纺丝仍然是札札机杼响 唧唧复唧唧 silk weaving is still a cottage industry
的传统作坊式手工业 dumbly old-fashioned way on wooden looms
古代丝绸之路的商人面临的最大问题 For the ancient Silk Road traders
是怎样将贵重的丝绸 越过嘉峪关 穿过沙漠
the problem was still how to get the valuable silk from the fortress at Jiayuguan
运到中亚甚至更远的集市上 through the deserts to markets of central Asia and beyond
这些沿丝绸之路向西的商旅 Those early travellers heading west on the Silk Road
穿越世间最艰险贫瘠的土地 were setting off on the worst voyage imaginable
踏上了难以想象的艰辛旅途 through some of the most terrible places on Earth
始于世界沙丘之巅的 Starting with the world's tallest sand dunes
烈风自西狂卷而来 strong winds whipping in from the west
使沙丘变得更高 load the sand into ever higher dunes
千年的光阴 Over millennia
孕育了无数的巨大沙丘 mega-dunes build up
和众多高耸的沙墙 walls of sands soaring to over 500m tall
骆驼是唯一适应这些巨大沙丘的驮畜
camels are the only beasts of burden that tackle these monstrous dunes
他们脚掌很宽 向外张开后可防止陷入流沙之中
Their feet are wide and splay outwards to stop them sinking in loose sand
聚沙成丘的烈风 The wind that whips the sand into dunes
塑造了中国西部沙漠千奇百怪的地貌has created other bizarre shapes in China's western deserts
这种神秘莫测的巨型结构 Mysterious giant structures
被称为雅丹风蚀地貌 known as yardangs
它由飞沙雕刻而成 were sculpted by flying sand
风还会给沙漠中的商旅带来其他危险
The wind brought other hazards to travellers in these deserts
马可•波罗写到 Marco Polo wrote
有时迷途的商旅会听到远离正途处传来
sometimes the stray travelers will hear the tramp and hum
宛如大型马队般嘈杂的行旅声 of a great cavalcade of people away from the real line of march
并误以为是他们的同伴 and taking this to be their own company
而跟随着声音的踪迹前去寻找 they will follow the sound
当破晓降临 他们会发现一切不过是个骗局
And when day breaks they find that a cheat has been put on them
自己仍深陷困境 and that they are in an ill plight
至今为止 To this day
没有人知道缘何沙漠中的小片沙地会
no one knows what causes the sands in some parts of the desert
意外下陷 to sink
无怪乎商旅们称此地为 No wonder travellers call this place
神怒 fury of God
与死海 and sea of death
但最严重的问题莫过于水源匮乏 But the most severe problem was lack of water
这个地方如此干涸的原因 The reason this place is so intensely dry
从卫星上得以一目了然 can best be appreciated from a satellite view
中国的沙漠是地球上最为远离海洋的地方
China's deserts are the farthest place on Earth from any ocean
水的缺乏造就了塔克拉玛干沙漠 This lack of water is what created the Taklamakan
这片几乎与德国等大的区域是世界上最大的流沙沙漠
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