英國語文第六冊(雙語):開羅和埃及金字塔(4)
In front of the Pyramid of Chephrenes stands the great Sphinx, —the hugest marvel of sculpture which the world has ever seen. For centuries this colossal wonder lay almost sub merged beneath the sand-drift of the desert. Caviglia undertook the laborious task of uncovering it; in the course of which he made some important discoveries, tending to show that there was anciently a temple on the area beneath the stony gaze of the colossal countenance, and an altar upon which sacrifices were offered. The features are Nubian, or rather ancient Egyptian, and their expression is strikingly calm and benignant.
考夫拉金字塔的前面矗立著獅身人面像，它是世界上迄今為止最大的雕塑奇跡。幾個世紀以來，這個巨大的奇跡幾乎淹沒在沙漠的流沙之下，而卡維利亞承擔了挖掘它的艱巨任務，在挖掘過程中他有了一些重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，這尊巨大的石像下有一座古老的廟宇，還有一處祭壇，上面有用來祭祀的祭品，從特征上來看他們是努比亞人，或者更確切地說是古埃及人，他們的表情極其的平靜祥和。
"There was something," says Stanley, "stupendous in the sight of that enormous head—its vast projecting wig, its great ears, its open eyes, the red colour still visible on its cheeks, the immense projection of the lower part of its face. Yet what must it have been when on its head there was the royal helmet of Egypt, on its chin the royal beard; when the stone pavement by which man approached the Pyramids ran up between its paws; when immediately under its breast an altar stood, from which the smoke went up into the gigantic nostrils of that nose, now vanished from the face, never to be conceived again! All this is known with certainty from the remains which actually exist deep under the sand on which you stand, as you look up from a distance into the broken but still expressive features."—In regard to the Sphinx we may add, that so continuous is the drift of sand from the desert, that nearly all those portions of the figure which modern investigators have at different times laid bare have been again covered.
斯坦利說：在它那巨頭的視線內有一個巨大的東西，它那巨大的腦袋，它那巨大的耳朵，它那睜開的眼睛，臉頰上還有可見的緋紅，還有下半臉那巨大的投影。它的頭上戴著埃及王室的頭盔，下巴上留有皇室特有的胡須，人們進入金字塔所走的石道設在它的爪子之間，緊接著它的胸部下面是一處祭壇，煙從祭壇升起進入它那巨大的鼻孔里，之后從臉上消失，失去了所有的設想。從深埋于沙子之下的遺跡中我們能肯定地知道，就像你從遠處抬頭看向那破碎但仍富有表現(xiàn)力的特征?！标P于獅身人面像還有一點，沙漠里沙子的流動是永不間歇的，當今的研究人員在不同時期挖掘出來的幾乎所有的部分都已再次被掩埋。
