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When the rain started, a week after the outbreak of the fire,allowing an early stocktaking,
火势持续一周后 大雨降临 人们开始清点损失
the scale of the devastation horrified even the pessimists.
然而灾难带来的损失令所有人膛目结舌
13,200 houses had been destroyed,along with some of the most famous buildings of the city.
共有13200户房屋受损 其中包括几处标志性建筑
St Paul's Cathedral was in ruins.
圣保罗大教堂亦化为废墟
The new Leviathan, it seemed, had no fire insurance.
似乎这庞然大物中 无任何防火设施
Still, there were those who were determined that London would rise as a phoenix from its ashes
不过 仍有人坚信 凤凰涅槃 浴火重生 伦敦必然会崛起
and, like the reborn, rebuilt Rome, astonish the world.
如同重建的罗马一样 让世界为之震惊
This sort of thing had long been on the mind of Christopher Wren,
皇家学会的数学家兼建筑师
mathematician, architect and brilliant prodigy of the Royal Society.
天才克里斯多夫·雷恩 对此更是深信不疑
So when Roman antiquities were found in the debris around St Paul's,
人们在圣保罗大教堂的废墟附近发现罗马遗物
one of them a tablet bearing the Latin inscription
其中有一块碑上刻着一行拉丁文
"Resurgam" I shall arise,"Resurgam" Wren took the message to heart.
我将崛起 雷恩将这句话铭记在心
London had once been a great Roman city and now would outdo the ancients,
伦敦是罗马人建起的伟大城市 而今 她将超越历史
with great piazzas, broad avenues,calculated to afford geometrically satisfying vistas and up to fifty new churches.
大型的广场 宽阔的街道 都经过精心设计 构成完美的几何图案 此外还将新建五十座教堂
And at its heart would be a new St Paul's,
而城市中心将会修建一座新的圣保罗大教堂
a cathedral the like of which had never been seen in northern Europe.
一座在北欧 前所未见的大教堂
