经济学人2019.4.20/Damaged but still standing/part2（完）

Now that those flames have been extinguished, questions will turn to why Notre Dame burned, and how it can be rebuilt. The Paris public prosecutor has opened an investigation, declaring that “nothing suggests it was a deliberate act.” If this was indeed an accident, the focus will be the works to renovate the 19th-century spire, which began last summer. It was the oak-beamed roof above the vaults that proved to be both so flammable, and so difficult for the fire brigade to get to. Thanks to the efforts of 400 firefighters—as well as to the craftsmanship of the 12th- and 13th-century stonemasons who built the soaring stone vaults beneath the roof—the cathedral’s main medieval structure was largely saved. Firefighters also managed to save many religious artefacts and relics.

现在这些火焰已经熄灭，问题将转向为什么圣母院被烧毁，以及如何重建。巴黎检察官已展开调查，称“没有证据表明这是故意行为”。如果这真的是一场意外，那么修复这座19世纪尖塔的工作将成为焦点。事实证明，拱顶上方的橡木横梁屋顶非常易燃，消防队很难到达。多亏了400名消防员的努力，以及12世纪和13世纪石匠们的精湛技艺——他们在教堂屋顶下建造了高高石拱顶，这使得教堂的大体的中世纪结构被尽可能的保留了下来。消防队员还设法抢救了许多宗教文物和遗物。

词汇

Deliberate/故意的；深思熟虑的；从容的

Flammable/易燃的；可燃的；可燃性的

Craftsmanship/技术；技艺

How stable the remaining structure is, and whether the stone has been permanently weakened by the intense heat, say engineers, will have to be assessed once the masonry has cooled. Mr Macron vowed that, no matter what, the cathedral will be rebuilt, and launched a fundraising initiative to that end. In a country that lacks a tradition of private philanthropy, it was notable that France’s richest businessmen vowed to contribute. Two luxury titans, Bernard Arnault and François Pinault, between them pledged €300m ($340m).

工程师们说，剩下的结构有多稳定，以及石头是否被高温永久地削弱，这些都必须在石头冷却后进行评估。马克龙发誓，无论如何，大教堂都会重建，并为此发起了一项筹款倡议。在一个缺乏私人慈善传统的国家，法国最富有的商人发誓要捐款颇引注意。伯纳德•阿尔诺(Bernard Arnault)和弗朗索瓦•皮诺(Francois Pinault)这两家奢侈品巨头承诺出资3亿欧元(合3.4亿美元)。

词汇

Masonry/石工；石工行业；石造建筑

The search for somebody to blame will absorb France for some time. Many will want to know exactly what precautions were taken by those working on the renovation, and what exactly was the nature of the disaster-planning for a monument of this scale and national importance, situated amid narrow streets on an inaccessible island in the centre of the city. A broader question is whose responsibility it should be to maintain secular France’s great religious buildings. The government had contributed to the renovation of Notre Dame’s spire. But the cathedral had to raise funds to renew its bells in 2012, and the agreement between the archdiocese and the government over upkeep is unclear.

在一段时间内，寻找替罪羊将占据法国的主要精力。许多人想知道在对于之前的翻新工作，工作人员对于这座古迹是做了怎样的防范措施，尤其是对于坐落于这狭窄的街道，一块位于市中心而难以接近的区域，规模又如此巨大，在世界上都有重要意义的历史遗迹，修缮人员是采取了怎样的自然灾害防范措施。一个更深度的问题是，谁应当负责维护世俗的法国伟大的宗教建筑。政府为圣母院尖塔的修缮做出了贡献。但是，2012年，这座教堂不得不筹集资金来翻新它的钟，而大主教管区和政府之间关于维护的协议还不清楚。

词汇

Precautions/防范；预防措施；

Monument/纪念碑；历史遗迹；不朽的作品

Archdiocese/大主教之管区

Upkeep/维持；维修费；保养

On the morning after the fire, tourists gathered along the cobbled quays to get their shot of the old survivor, damaged but unfallen. For locals, sadness at the damage was mixed with deep relief that it had not been far worse. At one point, and after five months of unrest by gilets jaunes (yellow jackets), the fire seemed to be a ghastly symbol for the torment of France. It broke out just before Mr Macron was due to unveil his response to those protests, and to his “great national debate”, in a speech he promptly had to postpone. The moment was supposed to mark the end of a disaster. Instead, it brought another.

火灾发生后的第二天早上，游客们聚集在铺满鹅卵石的码头上，想要拍下这位受伤但没有倒下的老妇女。对当地人来说，灾难带来的悲伤中夹杂着深深的慰藉，因为情况并没有变得太糟。在经历了gilets jaunes(黄衫军)五个月的动乱之后，这场大火似乎是痛苦的法国的可怕象征。而这场大火就恰巧发生在马克龙即将公布他对这些抗议活动的回应的前夕，而至于他“伟大的全国辩论”，这篇讲话也因此而立刻不得不推迟。这次大火的结束本应标志着一场灾难的结束。相反，然而他却带来了新的挑战。

词汇

Cobbled/铺有鹅卵石的

Quay/码头

Ghastly/可怕的；惨白的；惊人的；极坏的

Torment/痛苦，苦恼；痛苦的根源

Unveil/使公之于众，揭开；揭幕

Promptly/迅速地；立即地；敏捷地

Mr Macron now faces a different challenge. The country was already divided, and the president unloved. Today Notre Dame is charred, and Paris, and all of France, is in pain. Just occasionally, such a national drama can help to pull a divided country together. On the night, Mr Macron made a good start. But he has yet to bring closure to his great debate. It will take particular skill to do this while offering solace to a nation still in shock after the drama of Notre Dame.

马克龙现在面临着不同的挑战。这个国家已经分裂，总统不受欢迎。如今，圣母院被烧焦了，而巴黎，乃至整个法国，都处在痛苦之中。但这也提供了一个机遇，这样一出民族大戏可以帮助一个分裂的国家团结起来。当晚，马克龙先生开了个好头。但他还没有结束这场伟大的辩论。要做到这一点，还需要特别的技巧；同时他还要为一个在巴黎圣母院烧焦这一悲剧背后为仍处于震惊中的国家提供安慰。