The Question
They took me to the temple.It stood on the side of a hill with a semi-circle of tawny mountains behind it,staging it,as it were,with a formal grandeur;and they pointed out to me with what exquisite art the series of buildings climbed the hill till you reached the final edifice,a jewel of white marble encircled by the trees;for the Chinese architect sought to make his creation an ornament to nature and he used the accidents of the landscape to complete his decorative scheme.They pointed out to me how cunningly the trees were planted to contrast with the marble of a gateway,to give an agreeable shadow here,or there to serve as a background;and they made me remark the admirable proportion of those great roofs,rising one beyond the other,in rich profusion,with the grace of flowers;and they showed me that the yellow tiles were of different hues so that the sensibility was not offended by an expanse of colour but amused and pleased by a subtle variety of tone.They showed me how the elaborate carving of a gateway was contrasted with a surface without adornment so that the eye was not wearied.All this they showed me as we walked through elegant courtyards,over bridges which were a miracle of grace,through temples with strange gods,dark and gesticulating;but when I asked them what was the spiritual state which had caused all this mass of building to be made,they could not tell me.
迷
他们带我来到这个坐落在山上的庙宇，在这个山后有很多座茶色的山半环绕着，就好像它是一个宏伟的壮观；他们告诉我当我到达最后一个建筑物时，将会发现山上的建筑物是一个多么高雅的艺术品，就像一个由树围绕的镶有宝石的白色雕刻品；像中国的工程师在寻找能使他的建筑物的修饰更趋于自然化，他用自然的景观来完成他装潢的计划。他们告诉我那些种植树木的人是多么的狡猾，使树衬托通往这个雕刻品的路，来给一个令人喜悦的倒影或者充当一个背景环境；他们让我来评价下那些伟大的屋顶的比例，我用无私的心和雅致的花称赞一个胜过一个；他们给我展示这个黄色的瓦是是由不同种类色彩构成的，因此我们并不会为这一个膨胀的颜色而冒失的敏感，而是因为这一个微妙的不同音调而感到愉快和高兴。他们告诉我若将这个道路与没有任何装饰的平面作比较，会发现这个路是多么的雅致，那么眼睛也不会感到疲倦。她们给我展示所有这些是在我们通过这个端庄的庭院时，这个在桥上面的庭院和那些有着奇怪的、凶狠的、打着手势的佛像的寺院相比较，将更是一个雅致的奇迹。但是当我问到是什么精神让他们建造这么伟大的建筑时，他们没有回答我。 |
