使命山羊
嘉峪关 | 天下第一雄关
来到嘉峪关那一晚，下了一整夜的鹅毛大雪。四月末的南方城市已是二十几度的气温，而大西北还飘着雪，也算是大西北的一大奇观。第二日，大自然就给予我们一个银装素裹的白色世界。早餐后出门赏雪，然后前往嘉峪关，准备来赏一赏这“天下第一雄关”---嘉峪关。
嘉峪关始建于明洪武五年（公元1372年）因建在嘉峪山西麓[lù]而得名，比山海关早建九年，这里地势险要，南依白雪皑皑的祁连山，北凭连绵起伏的黑山，两山之间，只有30华里，是河西走廊的最狭窄处，被称之为“河西第一隘[ài]口”。关西为古战场，关东有九眼泉湖，冬夏澄清，终年不塌。
嘉峪关 [又称：天下第一雄关、连陲锁钥]，位于甘肃省嘉峪关市。嘉峪关是明长城最西端的关口，古代“丝绸之路”的交通要塞，明代长城沿线建造规模最为壮观，保存程度最为完好的一座古代军事城堡。
本人特别喜欢大西北的松树，特别是雪后附上一层白色的浮雪，些许寒凉的天气还略带几分神秘的色彩，实在美不胜收。
一进门不远处就看到冯胜的像，颇有将军风范，那股雄赳赳气昂昂，端正的屹立在湖边。
据资料记载：明征西大将军冯胜收复河西以后，在此选址建关，历经了168年的时间，一座规模宏大的关城矗立在丝绸之路的咽喉要道上。关城布局合理，建筑得法，适合战争防御需要。
小徐问道：大家看看这“天下第一雄关”的门气派吗？
众人纷纷啧啧...口出呓语。不由分说是真“气派”，哈哈哈！
搞了半天才知道，原来这是个后门。我们此行要走后门进，再从后门出，这才解了一行人的迷津。
走了一路，远观近看这嘉峪关的柳树。扎眼一看像不像美女烫的波浪卷？据介绍这也算是嘉峪关的一道“奇观”，俗称“美人柳”，其波浪起伏的的特点，不同于其他地方的柳树，也许是曾经路途太过遥远，一路颠簸后来嫁接后才长出这等“美人柳”。这些树儿也是历经了各种磨难，才获得此重生。
从一进门俩浙江队友就没闲着，先是滚了个小雪球，紧接着滚了个大雪球，又制了一雪顶帽，人家走一路玩儿一路，真是乐哉乐哉。
关城有三重城廊，多道防线，城内有城，城外有壕。形成众城并守之势，固若金汤，牢不可破。
走到“天下第一雄关”的脚下，才感到这气势的雄伟。
走在这城中城内，就会产生一种错觉，是否自己走了一圈依然原地未动，古人的智慧也莫过于此，如此一来迷惑了多少敌兵，才得以胜战。
这一路从光化门，走到了柔远门，又到了柔运楼，俗称“西楼”。建筑风格为三层三檐山顶式，建筑色彩庄重且美观大方。
昨夜的一场雪为关内的一切都披上了一层白色外衣，就连这古式的炮台也被塑上了一阵庄严。
有雄居西陲，俯视天下之感。古人赞曰：“磨砖砌就鱼鳞瓦，五彩装成碧玉楼”。
柔远楼为明德正元年（公元1506年），由兵备副县宪李端澄主持修建。
就这么走一路，望一路，学一路，探一路，竟溜到了正门，才发现后门的阳光更灿烂。远端注视着这背光下的正门，才更威严。
忽如一阵春风来，杏花桃花一并开。这一场大雪也压不住春抱晚，看这花儿艳，心里美上天。
四月末的嘉峪关有柔并刚，有庄严肃穆，也有美花娇艳。果然四季有四季的美，美的专注，美的特别。
“天下第一雄关”嘉峪关
嘉峪关城楼始建于明朝，这和很多人的印象有所出入，以为是汉朝就有，实际上自秦朝开始就有修建长城，汉朝达到了第一个高峰，但是汉朝嘉峪关并不是重镇，也没有城楼。
一直到明朝，冯胜在驱逐鞑虏后决定在此建城。嘉峪关始建于明洪武五年（1372年），由内城、外城、罗城、瓮城、城壕和南北两翼长城组成，全长约60千米。
嘉峪关景区的门票由三部分构成，一个是关城，这是最主要的游览部分，一个是第一墩，是明长城的起点，还有一个是悬壁长城。在没有开车的情况下比较麻烦，我去了两个景点一个是第一墩，一个是关城，由于时间关系没有去悬壁长城，全部转下来得一天。
第一墩就是长城建造的第一个墩台，这个景区就两个点，一个是地下展览馆，一个是保存到现在的墩台，当然能保存到现在也就是个土台子了，因为风大风化的比较严重。
嘉峪关的长城关城以东以西各有一部分，以西的一部分因为比较明显所以叫“明墙”，以东的一部分比较隐蔽所以叫“暗壁”。
我原来还比较疑惑为什么第一墩是在这个地方修建的，现场看了以后发现这是在讨赖河东侧的悬崖上修建的，讨赖河峡谷两侧悬崖峭壁，可以作为防守的屏障。古代的防御系统非常严密，在主城墙旁边往往还有堑壕、尖刺等防御设施。如下图
