愛薇塔樂學英文

　　吳哥是柬埔寨的古都

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　　吳哥是柬埔寨的古都和遊覽勝地，位於洞裡薩湖北面，距暹粒市6公里。西元9～15世紀為高棉王國都城。最早始建於8世紀，13世紀建成，占地15平方公里。吳哥古跡主要包括大、小吳哥兩地的通王城和吳哥窟；各種建築約600座。有5座宏偉的寶塔和精美的浮雕，是聞名於世的高棉文化古跡，也是世界著名的佛教建築。柬埔寨王國國旗上的圖案就是吳哥窟的聖塔。吳哥古跡曾被叢林所掩蓋，19世紀後期才被重新發現。上圖為吳哥中最著名的建築——吳哥窟。

　　This ancient city is known to the world as Angkor Wat after its most beautiful temple, but the true wonder is the city itself, which is actually called Angkor.

　　The first temples were completed in the eighth century by early Khmer1 king Jayavarman and his heirs kept building on his legacy. The whole of Angkor was built over a period of about 600 years. It never stopped. It was to recreate in Hindu mythology the Mount Mira, the Hindu Heaven. And the kings wanted to elevate2 themselves to a godlike status and progressive kings enlarged upon it. And so it just grew and grew. Each king wanted to build another temple. They were trying to create Heaven on Earth.

　　The lush jungle paradise they created inevitably caught the attention of the neighboring kingdom of Siam3now known as Thailand. After one hundred years of off and on battle, the Thai armies began to get the upper hand. At the end of it, the Cambodian people were exhausted. Their resources had run out. The Thais had a relatively easy victory when they finally sacked1 Angkor in 1431. But a mystery surrounds their victory. Without warning the Thai armies abandoned Angkor as suddenly as they conquered it and to this day no one knows why.

　　The Royal Court just literally walked away from Angkor completely. The couple of temples were maintained and visited from time to time. But basically they just turned their back on2 it. And the magnificent city became lost in the mists of time. Rumors of this sacred city floated throughout the jungles of Southeast Asia for centuries.

　　The locals were telling stories. There had been French naturalists through the area, but no one believed the tales. Then, in 1860 the French explorer Henri Mahout set out to find Angkor. One day he stepped into a jungle clearing and found himself walking through the imperial3 ruins of the ancient city. Over one hundred years later, the world is also beginning to understand the glory of Angkor.

　　For being a heavenly city4 that transcends time, Angkor ascends to number three on our list.

　　神秘高棉文化古跡叢林天堂吳哥窟

　　這座古城被世人稱為吳哥窟，以城中最美的廟宇的名字命名，而真正的奇跡是這座城市本身，這座城市實際上叫吳哥。

　　第一批寺廟在8世紀由古高棉國王　耶跋摩建成，他的後代們繼承祖業，繼續修建。吳哥的整體建築花了大約600年的時間，並且從未停止過。它要重現印度神話中的米拉山——印度人的天堂。國王們想把自己提升到神那樣的位置上，於是一代一代的國王不斷地擴建，所以它就越建越大。每個國王都想新建一個廟宇，他們試圖建造人間的天堂。

　　他們創建的奢華的叢林天堂不可避免地引起了鄰國暹羅王國(即現在的泰國)的注意。經過100年斷斷續續的爭鬥，泰國軍隊開始占了上風。柬埔寨人最終筋疲力盡了，他們的資源消耗殆盡了。泰國人較易地取得了勝利，他們終於在1431年洗劫了吳哥。但他們的勝利卻罩著一層神秘的面紗。就像他們迅速征服它一樣，泰國軍隊一聲不響地迅速放棄了吳哥，至今誰也不知個中原因。

　　皇室完全地離開了吳哥。一些廟宇還得到維護並不時有人來看一看，但基本上皇室已經廢棄了吳哥。這座華麗的古城被湮滅在時間的迷霧中。幾個世紀以來，在東南亞的叢林中，一直流傳著有關這座聖城的傳說。

　　當地人講述著種種故事。曾有一些法國自然學家到過這個地方，但沒有人相信這些傳說。後來，在1860年，法國探險家亨利·馬烏開始尋找吳哥。有一天他步入了一片叢林空地，發現他正走在這座古城的王國廢墟上。100多年後，世界也開始認識吳哥的輝煌。