V. M. 希利爾（仲秋　譯）

This story begins with a competition. Not a competition to see who could run fastest， not a competition to see who could whistle loudest， but a much harder one. It was such a hard competition that each man in it was given a year in which to try to win.

It was a competition in sculpture. It began this way： In Florence， Italy， there is a little eight-sided building called the Baptistery. A baptistery is a place where babies， or even grown-ups， are baptized. This building has four doorways in it and one of these doorways at the time of the competition had a very beautiful pair of bronze doors with reliefs on them made by the sculptor Andrea Pisano. Long after Andrea Pisanos death the men of Florence decided there should be another pair of bronze doors for one of the other doorways.

There were several good sculptors living then and the men of Florence could not decide who was the best one to make the new doors， and so they had the competition. These were the rules：

這個(gè)故事開始于一場比賽。這場比賽不是比誰跑得最快，也不是比誰口哨吹得最響，它要比這些都難得多。這場比賽非常難，每個(gè)參賽者都被給予一年的時(shí)間參加這場比賽并贏得比賽。

這是一場雕刻比賽。這場比賽的起因是這樣的：在意大利的佛羅倫薩有一座不是很大的八邊形建筑，叫作“洗禮堂”——也就是嬰兒或者成人接受洗禮的地方。這座洗禮堂有四道門，其中一道門在比賽前就已經(jīng)有兩扇十分漂亮的銅門安放好了，銅門上是安德里亞·皮薩諾雕刻的浮雕。安德里亞·皮薩諾去世很久之后，佛羅倫薩人決定在與那道銅門相對的另外一道門上，也安裝這樣的兩扇銅門。

那個(gè)時(shí)候的佛羅倫薩已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了很多杰出的雕塑家，人們不知道到底讓誰來做這道新的銅門更好，于是他們決定進(jìn)行一場比賽，比賽規(guī)則如下：

Each sculptor had to make a relief in bronze to go on a door.

The relief had to be about Abraham and Isaac.

Each sculptor could have a year for the work and then a group of thirty-four judges would decide the winner and the winner would make the doors.

All the sculptors set to work. All， except one， very carefully kept every one else from seeing their work until the year was up. This one was named Lorenzo Ghiberti （Geebeartee）， and he worked and worked and then he asked his friends to come in and tell him how he could make his relief better. Then he worked some more until he had a very beautiful relief indeed.

When the year was up， each sculptor brought his relief to the judges. And what do you think？ The judges couldnt decide which was the very best！ There was a tie for first place. One of the winners was Ghibertis relief. The other was cast by the famous architect Brunelleschi （Brew-nel-lesskee）. But Brunelleschi himself thought Ghibertis relief was better than his own and so he very generously said he would withdraw and let Ghiberti be the winner. Then the judges said Ghiberti could make the doors.

Ghiberti set to work. He worked and worked. One year， two years， five years， ten years， and still he worked on the doors. Youll hardly believe how long it took to make them. Ill tell you the date when he began and when he finished. He started to work on the reliefs in 1403. He finished the doors in 1424.

每個(gè)參賽的雕塑家必須用青銅雕刻一幅與銅門搭配的浮雕。

浮雕的主題和內(nèi)容必須與亞伯拉罕、以撒（他們都是《圣經(jīng)·舊約》之《圣經(jīng)創(chuàng)世記》中的人物，以撒是亞伯拉罕和妻子撒拉所生的唯一兒子）有關(guān)。

每位雕塑家都有一年時(shí)間來雕刻，最后由34名裁判共同裁決誰才是最后的勝出者，并由勝出者來雕刻這兩扇門。

比賽開始后，所有參加比賽的雕塑家都開始了雕刻，而且他們都小心地隱藏著自己創(chuàng)作的作品，在比賽結(jié)束日之前不想讓任何人看到。不過，有一個(gè)人卻特立獨(dú)行，這個(gè)人叫洛倫佐·吉貝爾蒂。他先自己專心地雕刻了一段時(shí)間，然后將他的朋友們邀請到他家里參觀他的雕刻作品，并請朋友們提出一些改進(jìn)的建議。接著，他就按照大家的建議不斷完善他的作品直到他雕刻出十分漂亮的浮雕。

