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It started in a swamp.
凡尔赛宫的建造始于一片沼泽
It was here, in a stretch of mosquito-infested marshland,
就在这片蚊虫滋生的泽地里
that Louis, the 27-year-old King of France,
27岁的法王路易
decided to construct his new palace,
决心建造他的新殿
near a small and unremarkable country town called Versailles.
比邻平凡的乡下小镇凡尔赛
His courtiers were far from impressed.
他的幕僚们大为惊讶
It was almost as though Louis,
路易似乎
had deliberately picked the worst possible site for his magnificent palace,
故意为自己宏伟的宫殿 定下了最糟糕的选址
in order to prove to the world that his will was greater than nature.
以此向世界展现他的意志超越自然
Louis had a sentimental reason for choosing Versailles.
路易选择凡尔赛亦有感性因素
It was the site of his father's old hunting lodge,
这里是他父亲旧日的狩猎行宫
and as a boy, he'd played and hunted here.
孩童时期 路易曾在此玩耍狩猎
The original chateau of Louis' father was on top of a hill.
路易父王曾经的行宫坐落在山头
The problem, if you wanted to turn it,
若要把它改造成规模巨大的宫殿
into a whacking great palace,
即将面临的问题就是
was that you weren't going to be building on flat land.
无法将宫殿建造在平坦地面上
Louis was told, this is not a great place,
幕僚纷纷建言 此地并非
for a big expansion of your father's chateau.
扩建父王行宫的最佳选址
As a monarch with absolute power,
作为绝对专权的君主
Louis wasn't used to being told what to do.
路易既不习惯于听命于他人
And he didn't much like it.
也不屑于此
From the outset, Louis was thinking big.
从一开始 路易便心怀宏图伟业
He started by hiring the greatest architect of the age,
他开始雇佣当代最伟大的建筑师
Louis Le Vau, to transform the hunting lodge,
路易斯·勒沃 要求他
into the palace of his dreams.
将狩猎行宫变为梦幻殿宇
