2018上半年翻译考试catti三级笔译试题：贺兰山岩画
汉译英
作为远古人类留给我们的宝贵的文化遗产，岩画堪称是记载人类早期社会生活的百科全书，它不仅传承着源远流长的古代文明，也是史前人类文化、宗教、民俗以及原始艺术史的见证。
在世界上，中国岩画是诞生最早、分布最广、内容最丰富的国家之一，而贺兰山又是华夏土地上遗存最集中、题材最广泛、保存最完好的岩画地区之一。在贺兰山腹地，共发现 20 余处遗存岩画，其中最具代表性的是贺兰山贺兰口岩画。
贺兰山岩画在山口内外分布着近 6000 幅岩画，其中罕为人见的人面像岩画就有 70幅之多。据考证，贺兰山口岩画是不同时期先后刻制的，大多为北方游牧民族创作.岩画造型粗犷稚拙、构图朴实自然，牛、马、驴、鹿、鸟、虎等动物栩栩如生，各种人头的造型同样是千奇百态。凭着自己对社会现实的理解与感悟，对美好生活的追求与向往，把自己的亲身感受与体验，忠实地记录在岩石之上，同时也为后人留下了神秘瑰丽的贺兰山岩画。
有学者说贺兰口是史前人类凭借自然魅力打造的祭祀圣地，又有专家认为，贺兰口岩画是象形文字前的图画文字，在文字没有发明前，这里的人们艰难地把他们的理想、愿望、欢乐、悲伤，通过岩画的形式表现出来。于是，在亘古不变的贺兰山上，写就了一部史前人类的“天书”。
参考译文：
As an invaluable cultural legacy left over from ancient times, rock paintings can be collectively billed as an encyclopedia that documents how humankind ever lived in early days of human society. These time-honored paintings are convenient carriers of ancient civilizations and bear witness to pre-historic cultures, religions, folkways and primitive arts.
China is home to some of the earliest rock paintings of humankind, with its rock painting collection being one of the extensive in geographical distribution and the richest in subject matter worldwide. Helan Mountain is blessed with one of the largest concentrations of rock paintings in China. Rock paintings here are some of the best preserved in China covering the most extensive subject matters. Of 20-odd rock painting heritage sites discovered here so far, the most representative are Helankou paintings. Of nearly 6,000 rock paintings inside and outside of Helanshankou or the Helan Mountain pass, up to 70 are rare paintings of human faces. Archeological findings suggest that Helankou paintings were carved at different periods of time and that most of them were creations of nomadic tribes in north China. These rock paintings are plain and simple in shape and style, featuring lifelike images of cows, horses, donkeys, deer, birds and tigers and diversified shapes of human heads. Ancient rock painters literally recorded in their works their perceptions of social realities and aspirations for a better life as well as their hands-on experience. This artistic documentation has translated into mysterious, magnificent rock painting legacy as we see today.
Some scholars argue that Helankou represents a pre-historic, naturally crafted shrine, while some others contend that Helankou rock paintings stand for pictograph which preceded hieroglyph. With the absence of written language back then, they say, local people resorted to these pictographic signs as a way of expressing their ideals, wishes, happiness and sadness.Thankfully, their painstaking efforts have resulted in an impressive pre-historic “book from heaven” carved on the eternally immutable Helan Mountain.