第一墩旁边还有个影视城，这个没啥意思。去完第一墩就去了关城。这里要吐槽一下，由于交通不便利，只有打车让司机等你，全程光车费就得100，有条件的还是开车去比较方便。
如果大家去过一些影视基地，或者说一些大型的仿古建筑，再来嘉峪关感觉没什么，但是换个角度来思考这是明朝留下的古迹，基本没有怎么大修，百分之七八十都是原汁原味的，这就让人感觉很了不起。
关城分为两部分，一部分为内城，一部分为外城。我们的参观路线是从外城进入。
外城一般是住戍边居民的所以城墙并不高大，但是面积比较大。
外城穿过后就是雄伟的内城了，内城城墙高度有八米多，我们平时经常在电视、海报上看到的就是内城的城墙。内城两侧还有东西瓮城，西翁城前面还有个罗城，我们顺着游览路线说。走过内城，就到了文昌阁这是古代办理通关文书的地方，后边是关帝庙和戏台。
过了这几个地方就是东瓮城的外门朝宗门，进去就是瓮城。
瓮城这个确实是中国人智慧的结晶，算是城中城，把攻城的放进来以后可以瓮中捉鳖，以逸待劳，大量杀伤敌人。
瓮城进来是光化门，这是内城的东入口。
光华门上面有个阁楼，上书天下第一雄楼，非常的大气，也是关城的标志性建筑。
关城内有一个游击衙门府和一个校场。可以看到关城内原来是驻扎军队的地方，是嘉峪关守卫的核心，游击将军府原来是驻城将军办公和生活的地方，只是这些建筑已不存在，现有的是八几年修建的。
内城的城墙很宽，在上下城墙的时候还有马道。可以很方便的运输防守物资。
顺着城墙一直转一圈就到了西瓮城，和东瓮城是对称的，一摸一样的。值得一提的是西瓮城前面还有个罗城。
罗城和内城的城墙是分开的，仅有一段矮墙相连，中间不能通行。
罗城的城楼上上书嘉峪关三个大字，非常的壮观。城墙下的门洞里，是原汁原味的明代条石，可以看到有深深的车辙印，所以可以想像古代嘉峪关的贸易还是非常繁华的。
游览到这可以说基本上把关城游览完了，地方不大但是作为古代的军事重镇，还是非常的震撼和游览的。历经了600多年能保存这么完整，可以想象当初的施工质量是多么严格。最后临出门去了嘉峪关长城博物馆，我觉得收获还是比较大。看到了本地出土的一些文物，尤其是嘉峪关本地出土的魏晋时期砖画，艺术价值很高。对历朝历代的长城做了集中介绍。了解了长城建设是因地制宜的，在沙漠、隔壁地区基本采用夯土和草席粘土的方法，在山上，比如我们看到的八达岭长城，基本采用石头。这个博物馆推荐大家看一下。
悬臂长城因为时间关系没有去，确实是个遗憾。
英语阅读翻译之：男孩的使命
In 1945, a 12-year-old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. But the price—five dollars—was far beyond Reuben Earle's means. Five dollars would buy almost a week's groceries for his family. 1945年，一个12岁的男孩在一家商店橱窗里看到一样令他心动的东西，但是——5美元——远不是鲁本?厄尔能付得起的。5美元几乎够买全家一周的食品呢。
Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. Everything Mark Earle made through fishing in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada. Reuben's mother, Dora, stretched like elastic to feed and clothe their five children. 鲁本不能向父亲要钱。马克?厄尔的每一分钱都是靠在加拿大纽芬兰的罗伯茨湾捕鱼挣来的。鲁本的母亲多拉，为了不让五个孩子冻着饿着，差不多是一个钱当两个钱用。
Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, “But I don't have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?” 尽管如此，鲁本还是推开商店那扇久经风雨的门走了进去。他穿着面粉袋改做的衬衫和洗得褪了色的裤子，站得笔直，丝毫不觉困窘。他告诉了店主他想要的东西，又加上一句：“可我现在还没有钱买它，您能为我预留一段时间吗?”
