今天有800多年歷史的巴黎聖母院突發火災，大火導致聖母院塔尖倒塌，屋頂也遭到了嚴重損毀。很多外媒對此事進行了報導，其中BBC法國記者Henri Astier的文章What Notre-Dame means to the French 寫得非常真摯，我選取了全文進行點評。
No other site represents France quite like Notre-Dame.「沒有其他地方能像巴黎聖母院這樣代表法國」，開篇第一句話點明了聖母院（Notre-Dame /ˌnɒtrə ˈdɑːm/）的重要性。這個句式也可以用來形容某地的標誌性建築物：No other site represents XX quite like XX… 比如：
(1) No other site represents China quite like the Great Wall.
(2) No other site represents New York quite like the Statue of Liberty.
Its main rival as a national symbol, the Eiffel Tower, is little more than a century old. Notre-Dame has stood tall above Paris since the 1200s.作為國家象徵，巴黎聖母院的主要競爭對手艾菲爾鐵塔只有一百多年歷史，而聖母院在巴黎高高聳立，至今已有八百多年。兩者一對比可以看出巴黎聖母院的歷史底蘊。
It has given its name to one of the country's literary masterpieces. Victor Hugo's novel Hunchback of Notre-Dame is known to the French simply as Notre Dame de Paris.巴黎聖母院在法語中的全稱為Notre Dame de Paris, 含義是」Our Lady of Paris」，法國作家維克多·雨果的著作《巴黎聖母院》（The Hunchback of Notre-Dame）即以巴黎聖母院為背景，也因為巴黎聖母院過於出名，在法國人們直接將這部小說稱為Notre Dame de Paris，這裡說明了聖母院在文學史上的重要地位。
The last time the cathedral suffered major damage was during the French Revolution, when statues of saints were hacked by anti-clerical hotheads. The building survived the 1871 Commune uprising, as well as two world wars, largely unscathed.這次大火併不是巴黎聖母院第一次遭受嚴重損失。它上一次受損是在法國大革命期間，當時聖徒雕像遭到了反教權主義分子的破壞，但它在1871年的公社起義以及兩場世界大戰中倖存下來，基本上沒有受到傷害。
It is impossible to overstate how shocking it is to watch such an enduring embodiment of our country burn.看到這麼一座代表法國歷史傳承的建築熊熊燃燒，人們心中無比震驚，這種震驚無論如何誇大都不為過。
Locals are not famous for their sunny disposition, but few can walk along the banks of the Seine in the central part of the capital without feeling their spirits rise at the majestic bulk of Notre-Dame. It is one of the few sights sure to make a Parisian feel good about living there.這一段寫得很有感情，它點明了聖母院在當地人民心目中的重要性：巴黎人民並不以性格陽光而著稱，但當在首都中部的塞納河岸邊看到雄偉的巴黎聖母院時，很少有人不感到精神一振。這是少數幾個能讓巴黎人感覺到生活美好的景點之一。
Like all cherished places everywhere, it is not one residents visit very often. In the three decades I spent in my native city, I can't have been inside Notre-Dame more than three or four times - and then only with foreign visitors.正如其他所有珍貴的旅遊景點一樣，當地居民也不經常有機會參觀巴黎聖母院。作者在巴黎生活了三十年，但也僅僅去過聖母院三四次，而且還是和外國遊客一起去的。
There are many of those. The cathedral is not just the most popular tourist site in Western Europe. Eight centuries after its completion, it is also still a place of worship - about 2,000 services are held there every year.這一段說明了巴黎聖母院在宗教上的重要性：像巴黎聖母院這樣的大教堂有不少，但巴黎聖母院不僅僅是西歐最有名的旅遊景點，它在建成800年後仍然能作為禮拜場所使用——每年有大約2000場宗教儀式在那裡舉行。
But it is also much more than a religious site. President Emmanuel Macron has expressed the shock of a "whole nation" at the fire. As Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said, Notre Dame is "part of our common heritage".但巴黎聖母院又不僅僅是一個宗教場所，它還有文化上的重要意義。作者在這裡舉了法國總統馬克龍在聽到火災消息後的反應以及巴黎市長Anne Hidalgo對聖母院的評價來說明它的重要性。
Many of those looking on as flames engulf the building are in tears. Their dismay is shared by believers and non-believers alike in a nation where faith has long ceased to be a binding force.文章最後一句是神來之筆，作者由聖母院的大火說開，表達了對法國未來的擔憂。在巴黎聖母院燃燒的同時，法國正面臨著諸多問題，包括經濟下行，移民問題，以及最近讓法國政府非常頭疼的「黃背心運動」，這些問題反映出當前法國人心潰散的現狀（a nation where faith has long ceased to be a binding force）。
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