巴比伦空中花园，是世界八大奇迹之一，又称悬园。在公元前6世纪由巴比伦王国的尼布甲尼撒二世(Nebuchadnezzar)在巴比伦城为其患思乡病的王妃安美依迪丝(Amyitis)修建的。

古巴比伦王国曾出现过一座漂浮在半空中的园林,考古学家至今仍未能找到它的确实位置。事实上,大半描绘空中花园的人都从未涉足巴比伦,只知东方有座奇妙的花园,波斯王称之为“天堂”,而在两相凑合下,形成遥远的巴比伦梦幻花园。由于花园比宫墙还要高,给人感觉像是整个御花园悬挂在空中,因此被称为“空中花园”,又叫“悬苑”。当年到巴比伦城朝拜、经商或旅游的人们老远就可以看到空中城楼上的金色屋顶在阳光下熠熠生辉。所以,到公元2世纪,希腊学者在品评世界各地著名建筑和雕塑品时,把“空中花园”列为“世界七大奇观”之一。从此以后,“空中花园”更是闻名遐迩。

The Love Story Behind the Hanging Gardens

There has been a beautiful love story behind the building of the Hanging Gardens.

The Hanging Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon around 600 BC. He married Amytis, the princess of Media. The beautiful princess was so adorable (可爱的) that the king loved her very much. Not long after their marriage, the princess became very frustrated and looked very sad. The king cared for his wife but didn’t know why she was unhappy.

The princess told him that she was homesick(想家的). She said that there were plenty of trees and flowers in her homeland(家乡), surrounded by mountains. While here in Babylon, only endless plains were in view(看得见) and even a small hill can not be found. How I wish to see the winding trails (小径) and mountains in my homeland!

Then, the king ordered to build gardens to imitate (模仿) the scenery in Media, the homeland of Amitys. Gardens with the appearance of a theatre, waterfalls, animals, fruits and plants were built. These were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

空中花园背后的爱情故事

在建造空中花园的背后,有着一个美丽的爱情故事。

空中花园是由巴比伦国王尼布甲尼撒二世于大约公元前600年主持建造。他娶了米底的公主米梯斯为王后,美丽的王后非常惹人疼爱,国王对她宠爱有加。但婚后不久,公主变得非常失落,看起来很伤心。国王关心她的爱妻但不明白其中缘由。

公主告诉国王,她非常想家。她说,家乡米底山峦叠翠,花草丛生;而在这里只能看见一望无际的平原,连个小山丘都看不到。我多么希望能看到家乡的盘山小道和山峦呀!

于是,国王下令,模仿米梯斯家乡——米底的景色,在他的宫殿里,建造花园。花园建造成露天剧场的形状,里面有瀑布、动物、水果和花草。这就是古巴比伦的空中花园。

Description of the Hanging Gardens

The path to the Garden sloped (倾斜) like a hillside (山坡) and several parts of the structure (结构) rose from tier (层,阶梯) upon tier... On all this, the earth had been piled (堆叠), and was thickly planted with all kinds of trees. Their great size and other charms (魅力) gave pleasure to the viewers... The water machines raised the water from the river, although no one outside could see it.

Fruits and flowers... Waterfalls... Gardens hanging from the palace terraces(台地). Exotic(奇异的) animals... This is the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in most people’s mind. It may be surprising to know that they might have never existed except in the mind of the Greek poets and historians!

空中花园的描述

通往花园的道路象山坡一样倾斜着,建筑物的几个部分一层一层地向上交错排列着……泥土在这些上面堆积着……并且浓密地种植着各种各样的花草树木,它们以其巨大的身躯和其他一些魅力,令观赏者赏心悦目……抽水的机器把大量的水从河中提升到花园中,尽管没有人从外面能看到它。

水果、鲜花、瀑布、花园高悬在宫殿的阳台上,奇异的动物……,这是大多数人想象中的巴比伦空中花园。让人吃惊的是,空中花园除了在希腊诗人和历史学家的头脑中出现过外,可能从来就没有存在过。

The Water Supply System of the Hanging Gardens

The most amazing part of the Hanging Gardens is their water supply system. As rainfall was quite rare in Babylon and the relics of the Hanging Gardens were far from the Euphrates River, it is believed that there must have been plenty of water supply devices in the gardens. Slaves pushed the handles of the gear wheel (齿轮) on and on to lift the water to the highest tank. Then, the water form the highest tank would flow into the gardens through the artificial waterways (人工河道).

空中花园的供水系统

巴比伦空中花园最令人称奇的地方是供水系统,因为巴比伦雨水不多,而空中花园的遗址亦远离幼发拉底河,所以人们认为空中花园应该有不少的供水设备。奴隶不停地推动着齿轮的把手,把地下水运到最高一层的储水池。然后,储水池中的水再经人工河道流入花园之中。

The Maintainance of the Hanging Gardens

Another challenge of the Hanging Gardens is the maintainance(保养) of the gardens. It is impossible on for ordinary buildings to maintain for a long time with the flush of the water. Blocks were rare on Mesopotamia plain, so it was believed that the blocks used for building the Hanging Gardens, which contained reeds, pitch (沥青), and tiles (瓦片,瓷砖), were different from the ordinary blocks. Some documents even figured out that layers of lead(铅) was added to the blocks to prevent the water from penetrating into the foundation.

空中花园的保养

另一个难题是空中花园的保养。对于一般建筑物来说,要长年经受河水的侵蚀而维持保养下来是不可能的。由于美索不达米亚平原(Mesopotamian plain)没有太多石块,因此人们相信空中花园所用的砖块与一般石块不同,它们中掺入了芦苇、沥青及瓦。还有文献指出石块中被加入了一层铅,以防止河水渗入地基。

It was not until the twentieth century that some mysteries about the Hanging Gardens were revealed (揭示). Archaeologists (考古学家) are still struggling to gather enough evidences before reaching the final conclusions about the location, the irrigation system, and their true appearance of the Gardens.

直到二十世纪,围绕着空中花园的一些不解之迷才被揭示出来。在得出关于花园的地理位置、灌溉系统和真正面目的最终结论之前,考古学家们仍在努力地收集足够的证据。

结束语:

公元前三世纪菲罗曾记述:“园中种满树木,无异山中之国,其中某些部份层层叠长,有如剧院一样,栽种密集枝叶扶疏,几乎树树相触,形成舒适的遮荫,泉水由高高喷泉涌出,先渗入地面,然后再扭曲旋转喷发,通过水管沖刷旋流,充沛的水气滋润树根土壤,永远保持湿润。”历史学家更发表出这样的评论:“从壮大与宽广这一点看,空中花园显然远不及尼布甲尼撒二世殿或巴塔,但是它的美丽、优雅以及难以抗拒的魅力,是其他建筑所望尘莫及的。”

淹没于黄沙之中,空中花园曾经的美丽壮观,穿过千年的历史长流,仍然散出夺目的光彩。如今,我们只能通过文献记载和褪去光艳的遗址来想象它那摄人心魄的美丽。