走進劍橋大學 第5期:劍河的柔波

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劍河的柔波

Cambridge is famous as the home of one of the two oldest English universities, but the city has a long and eventful history of its own. The Roman may be the first to bridge the River Cam in 43 AD. In 875 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called it Grantabrycge - one of the earliest known uses of the word 'bridge' in the English Language, suggesting that the town was famous for its bridge.

劍橋以擁有兩所英國最古老的大學之一劍橋大學而聞名于世，而這座城市本身就歷史悠久、歷經滄桑。人們認為，早在公元43年，羅馬人就在劍河上筑橋了。公元 875年，盎格魯-撒克遜編年史把在劍河上筑的橋稱之為“格蘭特橋”，這是英語語言中最早使用“橋”這一單詞的用法，這暗示了這座城市是以橋而聞名的。

In the Middle Ages the River Cam was used for transporting corns as far as King’s Lynn, and stones into the centre of Cambridge. However, by the 17th century the River was badly siltedup, and it took almost another century before a Parliament Act saw improvements to its condition.

中世紀時期，劍河作為運輸通道，可將玉米運至金斯林，將石頭運至劍橋中心。 但是到了17世紀，劍河就被淤泥堵塞。差不多過了一個世紀，議會法案的實施才使情況好轉。

The surrounding area of the Fens cover an area of some 800 square miles and are so low that the highest point is just 50m above sea level, with some parts having dropped below sea levelentirely. As the river makes its way to the North Sea it deposits huge amounts of siltover time which accounts for the ever-decreasing nature of the waters，makes of which today is actually reclaimed marshland.

劍河的沼澤地帶覆蓋了約800平方英里流域，而且地勢很低，最高點僅高于海平面50米，有些部分則完全低于海平面。由于入?？诘貏莸?，當劍河流入北海時，它會滯留大量淤泥。經年累月，河水不斷減少，今天的大部分河段都變成沼澤地了。

This was not always the case, however. Records showed that during the 17th century the waters were plentiful here Despite the Romans，attempts at draining the land, the area remained swampland for many generations. From about 1500 until the mid-17th century, high rankingclergy, members of the aristocracy and even royalty would attempt to drain the land, but it was only when the underlying peat shrank over time and the levels were graduallyseeped off into new channels and waterways that the waters moved from being deep lakes into the myriad of shallow channels as they are today.

但是只有當?shù)讓拥哪嗵侩S著時間推移而逐漸被侵蝕，河水流向新的渠道和航道，他們的目標才實現(xiàn)，因為這樣一來，河水就不能聚積在一起形成深湖，而只能變成今天的無數(shù)淺水渠了。

Cambridge itself is steeped in history with an academic heritage dating back to as early as 1209. Some of the first colleges to be founded were built right on the banks of the river. On the riverside the colleges would benefit from the major trade route into the town of Cambridge. The result today is the “Backs”，a one mile stretch of river that supports some of finest examples of architecture in England. Altogether there are 8 colleges and 9 bridges. These include Queens1 College with the Mathematical Bridge, King’s College with its famous chapel, and the Bridge of Sighs at St. John’s College.

劍橋本身有著豐富的學術傳統(tǒng)，它的學術傳統(tǒng)可以追溯到公元1209年。最早的一批學院是在劍河的右岸建立起來的。通往劍橋鎮(zhèn)的貿易航道都要通過劍河，建于河邊的學院受益于此，結果形成了今天的“后園景觀”。在一英里的水域內，游客們可以看到英格蘭最漂亮的一些建筑?？偣灿?個學院和9座橋位于“后園景觀”內，這其中包括擁有數(shù)學橋的女王學院，著名教堂的所在地國王學院和以嘆息橋聞名的圣約翰學院。