If I say, 'Venice,' do you imagine yourself gliding down the Grand Canal, serenaded by a gondolier?
如果我说“威尼斯”，你会想像自己乘着小船在大运河上顺流逶迤而下，聆听船夫哼唱小夜曲的情景吗？
There's no doubt that the gondola is a symbol of Venice, Italy,
小船贡多拉无疑是意大利威尼斯的一大标志，
but how did this curious banana-shaped black boat get its distinctive look?
但这种古怪的黑色香蕉船极富特点的外形是怎么产生的呢？
The origins of the Venetian gondola are lost to history,
威尼斯贡多拉的起源历史已经无从考证，
but by the 1500s, some 10,000 gondolas transported dignitaries, merchants and goods through the city's canals.
但在16世纪时，有大约一万艘贡多拉在城市的运河穿梭接送贵宾，抑或是运送商品货物。
In fact, Venice teemed with many types of handmade boats,
其实，威尼斯有着大量各式各样的手工制小船，
from utilitarian rafts to the Doge's own ostentatious gilded barge.
从实用的筏子到总督私有的铺张船只。
Like a modern day taxi system, gondolas were leased to boatmen who made the rounds of the city's ferry stations.
就好像现代的出租车体系一样，贡多拉被租给那些在城里的轮渡站之间来来回回的船夫们。
Passengers paid a fare to be carried from one side of the Grand Canal to the other, as well as to other points around the city.
乘客们支付费用从大运河的此岸渡到彼岸，也会去往城市的其他地方。
But gondoliers soon developed a bad rap.
但是船夫们很快就有了个坏名声。
Historical documents describe numerous infractions involving boatmen,
历史文献描述了大量牵涉到船夫的违法案件，
including cursing, gambling, extorting passengers -- even occasional acts of violence.
包括诅咒、参与赌博、勒索乘客--甚至是偶有发生的暴力事件。
To minimize the unpredictability of canal travel,
为了最大限度减少运河航行中不可预测的危险，
Venetian citizens who could afford it purchased their own gondolas,
有经济能力的威尼斯老百姓们购买了自己的贡多拉，
just as a celebirty might use a private car and driver today.
就像今天的名人会购买私家车、起用私人司机一样。
These wealthy Venetians hired two private gondoliers to ferry them around the city and maintain their boats.
这些富有的威尼斯人雇佣两个私人船夫，这样就能渡到城市的各处，并让船夫们保养自己的船只。
The gondolas soon became a status symbol, much like an expensive car,
贡多拉很快就成为了一种身份象征，简直就像名贵的汽车一样，
with custom fittings, carved and gilded ornamentation, and seasonal fabrics, like silk and velvet.
有定制的配件、镀金的雕刻装饰，还有随季节变化的织物，比如丝绸与天鹅绒。
However, the majority of gondolas seen today are black because in 1562,
然而，现在大多数贡多拉看起来都是黑色的，因为在1562年，
Venetian authorities decreed that all but ceremonial gondolas be painted black in order to avoid sinfully extravagant displays.
威尼斯地方当局颁布法令，规定除庆典用船之外，其他贡多拉都应被漆成黑色，从而避免不道德的过分奢侈。
Apparently, Venetian authorities did not believe in 'pimping their rides.'
显然，威尼斯当局不信任“改靓你的小船”这东西。
Still, some wealthy Venetians chose to pay the fines
不过，仍有一些富有的威尼斯人选择支付罚款，
in order to maintain their ornamental gondolas, a small price to keep up appearances.
从而保留他们装饰华丽的贡多拉，装点门面的小钱而已。

The distinctive look of the gondola developed over many centuries.
贡多拉与众不同的外观经过了几个世纪的演变。
Each gondola was constructed in a family boatyard called a squero.
每艘家庭船坞制造的贡多拉被称为“斯奎罗”。
From their fathers and grandfathers, sons learned how to select and season
子孙们从祖辈那里学习如何挑选、风干
pieces of beech, cherry, elm, fir, larch, lime, mahogany, oak and walnut.
山毛榉、樱桃、榆木、冷杉、落叶松、酸橙、红木、橡木和核桃木的木料。
The gondola makers began with a wooden template that may have been hammered into the workshop floor generations earlier.
贡多拉制造者们会从一块木头模板开始，那模板可能几代以前就已经制作完成、被放到车间的地板上了。
From this basic form, they attached fore and aft sterns,
从这个基础型开始，他们再加上船头和船尾，
then formed the longitudinal planks and ribs that made up the frame of a boat designed to glide through shallow, narrow canals.
然后组装纵式与肋状的支撑物从而形成船身，这样的设计是为了使船驶过又浅又窄的运河水道。
A gondola has no straight lines or edges.
贡多拉没有任何棱角。
Its familiar profile was achieved through an impressive fire and water process
它那为人所熟知的的轮廓是经由一个令人印象深刻的水火处理过程达到的，
that involved warping the boards with torches made of marsh reeds set ablaze.
这个过程包括用燃烧的芦苇火把烤弯木板。
However, the majority of the 500 hours that went into building a gondola involved the final stages:
然而，制造一艘贡多拉所需的500小时主要耗费在了最后的工序上：
preparing surfaces and applying successive coats of waterproof varnish.
处理表面，上几道防水漆。
The varnish was a family recipe, as closely guarded as one for risotto or a homemade sauce.
防水漆是家庭的秘方，就像意大利调味饭的配方，或者自家制的调味汁一样，被严密地保护着。
Yet even with the woodwork finished, the gondola was still not complete.
但就算木工已经完成，贡多拉也还是半成品。
Specialized artisans supplied their gondola-making colleagues
专业的工匠们提供制造贡多拉的同工们
with elaborate covered passenger compartments, upholstery and ornaments of steel and brass.
精心打造的船舱，钢铁与黄铜的饰品以及座套。
Oar makers became integral partners to the gondola makers.
桨的制造者成为了贡多拉工匠们不可或缺的搭档。
The Venetian oarlock, or fórcola, began as a simple wooden fork,
威尼斯的船桨托，或者说“福克拉”，开始的时候只是简单的木叉，
but evolved into a high-precision tool that allowed a gondolier to guide the oar into many positions.
后来却逐渐演变成一种高精度工具，让船夫能够把船桨调整到许多位置上。
By the late 1800s, gondola makers began to make the left side of the gondola wider than the right
十九世纪末，贡多拉工匠们开始把贡多拉的左侧制造得比右边更宽，
as a counter balance to the force created by a single gondolier.
从而平衡单一的船夫产生的力量。
This modification allowed rowers to steer from the right side only, and without lifting the oar from the water.
这样的改良使得桨手们只从右侧操纵就足够，不必再把桨从水里提起来。
While these modifications improved gondola travel, they were not enough to keep pace with motorized boats.
尽管这些改良提高了贡多拉的行驶能力，它们的速度还是跟不上机动船只。
Today, only about 400 gondolas glide through the waterways of Venice,
今天，只有约四百艘贡多拉还在威尼斯的水道上行驶，
and each year, fewer authentic gondolas are turned out by hand.
正宗的手工制贡多拉也在逐年减少。
But along the alleys, street signs contain words in Venetian dialect for the locations of old boatyards, oar makers and ferry stations,
然而，街巷之中，以威尼斯方言写成的路牌仍然指示着古老的船坞、船桨工匠与轮渡站的方向，
imprinting the memory of the boat-building trades that once kept life in the most serene republic gliding along at a steady clip.
铭记着造船业曾几何时无限的繁盛，在静谧的共和国里熙来攘往的回忆。