兩次去法國(guó)，親友們屢屢提醒：“來(lái)巴黎不去圣山一看不算及格?！苯衲晗ＥD歸來(lái)，特地再飛巴黎，以一睹傾慕已久的圣山風(fēng)采。

圣米歇爾山，原被漁民叫作凍白島，是一座花崗巖小山，聳立在法國(guó)北部諾曼底和布列塔尼之間的海面上。直徑只有1080米，距巴黎300多公里。此島早先并不著名，后因歐洲中古世紀(jì)宗教熱潮中主教大人的一個(gè)夢(mèng)，竟使教民們?yōu)橹駸岱瞰I(xiàn)，延續(xù)修建八百年，這個(gè)無(wú)名荒島變成了震驚世界的旅游文化名珠，并被聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織第一批列入世界遺產(chǎn)名錄，每年吸引的各國(guó)游客達(dá)400萬(wàn)之眾！

據(jù)傳公元五世紀(jì)在天主教教義中，人們對(duì)打敗象征魔鬼的惡龍之神圣米歇爾崇拜已蔓延至西歐，公元492年意大利的卡崗山建了宏偉的圣米歇爾神殿，人們爭(zhēng)相祭拜。到了公元708年春，法蘭西北部阿弗朗什教區(qū)的歐貝爾主教，夜里突然夢(mèng)見(jiàn)金光閃耀的圣米歇爾天使，天使指示他必須在剛被海浪沖來(lái)的一堆巖石上修造一座祈禱堂。一夢(mèng)醒來(lái)，主教不解其意；在第二次夢(mèng)中，圣米歇爾又叮囑主教趕快修建，主教醒來(lái)趕往海邊一看，只見(jiàn)海天茫茫，白浪翻飛，仍茫然不知何處可建祈禱堂；第三次，主教夢(mèng)見(jiàn)圣米歇爾天使身披金黃盔甲嚴(yán)厲問(wèn)他為何還不動(dòng)手？并用手指在主教腦門(mén)上狠狠一點(diǎn)，竟然將腦門(mén)點(diǎn)出一個(gè)小洞。主教痛醒，大汗淋漓，急帶部屬趕到海邊，只見(jiàn)海浪中涌出一座白色石山，至此他恍然大悟，立馬精心組織力量，征集船只建造圣米歇爾神殿。據(jù)說(shuō)，為紀(jì)念歐貝爾主教創(chuàng)建圣山的大功，信徒們珍藏著留有天使指印的歐貝爾主教頭蓋骨，至今還放在阿弗朗什的圣維杰珍寶室供人們瞻仰。我們?cè)谑ッ仔獱栃薜涝旱那捅谒彽牟噬珟r畫(huà)上，看到主教畫(huà)像頭上特意標(biāo)明的一個(gè)黑點(diǎn)，那色調(diào)、光線及氣氛，吸引著無(wú)數(shù)游客虔誠(chéng)禮拜。

在修建這座圣山時(shí)，無(wú)數(shù)的教士和工匠，將多勒山（Mont——Dol）及海外休塞（Chausey）群島出產(chǎn)的優(yōu)質(zhì)花崗巖一塊塊渡海運(yùn)來(lái)并順著新開(kāi)的石徑一步一步拉上山頂，眾多的建筑師、藝術(shù)家在這些極其堅(jiān)硬的巨石上敲鑿、雕刻和打磨。經(jīng)過(guò)40多代人艱苦卓絕的努力，直到16世紀(jì)，這個(gè)神殿即后來(lái)全稱為圣米歇爾修道院的宏偉工程才基本完工。

圣米歇爾修道院高高地聳立在大海中的山峰上，它的周?chē)斜姸嗟母綄俳烫茫斏辖ㄓ懈哌_(dá)32米的鐘樓，鐘樓尖頂再托起8米高的金碧輝煌的圣米歇爾天使金像：他左手提天平，右手高舉寶劍，在藍(lán)天碧海中千百年來(lái)神光四射！修道院整個(gè)建筑上下高度竟然高出小島本身海拔的兩倍，成為人類建筑史上的一個(gè)奇跡。法國(guó)信眾常以崇拜的口氣贊嘆：歐貝爾主教的一場(chǎng)夢(mèng)，讓信徒和藝術(shù)大師們足足辛勞了八百年，以八百年代價(jià)換來(lái)法蘭西民族的榮耀，換來(lái)對(duì)人類文化歷史的貢獻(xiàn)，這個(gè)代價(jià)，值！

