The Stories of Silk and Stones

By Leo Luo

本文的作者利用暑期游历了敦煌，参观了莫高窟，骑骆驼行走过沙漠，沿着古丝绸之路的路线重温了这里昔日的辉煌……敦煌之行就像一场梦那么不真实。请和作者一起踏上他的这段旅程吧！

Stepping into the Freer Gallery, which is the Smithsonian museum of Asian artwork, I beheld the imposing wood statues of the Ni’o,guardians of Buddhist temples, positioned at each end of the marble hallway.1. Freer Gallery: 弗瑞尔美术馆，位于美国首都华盛顿特区，和赛克勒博物馆（The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery）合称为“美国国立亚洲艺术博物馆”；Smithsonian museum: 史密森尼博物院，是世界最大的博物馆体系，它所属的十六所博物馆中保管着一亿四千多万件艺术珍品和珍贵的标本；behold: 看见；imposing: 给人深刻印象的；Ni’o: 哼哈二将；marble: 大理石；hallway: 门厅。Looming well above the heads of visitors, they glared at passers-by with their bulging eyes and terrifying grimaces.2. 它们在游客们的头顶上赫然耸现，用它们凸起的眼睛和骇人的鬼脸怒视着过客。loom: 阴森森地逼近，赫然耸现；glare at: 怒视；bulging: 鼓出来的；grimace: 怪相，鬼脸。Their hyperrealistic muscles coiled with veins and tension, as if to spring to life at any moment.3. 它们极其夸张的肌肉上布满了纹理，充满着张力，好像随时都会动起来似的。coil: 盘绕；vein: 纹理；tension:张力；spring to life: 焕发生机，突然活跃起来。One Ni’o pouted his lips in a frown, representing the “Um” syllable, while its twin bared his teeth and snarled the “Ah” syllable.4. pout: 撅嘴；frown: 皱眉；syllable: 音节；bare: 露出；snarl: 咆哮地说。Despite their grotesque appearances, these deities symbolize the personifications of the Beginning and the End, reminding ancient Buddhist pilgrims and modern tourists of the impermanence of the world.5. grotesque: 奇形怪状的；deity: 神；personification: 化身；Buddhist: 佛教的；pilgrim: 信徒；impermanence:无常。It’s humbling to remember that one year ago, I had just thought that the Ni’o were simply wood statues of muscular Buddhist deities, not attributing any deeper significance to their presence.6. humbling: 使自惭的；muscular: 肌肉发达的。But after a summer of reconnecting with my roots and my history in China, I have not only gained a window into my past, but also a vision7. vision: 愿景。for the future.

Without a second glance at the other exhibits around me, I made a straight beeline8. beeline: 直线。for the gallery of Chinese Buddhist art. Displayed under soft white light, various carvings,statues and steles depicting Buddhist beliefs stood like portholes to a world long past.9. 在柔和的白光下，这里展示着各种各样的雕刻物、雕像和记录佛教信仰的石碑，它们立在那里，就像通向久远过往的窗口。stele: 石碑；depict: 描述；porthole: 舷窗，孔口。The artwork encompassed the entire range of the evolution of Buddhist art in China,starting from the primitive figures of the Northern Wei Dynasty and maturing to the peak of elegance during the Tang Dynasty.10. 这些艺术品包含了佛教艺术在中国完整的演变历程，始于北魏的原始简单的画像，在唐代发展成熟，达到高雅艺术的顶峰。 encompass:包含；primitive: 远古的，简单的；elegance: 典雅，高雅。But this time, every statue and carving revealed its secrets to me, for I was now armed with the knowledge of Buddhism that I had acquired over the summer. The security guards must have given me puzzled looks as I admired the sculptures, my nose inches away from the stone. But I did not care, for the knowledge that I garnered11. garner: 获得。from both Peking University and my trip to Dunhuang was flooding back to me. It illuminated the subtleties and histories of each piece of artwork,12. illuminate: 阐明，解释；subtlety: 细微之处。whispering fine details that were invisible to the common tourist. There, in the midst of all those stories, I was plunged once again into the magic and the wonder that overwhelmed me when I had gone to the Mogao Caves13. plunge: 使陷入，使投入；overwhelm: （强烈地影响而）使不知所措；Mogao Caves: 莫高窟。at Dunhuang this summer.

