019 我的石匠生涯

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My name is Othon le Quarrelier, and I come from a family of

stonemasons living in the town of Rouen, France.

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Of course I am a stonemason too

我当然也是一名石匠。

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I wouldn't do anything else because over the centuries stonemasons have

built marvelous structures in every corner of the world,

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from the Egyptian pyramids to the Parthenon in Greece

从埃及金字塔到希腊的帕特农神庙。

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We stonemasons have always been in demand for our great skills, and the

work we do, cutting and shaping stone, hasn't changed much.

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But at this time, in 1220, stonemasons are building a greater variety of

structures—bridges, cathedrals, and castles—than ever before.

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My father was a master stonemason, but he did not teach me the trade

我父亲是一位石匠大师，但他没有亲自教我手艺。

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He paid another master mason nearby to take me on as

an apprentice when I was 11 years old.

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I lived with this master mason for seven years to learn the craft

我和这位石匠大师一起生活了七年，学习这门手艺。

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I was taught how to select stone from the quarry, a deep excavation pit

outside of town that contains the material we use.

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Then I learned how to use the tools of masonry: hammers

chisels, the compass, and the set square.

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The set square helps me make sure the walls I build are straight and

true, so that my corners form ninety-degree angles.

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I learned how to use my hammer and chisel to turn a rough block of

stone into a carved and polished building block.

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My master showed me how to work the stone carefully and patiently, and how

to place the finished stone into position in a wall and set it in mortar.

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Eventually I left my teacher and began the life of a journeyman, someone

who has finished his apprenticeship but is not yet a master mason.

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Journeyman masons often travel from place to place, looking for work

石匠熟练工常常四处奔走，寻找工作。

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Whenever I came to a new town, I'd visit the local guildhall, a place where

a stonemason can find a job, a place to sleep, and good food.

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Master masons at the guildhall test the journeymen, and if they're skilled

and pass the test, the master masons hire them.

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Once a journeyman gets a job, he chisels his personal mark on the stone

he carves so the master mason can evaluate his work.

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Some of the buildings that stonemasons create are so tall and beautiful

that many people believe our skills must be magical.

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But the secret to our success is geometry, which we

learn early in our apprenticeship.

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Geometry is a branch of mathematics that involves the

relationships between lines and angles,

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and the size, shape, and position of objects within

space. Geometry makes masonry possible.

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After working as a journeyman for a number of years, I acquired

the skills to become a master mason,

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and now I direct the masonry work at the cathedral in Chartres

现在，我负责指导沙特尔大教堂的石匠工作。

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Twenty-six years ago, in 1194, most of the building was destroyed

when a lightning strike caused a huge fire,

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which consumed a lot of the town as well

大火还吞噬了城镇的许多地方。

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People were very upset since the town was a popular pilgrimage destination

人们都非常难过，因为这里曾是一处很受欢迎的朝圣之地。

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So the local bishop decided to rebuild the

cathedral and make it much grander.

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It's taken a long time, but we're almost finished

这花了很长时间，但我们就快完工了。

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Since I am responsible for the entire project, I hire the journeymen masons

carpenters, glassmakers, and all the other laborers necessary.

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Over two hundred people work for me, and I live in a temporary house right

next to the construction site so I'm always on hand to supervise the work.

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My stonemasons are divided into two groups: one group works at the quarry

five miles away, cutting and shaping the rocks,

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and the other group polishes the stone blocks on-site

and sets them in place with mortar.

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To cut the rocks, a mason uses a number of tools

including axes, chisels, and hammers.

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The ax is used to hack at the rock to remove large chunks of unwanted stone

斧头用来劈砍石头，除去大块多余的部分。

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To make the rock even smaller, a mason uses a chisel

to chip off smaller pieces of rock.

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By doing this at the quarry, we greatly reduce the rock's weight, which

makes it easier to transport to the building site.

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The previous cathedral was small and had very few windows

so it was dark and gloomy inside.

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The new church has tall towers that seem to climb up to heaven and huge

stained-glass windows that fill the cathedral with light.

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To achieve these breathtaking effects, I used full-scale

drawings on plaster on the site's floor.

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They helped me visualize the project and calculate the amounts of

materials and the number of men I would need.

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For this cathedral we worked from the early spring through the warm months

which allowed the mortar holding the stones in place to dry thoroughly.

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During the winter construction stopped, and the masons carved

the statues on the west wall of the cathedral.

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Notice how their robes make the vertical lines of the

soaring structure seem even taller.

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The masons also carved other smaller statues — such as gargoyles

石匠们还会雕刻其他较小的雕像，比如滴水嘴兽，

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which direct rainwater away from the building so

it does not damage the foundation.

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Masons must pay very close attention to small details

石匠必须非常细致地关注微小的细节。

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As the cathedral began to rise, my masons had to work

at great heights—very dangerous work.

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My former teacher was badly hurt when he fell during the

construction of the cathedral in Reims.

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Getting building materials to these heights was difficult, but we managed

把建筑材料运到这些高处很困难，但我们设法做到了。

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We accomplished this by leaving openings, called putlog

holes, in the stone at regular intervals.

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We used the holes to hold logs on which we placed wood planks to

create platforms that can be reached by a ladder.

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Then we used special cranes to hoist the stone up

to our workmen on the platforms.

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When the building is finished, the logs and platforms will be removed

and the putlog holes filled in with mortar.

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It can be dangerous work, but I love working with stone

这项工作可能有危险，但我热爱和石头打交道。

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And I'm proud that this cathedral will live on after me

而且，这座大教堂在我身后还会长久存在，我为此感到自豪。

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It will proclaim to future generations that whenever the highest quality

of craftsmanship is needed, stonemasons will be there.