This is an outsized land for outsized legends. No roads, no permanent buildings; just unfurling sky, tufted dry grass and streaming wind. We stopped to drink salted milk tea in nomads’ round ger tents and to snap pictures of roaming horses and goats. Sometimes we stopped just for the sake of stopping ? ?mn?govi Province, Mongolia, is endless by car. I couldn’t imagine tackling it on a horse.
這是一片流傳著眾多傳說的廣袤大地谈宛。這里沒有道路，沒有經(jīng)久的建筑胎署，只有一覽無遺的天空吆录、干枯的草叢，以及不斷刮過的大風(fēng)硝拧。我們停下來径筏，進到游牧人的蒙古包中喝喝咸奶茶，再對著隨意走動的馬匹和山羊拍拍照障陶。有時候我們停止前行，只是單純的想停下來聊训，因為蒙古的南戈壁省即便是坐汽車也走不完抱究，我很難想象如果騎在馬上會是怎樣一番場景。
But this is the country of Genghis Khan, the warrior who conquered the world on horseback. His story is full of kidnappings, bloodshed, love and revenge.
這是一個曾經(jīng)由成吉思汗——一個騎在馬背上征服了全世界的戰(zhàn)士——統(tǒng)治的國家带斑。有關(guān)他的故事里滿是綁架鼓寺、殺戮、愛與復(fù)仇勋磕。
That’s just history. The legend begins with his death.
這都只是些歷史妈候，而有關(guān)成吉思汗的傳說則要從他死亡以后開始。
Genghis Khan (known in Mongolia as Chinggis Khaan) once ruled everything between the Pacific Ocean and the Caspian Sea. Upon his death he asked to be buried in secret. A grieving army carried his body home, killing anyone it met to hide the route. When the emperor was finally laid to rest, his soldiers rode 1,000 horses over his grave to destroy any remaining trace.
成吉思汗（蒙古語為Chinggis Khaan）曾經(jīng)統(tǒng)治過的疆域從太平洋一直到里海挂滓。臨死時他要求葬在一個隱秘的地方苦银。他的士兵們悲痛欲絕，他們將其遺體帶回國，為了隱藏行蹤路線幔虏，他們一路上殺掉了所有沿途碰到的人纺念。當(dāng)這位帝王最終被安葬后，他的士兵們騎著1000匹馬在墳?zāi)股蟻砘刈咛は肜ǎ瑲У袅肆粼诘孛嫔系乃泻圹E陷谱。
In the 800 years since Genghis Khan’s death, no-one has found his tomb.
自成吉思汗死亡至今的800年間，沒有一個人找到過他的墓地瑟蜈。
Foreign-led expeditions have pursued the grave through historical texts, across the landscape and even from space ? National Geographic’s Valley of the Khans Project used satellite imagery in a mass hunt for the gravesite. But most interest in locating the tomb is international; Mongolians don’t want it found.
以外國人為首的探險隊依據(jù)史料烟逊，在陸地上、甚至從天上搜尋著成吉思汗的古墓——美國國家地理頻道的可汗峽谷節(jié)目組就曾經(jīng)通過衛(wèi)星圖像來大范圍搜尋墓地铺根。但是對成吉思汗墓最感興趣的是外國人焙格，蒙古人并不希望這座墓被找到。
It’s not that Genghis Khan isn’t significant in his homeland ? quite the reverse. His face is on the money and on the vodka; he probably hasn’t been this popular since his death in 1227. So it can be difficult for outsiders to understand why it’s considered taboo to seek his grave.
這并不意味著成吉思汗在蒙古無足輕重夷都，事實剛好相反：他的頭像印在鈔票和伏特加酒瓶上眷唉。自1227年死后，成吉思汗還從未像今天這樣備受關(guān)注囤官，所以外國人很難理解為什么尋找他的墓地是一種禁忌冬阳。
The reluctance is often romanticised by foreign media as a curse, a belief that the world will end if Genghis Khan’s tomb is discovered. This echoes the legend of Tamarlane, a 14th-Century Turkic-Mongolian king whose tomb was opened in 1941 by Soviet archaeologists. Immediately following the tomb’s disturbance, Nazi soldiers invaded the Soviet Union, launching World War II’s bloody Eastern Front. Superstitious people might call that cause and effect.
