考古人员可能找到了《堂·吉诃德》作者的遗骨

In a discovery that could create a new venue for literary pilgrims, Spanish investigators said on Tuesday that they might have located part of the remains of Cervantes, whose novel “Don Quixote” has enthralled readers over centuries with stories of its eponymous knight and his servant, Sancho Panza.

马德里——星期二，西班牙研究者宣布，他们可能发现了塞万提斯(Cervantes)的部分遗骨，他的小说《堂·吉诃德》(Don Quixote)讲述骑士堂·吉诃德与他的仆人桑丘·潘沙(Sancho Panza)的故事，几个世纪以来吸引着无数读者，这项研究亦可能创造出一个新的文学朝圣地。

Cervantes, often lauded as having written the first modern novel, died in 1616 after requesting burial in a convent in Madrid where, for almost a year, investigators have been searching the subsoil for bones that they now believe to include some of the author’s.

塞万提斯通常被誉为现代小说的创始人，他于1616年逝世，生前要求将自己埋葬在马德里的一个修道院内。研究者们在修道院的下层土中寻找了将近一年，现在，他们认为自己找到的骨骼中有一部分属于这位作家。

“Everything coincides to lead us to believe that Cervantes is there,” a forensics expert, Francisco Etxeberria, said at a news conference in Madrid, Reuters reported.

根据路透社报道，法医学专家弗朗西斯科·艾特克塞伯利亚(Francisco Etxeberria)在马德里举办的新闻发布会上说：“所有的一切都能吻合，所以我们相信，塞万提斯就在这儿。”

The investigators cautioned, however, that it may be impossible to guarantee that the bones are those of the writer. Almudena García-Rubio, an archaeologist, said that there was “no confirmed genetic identification,” although DNA tests were being performed.

但研究者们也提醒说，没有办法百分之百确保这些骨骼一定属于塞万提斯。考古学家阿尔蒙德纳·加西亚-卢比奥(Almudena García-Rubio)说，“没有确凿的基因证据，”尽管他们已经做过DNA检测。

The whereabouts of Cervantes’s tomb had been a mystery since the Convent of the Discalced Trinitarians was rebuilt in the late 17th century. The remains were finally found below the ground of the crypt of the church, at a depth of about 50 inches in a box that contained bones from 10 adults and five children, according to Fernando de Prato, a historian who led the search for Cervantes.

自从跣足圣三修道院于17世纪末重修以来，塞万提斯的坟墓所在地一直不为人知。领导此次寻找塞万提斯遗骨活动的历史学家费尔南多·德·普雷托(Fernando de Prato)说，此次，这些遗骨是在教堂地窖内发现的，埋在大约50英寸之下的一个箱子里，里面盛放着十具成人的遗骨与五具孩子的遗骨。

Mr. de Prato said that the forensic team still faced “a lot of work” to separate the bones, perhaps try to reconstruct the bodies, and perform DNA testing. “It would of course have been better to find his remains complete,” to establish the identity of Cervantes with certainty, he said, “but I still have the feeling today of having reached the end of a journey.”

德·普雷托说，法医组仍然有“大量工作”要做，去分开这些骨骼，或许还要试图重建躯体，进行DNA测试。他说，为了确定塞万提斯尸体的身份，“当然，最好还是能找到他的整具尸体，但是我今天仍然有走到旅行终点的感觉。”

The team of investigators used infrared cameras, 3D scanners and radar to search the crypt and its alcoves.

调查组使用了红外摄像机、3D扫描仪和雷达来搜索这个地窖及其壁龛。

During the excavations, the investigators found decayed wood from a coffin with the letters M and C marked out in tacks. (Cervantes’s full name was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.) The discovery of the coffin was announced in January, but it turned out to contain the remains of a child rather than those of the writer, Mr. de Prato said.

开掘过程中，研究者们发现了一具棺材，朽木上面用钉子打着“M”和“C”字样——塞万提斯的全名正是“米格尔·德·塞万提斯·萨维德拉”(Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra)。发现棺材的消息是在1月宣布的，但是德·普雷托说，开棺后却发现里面是一个孩子的骨骼，而不是这位作家。

Cervantes is most often remembered for “Don Quixote,” which gave the world the word quixotic in acknowledgment of its central character and his adventures, including his joust with windmills. The expression “tilting at windmills” also denotes people who take on imaginary adversaries.

塞万提斯因作品《堂·吉诃德》被世人铭记，书中的同名主人公曾经用长矛大战风车，他和他的冒险故事为世人带来了“吉诃德式的”(quixotic)这个词。“冲向风车”也用来形容那种与想像中的对手搏斗的人。

But such recognition as a writer came too late to bring Cervantes any fortune, after a life spent mostly as a soldier — including a five-year spell in captivity after pirates intercepted his naval ship.

但是这些认可来得太迟，没有为塞万提斯带来任何财富，他一生几乎都是在军旅生涯中度过；有一次，海盗劫持了他所在的海军船，他因此还度过了五年的囚禁生涯。

The discovery of the possible remains comes as Spain and the literary world celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the second volume of “Don Quixote” (the first one was published in 1605).

就在遗骨找到之际，西班牙与文学界迎来了《堂·吉诃德》第二卷出版400周年的周年纪念（第一卷于1605年出版）。

The authorities in Madrid are hoping to build a monument within the church to commemorate the writer, with the goal of completing that work by April of next year, the 400th anniversary of his death.

马德里当局希望在教堂内建立一座纪念碑，以纪念这位作家，这项工作计划在明年四月完成，明年亦是塞万提斯逝世400周年。