敦煌莫高窟

The caves were perhaps some of the most mystifying14. mystifying: 神秘的。things that I had ever seen. Originally meant as places of quiet contemplation and worship, these caves also served to signify the exorbitant wealth of the patrons that commissioned them.15. 这些洞穴最初是作为冥想和敬拜之地，同时也显示出了建造者的巨大财富。contemplation:沉思；signify: 意味，表示；exorbitant: 过度的，过分的；commission: 委托。And over a thousand years after they were carved out of the cliff faces, they still retained their intended magnificence.16. cliff face: 悬崖壁；retain: 保留。As our tour guide, who was a treasure trove of knowledge herself,shone her flashlight upon the frescos and carvings, darkness gave way to colours and scenes were charged with energy.17. treasure trove: 宝藏；shone: shine的过去式，照射；fresco: 壁画；charge with: 使充满。The vast crimson palace complexes of the Western Paradise, cradled by azure mountains veiled by soft mists, unfolded on the walls before our eyes.18. 广袤的西方天堂的深红色宫殿群，由青山所环绕，薄雾所笼罩，就这样在我们眼前的墙壁上呈现出来。crimson: 深红色；palace complex:宫殿群；azure: 天青；veil: 遮蔽；mist: 薄雾。Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, draped in robes of flowing gold, lined paintings with their serene expressions.19. Bodhisattva: 菩萨；drape in: （用大块布等）遮盖；robe: 长袍；serene:平静的，安详的。Overhead, flying immortals, known as Feitian（飞天） in Chinese,let their gossamer scarves flutter in the wind as they serenaded and gathered deities with all sorts of traditional instruments.20. immortal: 神仙，不朽人物；gossamer:薄纱； flutter: 摆动； serenade: 唱小夜曲。We were even fortunate to see the flying immortal that inspired the symbol of Dunhuang: the Fantanpipa（反弹琵琶）, the immortal playing the pipa behind her head, who balanced on one foot while she arched her slender back, entranced in a passionate dance.21. arch: 拱起；slender: 细长的；entrance: 使出神，使入迷。All around her, real flakes of gold glittered in waves as the guide’s flashlight passed over them.22.当向导的手电筒灯光晃过的时候，真金薄片如波浪般闪闪发光。 flake: 小薄片；glitter: 闪光。I stood breathless, captivated by the splendour of this cultural treasure, and even more proud that I could claim this as part of my Chinese heritage.23. captivate: 迷住，迷惑；splendour:辉煌；heritage: 遗产，继承物。

Returning from my reverie, I sighed with nostalgia and ventured into another gallery that exhibited samples of artwork from the Silk Road.24. reverie: 幻想；sigh: 叹息；nostalgia:乡愁，怀旧之情。Despite the small size of the room, it still contained valuable relics that reflected the cultural significance of the ancient trade route. Behind the images of caravans and camels laden with lucrative goods winding across shifting dunes,25. caravan:（穿过沙漠地带的）商队；(be) laden with: 载满；lucrative:赚钱的；shifting: 移动的；dune: 沙丘。the Silk Road also represents the first global highway for the exchange of cultures. Greek in fluences from the Hellenistic26. Hellenistic: 希腊风格的，希腊文化的。kingdoms in Asia traveled along with merchants to India and China, completely changing the development of Buddhist art. Seeing the presence of a Pegasus27. Pegasus: 珀加索斯，生有双翼的神马，被其足蹄踩过的地方有泉水涌出，诗人饮之可获灵感。, the winged horse of Greek mythology, carved on a Tang dynasty Chinese mirror reminded me of that cultural exchange. My thoughts turned to the merchants and emissaries28. emissary: 使者。who flowed like rivers of life and trade for the Silk Road, and I thought back to the experience of riding a camel at Dunhuang.

Those camels were truly ships of the desert. I planted myself between the twin humps, and barely had time to grab onto the harness before the camel set sail.29. hump: 驼峰；harness: 骆驼上的安全带；set sail: 启航。It lurched forward as its rear legs shot up,30. 当它的两条后腿一下子发力站立起来时，骆驼猛然前倾。lurch: 突然倾斜；shoot up: 快速立起来。and then almost threw me backwards as it stood up to its full height. With a shout from the camel guide, the beast set off,as if bourne by currents in the sea of sand.31. bourne: 小溪；current: 水流。The stories were true.The desert breeze engulfed me, and I envisioned myself no longer a tourist snapping away with my camera, but a merchant seeking lucre beyond measure with my caravan.32. 沙漠的微风吞没了我，我想象自己不再是一个拍照的游客，而是一个和我的商队一起寻找巨大财富的商人。engulf: 吞没；envision: 想象；snap away: 快速拍摄；lucre:钱财；beyond measure: 无法估量。I looked down and saw the shadows of the camels stretching on and on across the desert,and I saw within those silhouettes that I was following the same path that men both as famous as Aurel Stein and as common as a merchant traveled.33. 我低头看去，骆驼群走过的地方，留下连绵不断的阴影，我在这些剪影中看到自己正沿着前人走过的路前行，这些人中有如奥莱尔·斯坦因这样的名人，也有普通的商旅。silhouette: 轮廓，剪影；Aurel Stein: 奥莱尔·斯坦因，世界著名考古学家和探险家，国际敦煌学开山鼻祖之一。

But back in the reality of the Smithsonian exhibition, I kept returning to the room of Buddhist art, eager to listen to the stories once more. Yet my eyes were always drawn to the depictions of the flying immortals in the Buddhist carvings. Although they arrived in China from Central Asian in fluences, as seen through their flowing robes, but have now become an integral34. integral: 不可分割的。part of Chinese Buddhist art.

The invisible presence of the flying immortals spurred me to ponder what they could represent in reality.35. spur: 激励；ponder: 考虑，沉思。Perhaps it could be described as a person without a history or heritage. Your heritage definitely does not define who you are, and yet it is a piece that can never be shed36. shed: 去除，摆脱。. To understand, and ultimately accept, one’s heritage allows for a greater understanding of one’s place in the world. Before, when I admired the works of Asian art, I was only able to see the super ficial details. But now, after reconnecting with my past this summer with classes and a trip to Dunhuang,I feel as though I understand the artwork on a deeper level and am able to appreciate it so much more. Just as the Silk Road was able to bring the flying immortal to China and enrich the culture and imagination of its people, my generation and I are standing on the cusp of the next Silk Road, with the proliferation of globalization and the Internet.37. cusp: 尖端；proliferation: 扩散。Perhaps now it is more important than ever to promote global understanding and cooperation, and that only begins through knowing one’s own history, and the history of others, for only then can you see the whole picture, just like looking at an artifact38. artifact: 人工制品，手工艺品。from the Silk Road.

反弹琵琶