與其砍倒150年的樹(shù)，不如就地建房子

When the Kesharwani family in Jabalpur, India, decided to expand their home back in 1994, they pondered what to do about the giant fig tree growing in their garden. Rather than cut it down, they decided to build a four-storey house around it.

1994年，印度賈巴爾布爾的凱薩瓦尼(Kesharwani)一家決定擴(kuò)建房屋時(shí)，他們?cè)诳紤]如何處理花園里那棵巨大的無(wú)花果樹(shù)。他們沒(méi)有把它砍倒，而是決定圍著它建一座四層樓的房子。

Today, the Kesharwanis’ residence is one of the most stunning sights in Jabalpur – a concrete villa with a giant tree trunk growing through its multiple stories and thick branches coming out through the windows, walls and roof. Yogesh Kesharwani, whose parents built the house 25 years ago, said that the fig tree is about 150 years old but still blossoms into leaves and fruits every year. Even though they have to navigate around its thick trunk when moving through the house, the Kesharwanis have gotten used to it and even grown to consider it a member of the family.

今天，Kesharwanis的住宅是賈巴爾普爾最令人驚嘆的景觀之一，這是一座混凝土別墅，巨大的樹(shù)干從多層樓長(zhǎng)出來(lái)，粗大的樹(shù)枝從窗戶、墻壁和屋頂伸出來(lái)。Yogesh Kesharwani的父母在25年前建造了這座房子，他說(shuō)這棵無(wú)花果樹(shù)已經(jīng)有150年的歷史了，但是每年仍然會(huì)開(kāi)花結(jié)果。盡管他們?cè)诜孔永镒邉?dòng)時(shí)必須繞過(guò)它粗粗的樹(shù)干，但凱薩瓦尼一家已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了它，甚至認(rèn)為它是家里的一員。

(Photo: ANI video screengrab)

“We are nature lovers and my father insisted that we keep the tree,” Yogesh Kesharwani told AFP. We knew it was easy to cut the tree but difficult to grow one like it.”

約格什·凱沙瓦尼告訴法新社：“我們熱愛(ài)大自然，我父親堅(jiān)持要我們保留這棵樹(shù)。”我們知道砍這棵樹(shù)很容易，但要長(zhǎng)成這樣卻很難。”

Known as “peepal” in Hindi, the fig tree is considered sacred in India, and cutting one down is considered by many to be sacrilegious. It’s mentioned in the Geeta, a Hindu religious text, and Hindus believe that 350 million gods and goddesses reside in one peepal tree.

在印度，無(wú)花果樹(shù)被稱(chēng)為“peepal”，在印度被認(rèn)為是神圣的，很多人認(rèn)為砍掉一棵無(wú)花果樹(shù)是褻瀆神靈的。在印度宗教文本《吉塔》中提到過(guò)，印度教徒相信有3.5億神居住在一棵菩提樹(shù)下。

The Kesharwani family claim that apart from keeping the house cool, the giant tree growing through their home is also practical to have from a religious standpoint. Yogesh’s wife doesn’t have to go to the temple to pray, she can just do it in front of the tree every morning.

Kesharwani一家聲稱(chēng)，除了保持房子涼爽，從宗教的角度來(lái)看，這棵生長(zhǎng)在他們家里的大樹(shù)也是實(shí)用的。Yogesh的妻子不需要去寺廟祈禱，她可以每天早上在樹(shù)前祈禱。

Yogesh recalls that soon after the house was completed, local engineering and architecture students started to come by to see how it was built. Today, his home is one of the main attractions of Jabalpur.

Yogesh回憶說(shuō)，房子完工后不久，當(dāng)?shù)毓こ毯徒ㄖ?zhuān)業(yè)的學(xué)生就開(kāi)始過(guò)來(lái)看房子是如何建造的。如今，他的家是賈巴爾普爾的主要景點(diǎn)之一。

“We don’t even realize that the tree exists because it doesn’t come in our way. It just stands there silently,” Yogesh said.

“我們甚至沒(méi)有意識(shí)到這棵樹(shù)的存在，因?yàn)樗鼪](méi)有擋住我們的路。它只是靜靜地站在那里，”Yogesh說(shuō)。