我們乘車(chē)越過(guò)庫(kù)埃斯農(nóng)河，老遠(yuǎn)就看見(jiàn)碧海中浮現(xiàn)著一個(gè)極精致的“盆景”——圣米歇爾山。山上修道院的鐘樓直指藍(lán)天，那座反射出強(qiáng)烈光芒的神像，就是米歇爾圣像。不想車(chē)子開(kāi)過(guò)拉卡塞爾納水壩卻進(jìn)不了停車(chē)場(chǎng)，因?yàn)槟抢锶粩?shù)以萬(wàn)計(jì)的各種車(chē)輛塞滿了！于是我們只得將車(chē)停在路邊，徒步向山麓走去。走過(guò)大堤吊橋，一進(jìn)山門(mén)便見(jiàn)繞山海邊筑有兩層堅(jiān)固的巖石城墻，外有巨炮，中有工事，上有垛眼，內(nèi)有暗堡，形成一個(gè)嚴(yán)密的防御體系。原來(lái)這是在英法百年戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中修筑的，當(dāng)時(shí)法國(guó)民眾以保衛(wèi)圣山為榮，許多人率妻兒來(lái)此志愿參戰(zhàn)，其中最為人稱道的是119名法國(guó)騎士隱蔽在修道院內(nèi)，他們依托石墻與炮樓，抵抗英軍達(dá)24年之久！久攻不下的英軍指揮官最后長(zhǎng)嘆：法國(guó)人有天使護(hù)佑！進(jìn)入厚實(shí)的石墻，穿過(guò)城門(mén)，迎面便是狹窄而漂亮的街道。沿街有林立的店鋪，潔雅的賓館，多彩的餐廳和專門(mén)介紹圣米歇爾山的四家藝術(shù)館和博物館等等。這些以巖石、花木、房舍、圍墻、城堡店鋪和修道院組成的中世紀(jì)建筑群，將大自然的巧妙和人類智慧、毅力以及文明系于一身，它所展現(xiàn)出來(lái)的凝重和神奇，竟然勝過(guò)凡爾賽宮的金碧輝煌、埃菲爾鐵塔的宏偉壯觀、盧浮宮的絢麗多彩、香榭麗舍的繽紛繁華。

在參觀修道院中，最感到驚訝的是修道院的大教堂圣壇，圣壇的下層用巨大的石柱撐起了三座小教堂，它們分別以勃隆、圣馬下、圣母命名，在圣母小教堂里，有30支巨大的白蠟燭終年長(zhǎng)燃不息。這些小教堂從外觀上看它好像低于地面，但步入其間你卻感到先上后下，進(jìn)入里面，它又讓人彎來(lái)彎去，猶入迷宮。正因?yàn)槠渚?、其巧、其妙，令許多游客極為贊賞，驚呼它是一座瑰麗的“世界奇樓”！

My Visit to Mount Saint-Michel

By Yi Fei

I have been to France twice. Every time before I went I was told by my friends， “You would have to visit Mount Saint-Michel to make your visit to Paris complete.?So I flew to Paris after my trip to Greek early this year and then visited the rocky islet situated more than 300 kilometers away from Paris to make my trip complete.

The granite islet is more than an architectural wonder. Towering between Normandy and Brittany， the mount is home to an abbey dedicated to the archangel St Michael.

Unknown as a desolate place since time immemorial， the islet first appeared in the dream of Aubert， Bishop of Avranches in one spring night of 708 AD. The bishop dreamed of St Michael in golden shining lights ordering him to build an abbey on a heap of white rocks just thrown up by the sea. The priest was slow to remember the dream. It was not until the third dream in which the angry archangel thrust a finger on his head and made a hole in his skull that the bishop remembered the dream. What appeared in three dreams became reality through a long time. It took more than 40 generations of disciples and artists a good 800 years to get the grand architectural miracle erected on the granitic islet.

All the building materials were transported from outside. Architects added one chapel after another. Additional monastic buildings were added gradually. The 32-meter-high bell tower was built and the 8-meter-tall statue of St Michael was added to the top later.

Shortly after crossing a river， I saw the Mount Saint Michael loom， looking like an exquisite bonsai. The spire pointed at the azure sky and the statue shone dazzlingly.As parking lot was full up to the capacity， I had to park at the roadside and walked. After crossing a suspension bridge and entering the gate， I saw two rocky defense walls facing the sea. The fortifications， mounted with cannons， include ramparts， towers and a barbican. The defense work was completed during the Hundred Years War between Britain and France. It is said that the French people thought it a great honor to defend the Mount St Michael. Some volunteers even brought their wives and kids to join the defense. The most legendary soldiers were 119 knights holding the abbey against the English siege for twenty-four years.

Past the defense walls were narrow but neat streets flanked by shops and hotels， restaurants， galleries and museums. All the buildings there emitted a medieval glory， embodying the architectural wisdom， dedication， and civilization. For a moment， I believed the wonder of the abbey looked convincingly better than the magnificence of Versailles Palace， Eiffel Tower， Louvre and Champs-Elysees.

(Translated by David)