國外媒體極盡想象之所能，將這說成是一種詛咒：一旦成吉思汗的墓被找到党饮，世界就會毀滅肝陪。這個詛咒類似于有關(guān)帖木兒的傳說。這是14世紀(jì)突厥國的一位皇帝刑顺，其陵墓在1941年被前蘇聯(lián)考古學(xué)家開啟氯窍，隨即就發(fā)生了納粹對前蘇聯(lián)的侵略，由此二戰(zhàn)中的東部戰(zhàn)線陷入一片血腥蹲堂。迷信的人認(rèn)為這是一種因果報應(yīng)狼讨。
But Uelun, my translator, was having none of it. A young Mongolian with a degree in international relations from Buryat State University in Ulan-Ude, Russia, she did not seem superstitious. In her opinion, it is about respect. Genghis Khan did not want to be found.
不過我的翻譯Uelun并不這樣認(rèn)為。作為一位畢業(yè)于俄羅斯Ulan-Ude Buryat國立大學(xué)并且擁有國際關(guān)系學(xué)位的蒙古青年柒竞，Uelun并不迷信政供。她認(rèn)為蒙古人不愿意找成吉思汗的墓是出自一種尊重，因為成吉思汗并不希望自己的墓地被人找到朽基。
“They went through all that effort to hide his tomb,” she pointed out. Opening it now would violate his wishes.
“士兵們努力將墓藏起來布隔，”她指出這點，如果把墓地開啟將會違背成吉思汗的愿望稼虎。
This was a common sentiment. Mongolia is a country of long traditions and deep pride. Many families hang tapestries or portraits of the Grand Khan. Some identify themselves as ‘Golden Descendants’, tracing their ancestry to the royal family. Throughout Mongolia, the warrior remains a powerful icon.
這是一種普遍存在的觀點衅檀。蒙古是一個具有悠久傳統(tǒng)和深度自豪感的民族。許多人家里掛著有成吉思汗圖像的毛毯或畫像霎俩。一些人甚至認(rèn)為自己是“黃金家族的后人”哀军，自己的祖先來自于皇室沉眶。在整個蒙古國，成吉思汗是權(quán)力的象征排苍。
Beyond cultural pressures to honour Genghis Khan’s dying wish for secrecy, a host of technical problems hinder the search for his tomb. Mongolia is huge and underdeveloped ? more than seven times the size of Great Britain with only 2% of its roads. The population density is so low that only Greenland and a few remote islands can beat it. As such, every view is epic wilderness. Humanity, it seems, is just there to provide scale: the distant, white curve of a herdsman’s ger, or a rock shrine fluttering with prayer flags. Such a landscape holds on to its secrets.
人們之所以不去尋找墓地沦寂，除了出于文化方面的壓力尊重成吉思汗臨死前的愿望外，技術(shù)層面存在的不少問題也是原因之一淘衙。蒙古國土遼闊传藏，發(fā)達程度低下——雖然面積是大不列顛的七倍多，但只擁有后者2%的道路彤守；人口密度也很低毯侦，只比格陵蘭島和一些偏遠的島嶼高出一些，因此目之所及盡是一片荒野,人類活動的存在意義似乎只是為了襯托出土地的廣袤無垠：例如遠方那牧羊人白色的蒙古包具垫，或者被鼓起來的經(jīng)幡包圍著的巖石寺侈离。這片土地執(zhí)著的守護著它的秘密。
Dr Diimaajav Erdenebaatar has made a career overcoming such challenges in pursuit of archaeology. Head of the Department of Archaeology at Ulaanbaatar State University in Mongolia’s capital city, Dr Erdenebaatar was part of the first joint expedition to find the tomb. The Japanese-Mongolian project called Gurvan Gol (meaning ‘Three Rivers’) focused on Genghis Khan’s birthplace in Khentii Province where the Onon, Kherlen and Tuul rivers flow. That was in 1990, the same year as the Mongolian Democratic Revolution......It also rejected the search for Genghis Khan, and public protests halted the Gurvan Gol project.
Diimaajav Erdenebaatar博士曾經(jīng)有過一次克服了以上困難的考古經(jīng)歷筝蚕。作為蒙古首都Ulaanbaatar國立大學(xué)的考古系主任卦碾，Erdenebaatar博士曾經(jīng)加入過一支尋找成吉思汗墓的聯(lián)合考察隊。這個叫做Gurvan Gol（意為“三條河”）的日蒙項目著重于考察成吉思汗位于Khentii省的出生地起宽，此地有三條河流經(jīng)過：Onon洲胖、Kherlen和Tuul。當(dāng)時是在1990年坯沪，同年蒙古爆發(fā)了民主革命......尋找成吉思汗墓也被禁止绿映，民眾的抗議活動導(dǎo)致了Gurvan Gol項目的終止。
Uelun and I met Dr Erdenebaatar at Ulaanbaatar State University to talk tombs ? specifically similarities between his current project and the resting place of Genghis Khan. Since 2001 Dr Erdenebaatar has been excavating a 2,000-year-old cemetery of Xiongnu kings in central Mongolia’s Arkhangai Province. Dr Erdenebaatar believes the Xiongnu were ancestors of the Mongols ? a theory Genghis Khan himself shared. This could mean similar burial practices, and the Xiongnu graves may illustrate what Genghis Khan’s tomb looked like.