“I'll try,”the shopkeeper smiled. “Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while.” “我尽量吧，”店主微笑着说，“这儿的人买起东西来，一般不会花那么大一笔钱的，一时半会儿卖不出去 。”
Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out into the sunlight with the bay rippling in a freshening wind. There was purpose in his loping stride5. He would raise the five dollars and not tell anybody. 鲁本很有礼貌地碰了碰他的旧帽沿儿，走出店外。阳光下清新的微风吹得罗伯茨湾的海水泛起阵阵涟漪。鲁本迈着大步，下定决心：他要凑齐那5美元，而且不告诉任何人。
Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben had an idea. 听到街边传来的铁锤声，鲁本有了主意。
He ran towards the sound and stopped at a construction site. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in hessian sacks from a local factory. Sometimes the sacks were discarded in the flurry of building, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece. 他循声跑过去，来到一处建筑工地。罗伯茨湾的人喜欢自己建房，用的钉子是从本地一家工厂买的，都用麻袋来装。有时干活时忙乱中麻袋就被随手丢弃，而鲁本知道他可以 5分钱一条把麻袋再卖给工厂。
That day he found two sacks, which he took to the rambling wooden factory and sold to the man in charge of packing nails. 那天，他找了两条麻袋，拿到杂乱的木材厂，卖给为钉子装袋的人。
The boy's hand tightly clutched the five-cent pieces as he ran the two kilometers home. 两公里的路程他是一路跑着回的家，手里紧紧攥着两个5分硬币。
Near his house stood the ancient barn that housed the family's goats and chickens. Reuben found a rusty soda tin and dropped his coins inside. Then he climbed into the loft of the barn and hid the tin beneath a pile of sweet smelling hay. 他家旁边有个颇有年头的谷仓，里面圈着家里的山羊和鸡。鲁本在那里找到一个生锈的装苏打的铁罐，把两枚硬币放了进去。然后，他爬上谷仓的阁楼，把铁罐藏在一堆散发着甜香味的干草下面。
It was dinnertime when Reuben got home. His father sat at the big kitchen table, working on a fishing net. Dora was at the kitchen stove, ready to serve dinner as Reuben took his place at the table. 晚饭时分，鲁本跨进家门。父亲正坐在厨房大餐桌旁摆弄渔网，多拉在灶台边忙碌着，准备开饭。鲁本就在桌边坐下了。
He looked at his mother and smiled. Sunlight from the window gilded her shoulder-length blonde hair. Slim and beautiful, she was the center of the home, the glue that held it together. 他看着妈妈，笑了。窗户透进的夕阳余晖将她棕褐的披肩发染成了金色。苗条、美丽的母亲是这个家的中心，她像胶水一样使这个家紧紧粘结在一起。
Her chores were never-ending. Sewing clothes for her family on the old Singer treadle machine, cooking meals and baking bread, planting and tending a vegetable garden, milking the goats and scrubbing soiled clothes on a washboard. But she was happy. Her family and their well-being were her highest priority. 母亲的家务活永远也没个完。用老式的“胜家”缝纫机为一家人缝缝补补；要做饭、烤面包；要照料菜园；要挤羊奶；还要在洗衣板上搓洗脏衣服。可母亲是快乐的，全家人的幸福、健康在她心中是最重要的。
Every day after chores and school, Reuben scoured the town, collecting the hessian nail bags. On the day the two-room school closed for the summer, no student was more delighted than Reuben. Now he would have more time for his mission. 每天放学，做完家务事后，鲁本就在镇上搜寻装钉子的麻袋。只有两间教室的学校开始放暑假的那天，没人能比鲁本更高兴了。现在他有更多时间去完成他的使命。
All summer long, despite chores at home weeding and watering the garden, cutting wood and fetching water—Reuben kept to his secret task. 整整一个夏天，鲁本除了干家务——给菜园锄草、浇水，砍柴和打水外，始终进行着他的秘密任务。
Then all too soon the garden was harvested, the vegetables canned and stored, and the school reopened. Soon the leaves fell and the winds blew cold and gusty from the bay. Reuben wandered the streets, diligently searching for his hessian treasures. 转眼菜园里该采收了，蔬菜被装罐腌制后储藏，学校也开学了。再不久，树叶飘零，海湾吹起阵阵寒风。鲁本在街头徘徊，努力寻找着被他视为宝物的麻袋。
Often he was cold, tired and hungry, but the thought of the object in the shop window sustained him. Sometimes his mother would ask: “Reuben, where were you? We were waiting for you to have dinner.” 他经常是饥寒交迫，疲惫不堪，但是一想到商店橱窗里的那样东西，他就又有劲儿坚持下去了。有时妈妈会问：“鲁本，你上哪儿啦?我们等你吃饭呢!”
