“老桥”重生(The ‘Old Bridge,’ reborn)

427年来，波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的莫斯塔尔大桥一直屹立不倒，尽管人们相信其最初的砂浆是由蛋白组成的。事实是，人们对其16世纪的建筑知之甚少。历史记录中只剩下记忆和传说，还有大桥建造者米马尔·海鲁丁的名字。宏伟的苏莱曼（Suleiman the Magnium）要求他建造一座空前宽阔的拱门，并威胁说，如果拱门倒塌，他将面临死亡。据说，海鲁丁对自己的创作非常不确定，以至于在拆除脚手架之前，他就已经为葬礼做了准备。幸运的是（建筑商可能松了一口气），拱门仍然完好无损。悬挂在内雷特瓦河上方近80英尺的地方，桥拱的最高点再高出39.5英尺。1566年建成后，这是有史以来建造的最宽的人造拱门，一位探险家将其比作“一座翱翔天空的彩虹拱门”
原文：
For 427 years the Mostar Bridge in what is now known as Bosnia and Herzegovina stood strong, despite the belief that its original mortar was composed of egg whites. Truth is, not much is known about its 16th-century construction. All that remains in historical records are memories and legends and the name of the bridge’s builder, Mimar Hayruddin. He was charged by Suleiman the Magnificent to build an unprecedentedly wide arch, and threatened with death if the structure failed. Hayruddin is said to have been so unsure of his creation that he had made funeral preparations before the scaffolding was removed. Luckily (and much to the builder’s probable relief), the arch remained intact. Suspended nearly 80 feet above the Neretva River, the highest point of the bridge’s arch rises an additional 39.5 feet. Upon its completion in 1566, it was the widest manmade arch ever built and was compared by one explorer to ‘a rainbow arch soaring up to the skies.’
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