，从而暗示了有一个高度协调的群体在推动这一工程。

有承材支撑的厅顶在欧洲同类建筑中属于上乘之作，当新庄园被发掘出来后，发现它完好无损，没有经过任何修缮，与它最初建成时是一模一样。而走廊和内厅没有用到灰泥就建成了，而且设计了一种排水系统来使内部保持干燥。许多专家指出，这一建筑的内部布局与女性的生殖器官是相象的，而这似乎从新庄园的古爱尔兰语名称“Bru na Boinne”中得到了印证。“Bru”这个词有时被译为“宅邸”，但它也可以做“子宫”的意思讲。

各个时代，这一卓越的杰作都始终在爱尔兰民众的心中占据着一个特殊的位置。它是一个黄金时代和一个失落的爱尔兰的体现，是一个奇幻的、具有神秘色彩的地方，存在于人类社会的幼年时期，那时，规模虽小却聪慧有加的群体奋力触摸苍穹，以期将天堂带向尘世、与宇宙建立起一种联系。

ridge /ri_/ n.山脊；背脊

chamber /`tHeimb9/ vt.使备有房间

diameter /dai`2mit9/ n.直径

kerbstone /`k8bst9un/ n.(= kerb)镶边石

truncated /`tr7Mkeitid/ adj.切去顶端的

inaugurate /i`n5Gjureit/vt.举行就职典礼

carbon dating 碳测时法；碳定年

pyramid /`pir9mid/ n.金字塔

misty /`misti/ adj.朦胧不清的；模糊的

superhuman /,s(p9`h(m9n/ adj.超人的；属于神仙的

conceive /k9n`s1v/ v.怀孕

winter /`wint9/ vi.过冬

Whooper Swan 大天鹅

migrate /mai`Greit/ vi.(鸟类的)迁徙

orientation /,4(:)rien`teiH9n/ n.方向；定位

winter solstice /`wint9 `s4lstis/ 冬至

contrive /k9n`traiv/ v.设计；发明

penetrate /`penitreit/ v.穿透

carving /`k3viM/ n.雕刻品；雕刻

sunbeam /`s7nb1m/ n.阳光光束；日光

Venus /`v1n9s/ n.金星

lintel /`lintl/ n.过梁

lozenge /`l4zin_/ n.菱形

spiral /`spai9r9l/ n.螺旋

zigzag /`ziGz2G/ n.锯齿形；Z字形

motif /m9u`t1f/ n.图形；主题

triple /`tripl/ adj.由三部分合成的

recess /ri`ses/ n.壁凹

weather /`weN9/vt.使受风吹雨打；使风化

quarry /`kw4ri/ vt.采(石)；挖掘

logistical /l9u`_istik9l/ adj.后勤的

corbelled /`k5b9ld/ adj.以承材支撑的

excavate /`eksk9veit/ v.挖掘

intact /in`t2kt/ adj.完整无缺的

mortar /`m5t9/ n.灰泥

drainage /`dreini_/ n.排水；排水装置

corroborate /k9`r4b9reit/ vt.确证

womb /w6m/ n.子宫

embodiment /im`b4dim9nt/n.体现；化身

vault /v5lt/ n.拱顶

Cosmos /`k4zm4s/ n.宇宙

新庄园:古爱尔兰的神秘

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