viewed from the rocky outcropping of dondra head at the southernnmost tip of sri lanka, the first sighting of the ming fleet is a massive shadow on the horizon.as the shadow rises, it breaks into a cloud of tautly ribbed sail, aflame in the tropical sun.with relentless determination, the cloud draws ever closer, and in its fiery embrace an enormous city appears.a floating city, like nothing the world has ever seen before.no warning could have prepared officials, soldiers, or the thunderstruck peasants who stand atop dondra head for the scene that unfolds below them.stretched across miles of the indian ocean in terrifying majesty is the armada of zheng he, admiral of the imperial ming navy.
從斯里蘭卡最南端“棟德勒角(dondra head)”上的巖石露頭望去,初入眼簾的大明艦隊(duì),只是地平線上的龐大陰影。隨著陰影漸升,卻化為眾帆如云,肋紋畢現(xiàn),在熱帶的陽光下映出閃閃紅光。彤云徐徐掩至,耀眼光芒中逐漸浮現(xiàn)出一座巨大的城市。這是一座世所未有的漂浮之城。對(duì)于立在巖石頂端的官員、士兵或驚呆的農(nóng)民而言,這番景象若非親見,如何也無法想象。這是明帝國海軍統(tǒng)帥鄭和率領(lǐng)的船隊(duì),展現(xiàn)懾人威儀,在印度洋中綿延數(shù)里。