Michelangelo’s David in danger of collapsing due to ‘weak ankles’ 米開朗基羅的大衛雕像「腳踝不好」有崩塌之虞

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. in danger of phr. 有…之虞 

例: Are pandas animals in danger of extinction? (貓熊是有絕種之虞的動物嗎？)

2. combine v. 結合 例: Theory should be combined with practice. (理論應該結合實務。)

3. take a toll on idiom 對…造成損失或傷害 

例: Years of exposure to the sun took a toll on the fisherman’s skin. (長年日曬對那名漁夫的皮膚造成傷害。)

4. ankle (n.) 踝關節；踝

I fell over and sprained/twisted my ankle. 我摔倒了，扭傷了腳踝。

Italian researchers are worried that Michelangelo’s statue of David may be in danger of collapsing due to weakened ankles. 義大利研究人員擔心，由於腳踝脆弱，米開朗基羅的大衛雕像可能有崩塌之虞。

Experts have long been concerned that the marble statue, which is roughly 500 years old and has long stood as one of history’s most triumphant achievements in art, may have suffered structural damage, the UK’s Telegraph explains.專家一直很擔心這尊有約五百年歷史被視為史上最成功藝術成就的大理石雕像，可能有結構性損傷，英國《電訊報》如此解說。

How so? Thousands of people visit the statue every day and over the course of hundreds of years, their footsteps combined with the rumble of nearby traffic have apparently taken a toll on the statue, experts from Italy’s National Research Council and Florence University found. 何以如此？義大利「國家研究協會」與佛羅倫斯大學的專家發現，數百年來每天有成千上萬人造訪，這些腳步加上附近交通的擾攘，顯然對雕像造成傷害。

The relatively poor quality of the marble used to sculpt David, the biblical slayer of Goliath and historically righteous king of Israel and Judah, is thought to have played a part in its present troubles. For hundreds of years it was displayed outdoors. 在聖經中殺死巨人哥利亞、在歷史上是以色列與猶大的正義的王的大衛，用來雕刻他的大理石品質較差，據信也在大衛雕像目前遇到的麻煩中扮演一定角色。數百年來，這尊雕像都被放在戶外展示。

(Liberty Times) （自由時報／翻譯：張沛元）