本篇文章共分 9 個段落，分別介紹英國特有的地畫與最具代表性的烏芬頓白馬圖案。從地理位置、形成年代、文化背景、象徵意義等一一說明，拓增讀者知識。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

The White Horse of Uffington 烏芬頓的白馬

1. 英國地畫歷史悠久

   The cutting of huge figures or ‘geoglyphs’ into the earth of English hillsides has taken place for more than 3,000 years. There are 56 hill figures scattered around England, with the vast majority on the chalk downlands of the country’s southern counties. The figures include giants, horses, crosses and regimental badges. Although the majority of these geoglyphs date within the last 300 years or so, there are one or two that are much older.

   在英國山坡的土地上鑿出巨大的圖案或 “地畫” 的做法已經有3,000多年的歷史。有 56 個山形圖案散佈在英格蘭各地，其中絕大多數位於該國南部各郡的白堊山坡上。這些圖形包括巨人、馬、十字架和團徽。雖然這些地畫大部分是在過去300年左右的時間裡出現的，但也有一、兩個要早得多。

2. 烏芬頓白馬

   The most famous of these figures is perhaps also the most mysterious – the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. The White Horse has recently been redated and shown to be even older than its previously assigned ancient pre-Roman Iron Age* date. More controversial is the date of the enigmatic Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. While many historians are convinced the figure is prehistoric, others believe that it was the work of an artistic monk from a nearby priory and was created between the 11th and 15th centuries.

   *Iron Age: a period (in Britain 800 BCE – 43 CE) that is characterised by the use of iron tools

   這些圖案中最著名的也許也是最神秘的—牛津郡的烏芬頓白馬。最近，白馬被重新測定年代，結果顯示它比以前所認定的古羅馬前鐵器時代* 的時間還要早。更具爭議性的是蘇塞克斯郡威爾明頓的神秘長人的年代。雖然許多歷史學家確信這個圖形出現於史前時代，但其他人認為它是附近一個小修道院的藝術僧侶的作品，是在 11 世紀和 15 世紀之間創作的。

   *鐵器時代：一個以使用鐵制工具為特徵的時期（在英國，西元前800年–西元前43年）。

3. 製作方法與維護

   The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying grass to reveal the gleaming white chalk below. However, the grass would soon grow over the geoglyph again unless it was regularly cleaned or scoured by a fairly large team of people. One reason that the vast majority of hill figures have disappeared is that when the traditions associated with the figures faded, people no longer bothered or remembered to clear away the grass to expose the chalk outline. Furthermore, over hundreds of years the outlines would sometimes change due to people not always cutting in exactly the same place, thus creating a different shape to the original geoglyph. That fact that any ancient hill figures survive at all in England today is testament to the strength and continuity of local customs and beliefs which, in one case at least, must stretch back over millennia.

   切割這些巨大圖形的方法僅僅是去除覆蓋的植被，以顯露下面閃閃發光的白堊石就好。然而，除非有相當多的人定期清理或拔除，否則草很快就會再次覆蓋在地畫上。絕大多數山地圖案消失的原因之一是，當與這些地貌相關的傳統逐漸消失時，人們不再費心或記得清除草地以暴露出白堊的輪廓。此外，經過幾百年的時間，由於人們並不總是在完全相同的地方除草，輪廓有時會發生變化，從而形成與原來的地畫不同的形狀。今天在英格蘭有任何古老的山丘圖形存在的事實證明了當地習俗和信仰的力量和連續性，而至少在一個案例中，這些習俗和信仰必須追溯到數千年前。

4. 白馬外型與年代

   The Uffington White Horse is a unique, stylised representation of a horse consisting of a long, sleek back, thin disjointed legs, a streaming tail, and a bird-like beaked head. The elegant creature almost melts into the landscape. The horse is situated 2.5 km from Uffington village on a steep close to the Late Bronze Age** (c. 7th century BCE) hillfort of Uffington Castle and below the Ridgeway, a long-distance Neolithic*** track.

   **Bronze Age: a period (in Britain c. 2,500 BCE – 800 BCE) that is characterised by the development of bronze tools

   ***Neolithic: a period (in Britain c. 4,000 BCE – c. 2,500 BCE) that is significant for the spread of agricultural practices, and the use of stone tools

   烏芬頓白馬是一個獨特的、具有特殊風格的馬的外型，包括一個長而光滑的背部，細長的不連貫的腿，流線型的尾巴，以及一個像鳥一樣的喙頭。這個優雅的生物幾乎與當地景觀融為一體。這匹馬位於離烏芬頓村 2.5 公里的陡峭處，靠近烏芬頓城堡建於青銅時代晚期**（約西元前 7 世紀）的山堡，並位於新石器時代***長距離步道 Ridgeway 的下方。

   **青銅時代：一個時期（在英國約西元前2500年–西元前800年），其特點是青銅工具的發展。

   ***新石器時代：一個時期（在英國約為西元前4,000年–約西元前2,500年），對農耕實施的拓展與石製工具的使用具有重要意義。

5. 周圍環境與觀賞位置

   The Uffington Horse is also surrounded by Bronze Age burial mounds. It is not far from the Bronze Age cemetery of Lambourn Seven Barrows, which consists of more than 30 well-preserved burial mounds. The carving has been placed in such a way as to make it extremely difficult to see from close quarters, and like many geoglyphs is best appreciated from the air. Nevertheless, there are certain areas of the Vale of the White Horse, the valley containing and named after the enigmatic creature, from which an adequate impression may be gained. Indeed on a clear day the carving can be seen from up to 30 km away.

