「聽＆讀」聖地

★ 聖地 ★

All we have are little paintings on pottery – on vases and urns。

我們只見到陶製器皿上、花瓶上和罈子上的小型畫像。

Their loveliness tells us what we have lost。

這些畫像如此之美以至我們能夠想象得出來我們喪失了什麼。

However， the temples are still standing。 Even in Athens。

但神廟今日猶在。它們仍矗立在雅典。

And best of all， the citadel of Athens is still there – the Acropolis – where new sanctuaries made of marble were erected in the time of Pericles，

雅典的城堡——衛城如今還在——伯里克利時期人們在這城堡上建了新的大理石聖地，

because the old ones had been burnt and destroyed by the Persians while the Athenians watched from the island of Salamis。

因為舊的聖地在雅典人在駐守薩拉米斯島上的時候被波斯人燒燬了。

The Acropolis still contains the most beautiful buildings we know。

今天衛城仍還是我們所見到的建築物中最美的。

Not the grandest， or the most splendid。

那裡根本就沒有什麼特別大或特別豪華的東西。

Simply the most beautiful。

只因為它最美。

Every detail is so clear and so simple that one cannot imagine it otherwise。

每一個細部都雕塑得如此清楚和簡單，致使人們不會把它想象成另外的樣子。

All the forms which the Greeks employed in these buildings were to be used again and again in architecture。

所有這些希臘人在那裡曾使用過的式樣從此以後在建築藝術中一直一再被運用。

You will find Greek columns – of which there are several kinds – in almost every city of the world， once you have learnt to recognize them。

你看希臘式柱子——它們有各種式樣，你只要注意觀察，你就幾乎會在世界上的每個城市見到它們。

But none of them is as beautiful as those on the Acropolis where they are used not for show and decoration but for the purpose for which they were invented： as elegant supports for the roof。

當然它們哪兒也不如雅典衛城的那樣美，那裡的柱子不是用做裝飾和點綴，而是具有實用的價值：為了當作造型美麗的支柱支撐屋頂。