美国国家公共电台 NPR Welcome To The World's Largest Gathering Of Humans

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

The biggest gathering¹ of human beings anywhere in the world has kicked off in India. It's the Kumbh Mela, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage to dip in the waters of the Ganges River. Up to 120 million people are expected to do so by March - among them, this past week, NPR's India correspondent Lauren Frayer.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE²: There's a huge, red sun just peeking³ out over the horizon. And I'm crushed in with men dressed in orange sarongs. They're draped in garlands of marigolds flowers. Sign of the times - these Hindu monks⁴ are also taking selfies of themselves on the way to the Ganges River.

The Kumbh Mela happens every 12 years with dates set according to the stars and planets. This one is a half-Kumbh, six years since the last. But it's expected to be the biggest yet. Organizers say 15 million people showed up on the first day. They include naked, dread-locked, holy men, families with infants and foreign tourists, like Santiago Merodio - on a spiritual journey from his native Spain.

Do you feel anything here?

SANTIAGO MERODIO: I'm an atheist⁵. But because of this, it's like changing my point of view a little bit. So I was coming here to see what I was feeling. Yeah. Yesterday, I got lost, but I didn't find anything. And...

FRAYER: Do you mean that metaphorically⁶, like you're still searching for something?

MERODIO: Yeah. I'm searching. I'm searching for something. I think there must be something there.

(SOUNDBITE OF WAVE CRASHING)

FRAYER: I've made it through these crowds down to the banks of the Ganges River. They have lined the banks with sandbags so that it's easy to step down into the waters. But it's chilly⁷. And people are dunking in here. You can see that they're absolutely shivering - you know, dunking and then running out. There's a little boy next to me who's just blue lips and shaking.

NIRAJ SHUKLA: The water's, you know, very cold all day. So but once you have a bath, it's sort of a miracle, you know?

FRAYER: Engineer-turned-pilgrim Niraj Shukla says the waters wash away sin.

SHUKLA: You have work. You have tensions. You seem to have commit some wrongdoings. You know this thing deep down inside. Now you come over here. You take a dip. You feel that, you know, I'm in the company of some holy people, some saints. And then you, you know, step into this holy water. And you feel inside that you have - you know, you've cleansed⁸ yourself. And now I'm going back to my home as a new person, you know?

FRAYER: This holy water is found at the confluence⁹ of three rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna - two of India's biggest rivers - and the Saraswati, a river some believe flows underground here. Another pilgrim, Gitanjali Verma, says she was awestruck by this flow of humanity down to the riverside.

Is there a message to the rest of the world that we can take from this?

GITANJALI VERMA: What should I say? We can show the unity¹⁰, you know?

FRAYER: Peacefully and...

VERMA: Yes, peacefully. Truth is there. Devotion is there and the purity of mind and heart. That's it.

UNIDENTIFIED PILGRIMS: (Chanting in foreign language).

FRAYER: The Kumbh Mela festival lasts through March 4. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, on the banks of the Ganges River in India.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 peeking   

v.很快地看( peek的现在分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• I couldn't resist peeking in the drawer. 我不由得偷看了一下抽屉里面。
• They caught him peeking in through the keyhole. 他们发现他从钥匙孔里向里窥视。 来自辞典例句

4 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

6 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

7 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

8 cleansed   

弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。
• The notorious Hell Row was burned down in a fire, and much dirt was cleansed away. 臭名远场的阎王路已在一场大火中化为乌有，许多焦土灰烬被清除一空。

9 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

10 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。