一年的雕刻比賽時(shí)間結(jié)束后，每位參加比賽的雕塑家都展出了自己的作品，請裁判評判。你認(rèn)為結(jié)果如何？結(jié)果是裁判也無法評出誰的浮雕最好！兩位雕塑家的作品同時(shí)被評為第一名。一件是吉貝爾蒂的浮雕，另一件作品是意大利著名建筑師菲利波·布魯內(nèi)萊斯基雕刻的。但是布魯內(nèi)萊斯基認(rèn)為吉貝爾蒂的作品比自己的更勝一籌。所以他十分客氣地退出了競爭，將冠軍的稱號讓給了吉貝爾蒂。于是，裁判宣布吉貝爾蒂榮獲了雕刻洗禮堂那兩扇新門的殊榮。

于是吉貝爾蒂開始了他的雕刻工作。他不懈怠地雕刻著，一年過去了，兩年過去了，五年過去了，十年過去了……吉貝爾蒂還在雕刻那兩扇銅門。你完全無法想象雕刻完成最終花費(fèi)的時(shí)間。讓我來告訴你吉貝爾蒂從開始著手雕刻到最后完成的日期：他從1403年開始雕刻，最終在1424年完成了他的作品。

“What！” you say. “Twenty-one years to make one pair of doors？ That is a long time！”

Finally the doors were finished and put in the Baptistery. They opened down the middle and had twenty-eight panels or scenes in relief， chiefly from the life of Christ. Each scene was made separately and then all fitted together.

Ghibertis doors “made a big hit”. Every one liked them so much that the men of Florence asked the sculptor if he would make another pair of bronze doors for another doorway to the Baptistery. There was no need for a competition this time. They knew Ghiberti was the man for the job.

Ghiberti started on the new doors. He worked and worked and worked. One year， two years， five years， ten years， twenty years， and still he worked on the doors. He began on these doors in 1425. He finished them in 1452. What！ Twenty-seven years to make one set of doors？ That is a long time！

But this time， when he had finished， the doors were so splendid that many people said they were perfect. A famous sculptor saw them and said， “They are fit to be the gates of Paradise，” and that is what they have been called ever since—the Gates of Paradise.

The Gates of Paradise have ten scenes from the Old Testament. Here is a “close-up” of the fourth scene showing the story of Abraham.

“什么？”你肯定會說，“雕刻一道門居然花了二十一年？那時(shí)間也太長了吧！”

最后，銅門的雕刻工作總算完成了，并被細(xì)致地安裝到了洗禮堂的門框上。銅門從中間打開，上面雕刻了二十八幅浮雕圖，主要講述了耶穌的生平故事。每幅浮雕圖都是單獨(dú)雕刻的，單幅雕刻完成后再將所有浮雕拼接起來。

吉貝爾蒂雕刻的這兩扇銅門取得了巨大的成功。佛羅倫薩人都十分喜歡這一道銅門，所以他們征詢吉貝爾蒂是否愿意再為洗禮堂的另一道門雕刻一對類似的銅門。這次自然就沒有必要再比賽一次了，因?yàn)樗麄兘^對相信吉貝爾蒂是不二人選。

吉貝爾蒂接下了這份工作，又開始了他的雕刻歷程。他不停地刻啊刻，一年過去了，兩年過去了，五年過去了，十年過去了，二十年過去了……吉貝爾蒂還在雕刻第二道門的兩扇銅門。吉貝爾蒂從1425年開始著手雕刻，直到1452年才完成了這道銅門。天??！雕刻一道銅門花了二十七年，真是夠久的啊！

不過新銅門完成之時(shí)，人們都覺得那個(gè)作品簡直太棒了，上面的雕刻堪稱完美。有個(gè)著名的雕塑家見到這道門后，驚嘆道：“它們簡直就是天堂之門啊！”于是在那以后，這對銅門便被人們稱為“天堂之門”。

“天堂之門”上面有十幅浮雕圖，刻畫的都是《圣經(jīng)·舊約》中的場景。上面這張照片就是銅門上第四幅浮雕的放大圖，這幅浮雕講述的是亞伯拉罕的故事。

Word Study

withdraw /w??'dr??/ v. 退出;離開

His withdrew from the race on the second lap.

splendid /'splend?d/ adj. 極佳的;非常好的

Weve all had a splendid time.