   烏芬頓白馬的周圍也有青銅時代的墳塚。離青銅時代的蘭伯恩七堡墓地不遠，該墓地由 30 多個保存完好的墓塚組成。石刻的位置使其很難從近處看到，和許多地畫一樣，最好從空中欣賞。然而，在白馬谷的某些地區，亦即包含這個神秘生物並以其命名的山谷，可以欣賞到足夠的圖案。事實上，在晴朗的日子裡，從 30 公里外就可以看到這個雕刻。

6. 追本溯源

   The earliest evidence of a horse at Uffington is from the 1070s CE when ‘White Horse Hill’ is mentioned in documents from the nearby Abbey of Abingdon, and the first reference to the horse itself is soon after, in 1190 CE. However, the carving is believed to date back much further than that. Due to the similarity of the Uffington White Horse to the stylised depictions of horses on 1st century BCE coins, it had been thought that the creature must also date to that period.

   關於烏芬頓的白馬，最早的證據是在西元 1070 年，當時附近的阿賓頓修道院的文件中提到了 “白馬山”，而第一次提到白馬本身是在不久之後，即西元 1190 年。然而，人們認為該雕刻的歷史比這要久遠得多。由於烏芬頓白馬與西元前一世紀的錢幣上對馬的風格化描述很相似，人們認為這生物的歷史也應該是定在那個時期。

7. 科學方法確定年代

   However, in 1995 Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) testing was carried out by the Oxford Archaeological Unit on soil from two of the lower layers of the horse’s body, and from another cut near the base. The result was a date for the horse’s construction somewhere between 1400 and 600 BCE – in other words, it had a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age origin.

   然而，在 1995 年，牛津大學考古小組對馬身下部兩層的土壤以及馬身底部附近的另一個切口進行了光學受激發光 (OSL) 測試。結果發現，這匹馬的建造日期在西元前 1400 年至西元前 600 年之間—換句話說，它的起源是青銅時代晚期或鐵器時代早期。

8. 文化關聯性

   The latter end of this date range would tie the carving of the horse in with occupation of the nearby Uffington hillfort, indicating that it may represent a tribal emblem making the land of the inhabitants of the hillfort. Alternatively, the carving may have been carried out during a Bronze or Iron Age ritual. Some researchers see the horse as representing the Celtic**** horse goddess Epona, who was worshipped as a protector of horses, and for her associations with fertility. However, the cult of Epona was not imported from Gaul (France) until around the first century CE. This date is at least six centuries after the Uffington Horse was probably carved. Nevertheless, the horse had great ritual and economic significance during the Bronze and Iron Ages, as attested by its depictions on jewellery and other metal objects. It is possible that the carving represents a goddess in native mythology, such as Rhiannon, described in later Welsh mythology as a beautiful woman dressed in gold and riding a white horse.

   ****Celtic: an ancient people who migrated from Europe to Britain before the Romans

   這個年代範圍的晚期將把這馬的雕刻與附近的烏芬頓山堡的使用聯繫起來，表明它可能代表一個開墾山堡居民土地的部落標誌。另外，該雕刻可能是在青銅或鐵器時代的儀式中進行的。一些研究人員認為這匹馬代表凱爾特人的****馬神埃波娜，她被認為是馬的保護者，並與生育有關，因而受到祭拜。然而，埃波娜的崇拜直到西元一世紀左右才從高盧（法國）傳入。這個日期至少比烏芬頓白馬的雕刻時間晚六個世紀。然而，在青銅和鐵器時代，馬具有極大的儀式感和經濟意義，這一點可以從其在珠寶和其他金屬物品上的描繪中得到證明。該雕刻有可能代表了當地神話中的一位女神，例如 Rhiannon，她在後來的威爾斯神話中被描述為一位身穿金衣、騎著白馬的美麗女人。

   ****凱爾特人：在羅馬人之前從歐洲遷移到英國的一個古老民族

9. 象徵意義

   The fact that geoglyphs can disappear easily, along with their associated rituals and meaning, indicates that they were never intended to be anything more than temporary gestures. But this does not lessen their importance. These giant carving are a fascinating glimpse into the minds of their creators and how they viewed the landscape in which they lived.

   地畫可以輕易消失的事實，連同其相關的儀式和意義，代表它們一直都是被當作暫時的意思表示。但這並沒有降低它們的重要性。這些巨大的雕刻是對其創造者的思想以及他們如何看待自己生活的景觀的迷人一瞥。