Uelun和我在Ulaanbaatar國立大學(xué)見到了Erdenebaatar博士腐晾，我們一起談了談成吉思汗墓叉弦，尤其是他目前的科研項目與成吉思汗安息地的相似之處。自2001年以來藻糖，Erdenebaatar博士一直在從事一座位于蒙古Arkhangai省的具有2000年歷史的匈奴皇帝墳?zāi)沟耐诰蚬ぷ餮捅ＫJ(rèn)為，匈奴人是蒙古人的祖先颖御，這同時也是成吉思汗推行的觀點榄棵。這樣就意味著兩者可能具有相似的安葬習(xí)俗，匈奴人的墳?zāi)箍赡軙嘎冻杉己鼓沟囊恍┬畔ⅰ?/p>
Xiongnu kings were buried more than 20m underground in log chambers, with the sites marked above ground with a square of stones. It took Dr Erdenebaatar 10 summers to excavate the first tomb, which had already been hit by robbers. Despite this, it contained a wealth of precious goods indicating the Xiongnu’s diplomatic reach: a Chinese chariot, Roman glassware and plenty of precious metals.
匈奴皇帝會被安葬在木棺中埋于地下20米深處潘拱，墓地上方的地面上會用石頭圍成一圈標(biāo)示。Erdenebaatar博士花了10年時間挖掘第一座墓拧略，這個墓早先已被盜墓賊光顧芦岂。盡管如此，墓里還是出土了大量珍貴的物件：一輛中國古戰(zhàn)車垫蛆，羅馬玻璃杯禽最，以及大量珍貴的金屬制品腺怯，這些顯示了匈奴人外交范圍之廣。
Dr Erdenebaatar took me to the university’s tiny archaeology museum to see the artefacts. Gold and silver ornaments were buried with the horses sacrificed at the gravesite. He pointed out leopards and unicorns within the designs ? royal imagery also used by Genghis Khan and his descendants.
Erdenebaatar博士帶我去大學(xué)里的一個小型考古博物館參觀了這些工藝品川无。金銀制的裝飾物與陪葬的馬屁一同埋在墳?zāi)估锴赫肌２┦恐赋觯适覉D紋中的豹和麒麟形象也被成吉思汗及其后人使用懦趋。
Many believe Genghis Khan’s tomb will be filled with similar treasures gathered from across the Mongol Empire. It’s one reason foreign interest remains strong. But if the Grand Khaan was buried in the Xiongnu style, it may be difficult ? if not impossible ? to know for sure. Such a tomb could be hidden by simply removing the marker stones. With the main chamber 20m down, it would be impossible to find in the vastness of Mongolia.
許多人認(rèn)為成吉思汗墓里會堆滿了從蒙古帝國各處搜刮來的各類珍寶晾虑，這也是外國人對此抱有濃烈興趣的原因之一。但是人們很難弄清仅叫，或者根本就不可能搞明白成吉思汗是否就是按照匈奴的喪葬風(fēng)俗埋葬的帜篇，因為只要稍微移動下地面的標(biāo)志物就能把墓地隱藏掉。在國土廣闊的蒙古要找到埋于地下20米的棺材幾乎是不可能的诫咱。
When I asked Dr Erdenebaatar if he thought Genghis Khan would ever be found, he responded with a calm, almost indifferent, shrug. There already aren’t enough lifetimes for his work. History is too big.
當(dāng)我問到是否有一天成吉思汗墓會被人們發(fā)現(xiàn)笙隙，Erdenebaatar博士淡淡的、毫不在意的聳了聳肩坎缭。歷史的長河太悠久竟痰，博士已經(jīng)沒有那么多時間去完成這項工作了。
Folklore holds that Genghis Khan was buried on a peak in the Khentii Mountains called Burkhan Khaldun, roughly 160km north-east of Ulaanbaatar. He had hidden from enemies on that mountain as a young man and pledged to return there in death. Yet there’s dissent among scholars as to precisely where on the mountain he’d be ? if at all.