“Playing, Mum. Sorry.” “玩去啦，妈妈。对不起。”
Dora would look at his face and shake her head. Boys. 这时候，多拉总会瞧着他的脸，无奈地摇摇头，心想：男孩就是男孩。
Finally spring burst into glorious green and Reuben's spirits erupted. The time had come! He ran into the barn, climbed to the hayloft and uncovered the tin can. He poured the coins out and began to count. 春天终于来了，带来片片绿意，鲁本的精神也随之振奋。是时候了!他跑到谷仓，爬上草垛，打开铁罐，倒出所有硬币清点起来。
Then he counted again. He needed 20 cents more. Could there be any sacks left any where in town? He had to find four and sell them before the day ended. 他又数一遍，还差20美分。镇上哪儿还会有丢弃的麻袋吗?他必须在今天结束之前再找4条去卖掉。
Reuben ran down Water Street. 鲁本沿着沃特街走着。
The shadows were lengthening when Reuben arrived at the factory. The sack buyer was about to lock up. 鲁本赶到工厂，厂房的影子已被夕阳拉得很长了。收购麻袋的人正要锁门。
“Mister! Please don't close up yet.” “先生!请先不要关门。”
The man turned and saw Reuben, dirty and sweat stained. 那人转过身来，看到了脏兮兮、汗涔涔的鲁本。
“Come back tomorrow, boy.” “明天再来吧，孩子。”
“Please, Mister. I have to sell the sacks now—please.”The man heard a tremor in Reuben's voice and could tell he was close to tears. “求您了，先生，我必须现在把麻袋卖掉——求您啦。”那人感觉到鲁本的声音在颤抖，知道他快要哭了。
“Why do you need this money so badly?” “你为什么这么急着要这点儿钱?”
“It's a secret.” “这是秘密。”
The man took the sacks, reached into his pocket and put four coins in Reuben's hand. Reuben murmured a thank you and ran home. 那人接过麻袋，手伸进口袋，掏出4个硬币放在鲁本手里。鲁本轻轻说了声“谢谢”就往家跑。
Then, clutching the tin can, he headed for the shop. 接着，他紧紧搂着铁罐，直奔那家商店。
“I have the money,” he solemnly told the owner. “我有钱啦!”他一本正经地告诉店主。
The man went to the window and retrieved Reuben's treasure. 店主走向橱窗，取出鲁本梦寐以求的东西。
He wiped the dust off and gently wrapped it in brown paper. Then he placed the parcel in Reuben's hands. 他掸去灰尘，用牛皮纸把它小心包好，然后把这个小包放到鲁本手上。
Racing home, Reuben burst through the front door. His mother was scrubbing the kitchen stove. “Here, Mum! Here!”Reuben exclaimed as he ran to her side. He placed a small box in her work roughened hand. 鲁本一路狂奔到家，冲进前门。妈妈正在厨房擦洗灶台。“瞧，妈妈!瞧!”鲁本一边跑向她一边大叫着。他把一个小盒子放在她因劳作而变得粗糙的手上。
She unwrapped it carefully, to save the paper. A blue-velvet jewel box appeared. Dora lifted the lid, tears beginning to blur her vision. 为了不损坏包装纸，她小心翼翼地把它拆开，一个蓝色天鹅绒的首饰盒映入眼帘。多拉打开盒盖，泪水顿时模糊了她的双眼。
In gold lettering on a small, almond-shaped brooch was the word Mother. 在一个小巧的心状胸针上刻着金字：母亲。
It was Mother's Day, 1946. 那是1946年的母亲节。
Dora had never received such a gift; she had no finery except her wedding ring. Speechless, she smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms. 多拉从未收到过这样的礼物；除了结婚戒指外，她没有别的饰物。哽咽无语，她把儿子一把揽入怀中，脸上洋溢着动人的光彩。