Folklore堅信成吉思汗埋在 Khentii 山里一個叫做Burkhan Khaldun的山峰上掏呼，此地在Ulaanbaatar東北方坏快，距離大約160公里。成吉思汗年輕的時候曾為了躲避敵人爬上那座山哄尔，并祈禱能在死后回到那里假消。但眾學(xué)者們意見不一，即便真有這回事岭接，也不確定到底是在山上的哪一個地方富拗。
“It is a sacred mountain,” acknowledged Dr Sodnom Tsolmon, professor of history at Ulaanbaatar State University with an expertise in 13th-Century Mongolian history. “It doesn’t mean he’s buried there.”
“這座山很神秘∶鳎” Ulaanbaatar國立大學(xué)歷史系教授啃沪、研究13世紀(jì)蒙古歷史的史學(xué)家Sodnom Tsolmon這樣講到，“但這并不意味著成吉思汗就葬在那里窄锅〈辞В”
Scholars use historical accounts to puzzle out the location of Genghis Khan’s tomb. Yet the pictures they create are often contradictory. The 1,000 running horses indicate a valley or plain, as at the Xiongnu graveyard. Yet his pledge pins it to a mountain. To complicate matters further, Mongolian ethnologist S Badamkhatan identified five mountains historically called Burkhan Khaldun (though he concluded that the modern Burkhan Khaldun is probably correct).
學(xué)者們通過史料推斷出成吉思汗墓的地理位置，不過他們繪制出來的地理方位經(jīng)常都是自相矛盾的入偷。在匈奴葬制一說里追驴，1000匹馬跑來跑去意味著墓地是在峽谷或者平原，然而祈禱一說又指向山嶺疏之。讓整件事變得更復(fù)雜的是殿雪，蒙古考古學(xué)家Badamkhatan找出了五座歷史上曾經(jīng)被叫做Burkhan Khaldun的山，盡管他認(rèn)為現(xiàn)在被叫做Burkhan Khaldun的山可能性最大锋爪。
Neither Dr Tsolmon nor I could climb Burkhan Khaldun; women aren’t welcome on the sacred mountain. Even the surrounding area was once closed to everyone but royal family. Once known as the Ikh Khorig, or ‘Great Taboo’, is now the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area and a Unesco World Heritage site. Since achieving this designation, Burkhan Khaldun has been off-limits to researchers, which means any theories as to Genghis Khan’s whereabouts hang in unprovable limbo.
無論是 Tsolmon博士還是我都沒辦法爬上Burkhan Khaldun山丙曙，因為這座圣山是不歡迎女人的爸业，甚至山周圍的地方都曾經(jīng)嚴(yán)禁外人進入，只對皇室開放亏镰。這里曾經(jīng)作為Ikh Khorig（意為"大禁忌"）而為人熟知扯旷，現(xiàn)在卻成為Khan Khentii嚴(yán)格保護的區(qū)域，并被聯(lián)合國教科文組織列入世界遺產(chǎn)索抓。自從得到這份殊榮钧忽， Burkhan Khaldun就禁止對研究學(xué)者們開放，這就意味著有關(guān)成吉思汗墓址的各種說法都無法得到證實纸兔。
With the tomb seemingly out of reach, why does it remain such a controversial issue in Mongolia?
看來成吉思汗墓是無法找到了惰瓜，但為什么此事在蒙古國內(nèi)仍舊極富爭議呢？
Genghis Khan is simply Mongolia’s greatest hero. The West recalls only what he conquered, but Mongolians remember what he created. His empire connected East and West, allowing the Silk Road to flourish. His rule enshrined the concepts of diplomatic immunity and religious freedom. He established a reliable postal service and the use of paper money. Genghis Khan didn’t just conquer the world, he civilised it.
成吉思汗是蒙古最偉大的英雄汉矿。西方人記住的是他曾經(jīng)征服過的地方崎坊，但是蒙古人銘記的是他所創(chuàng)造出來的東西。他的帝國連接起東西方洲拇，使絲綢之路走向輝煌奈揍；他推崇外交豁免及宗教自由，還制定了可靠的郵政服務(wù)體系以及紙鈔的使用赋续。成吉思汗不僅征服了世界男翰，更是令世界走向文明。
He remains to this day a figure of enormous respect ? which is why Mongolians like Uelun want his tomb to remain undisturbed.
直至今天纽乱，成吉思汗仍舊廣受尊敬蛾绎，這也是為什么諸如Uelun的蒙古人不希望他的墓地被打擾的原因。
“If they’d wanted us to find it, they would have left some sign.”
That is her final word.
“如果成吉思汗希望我們找到他的墓鸦列，他總會留下一些標(biāo)記的租冠。”Uelun最后這樣說道薯嗤。
*原文來自BBC Travel頻道顽爹。僅做翻譯練習(xí)之用。*
