P: Hi, Damon, when did you come?

P：嗨，达蒙，什么时候来的呀？

D: Just for a while. You were so attentive and I did not wanna disturb you.

D:来了一会儿了，看你这么专注就没打扰你。

P: Oh, I went to Yale University yesterday. You know I am very keen on the architecture. The campus is amazing and it greatly broadens my horizon. What impresses me most is the Women’s Table there.

P：哦，我昨天去耶鲁大学了。你知道的，我一直很喜欢建筑艺术。耶鲁校园美极了， 真令我大开眼界。我印象最深刻的是那里的女人桌。

D: Sounds interesting. Where did the name come from?

D:真有趣，怎么取了这么个名字？

P: Actually there is a story about this. The table was named in honor of the event that Yale decided to admit women for the first time in her history. It stands as a monument to all women who have passed through Yale’s gates.

P：关于这个还有一段历史。这张桌子是为纪念耶鲁首次接收女学生而设立的，犹如 一座纪念碑，记录着在耶鲁学习过的女性。

D: Yeah. I know that Yale is one of the earliest to admit female students in 1969，which set a good example for others like Harvard and Princeton. It went a long way towards the co-education at a time when women were still far from  accepted in university.

D:我知道耶鲁是1969年最早同意接收女学生的学校之一，这为其他高校如哈佛大 学和普林斯顿大学树立了很好的榜样。在女性不为大学所接受的那段时间里，此 举极大地促进了男女同校教育的发展。

P: You are right. It was not easy for Yale, a classic old boy school to change her 200 years’ tradition and admit female students in the face of opposition from all sides.

P：说得对。对耶鲁这样一所传统学校来说，一改其200年来只招收男生的传统而开 始招收女性学生，实为不易，它要面对来自各方面的反对压力。

D: I can not agree more. Especially at that time when women were not treated equally in society. It is a wise move indeed.

D:确实如此。尤其是在女性得不到平等对待的那段时期里。在今天看来，那的确是 一个明智之举。

P: To memorialize this, the table was dedicated on Oct. 1st, 1993. It was made of green granite, while the irregular triangular base was made of black granite. The table was also a fountain; a smooth swirl of water could flow from a hole on the table, and slide across the tabletop.

P：为了纪念这一事件，1993年10月1日，女人桌被捐助绾耶鲁大学。桌面由绿色 的大理石做成，而形状不规则的三角形底座则由黑色花岗岩砌成。这桌子还是一 个喷泉，水从桌上的圆孔中缓缓流出，呈漩涡状，然后，漫过桌面。

D: It shows on a beautiful scene in my mind.

D:我能想到一幅美丽的情景。

P: Besides this, a string of figures mark the number of female students at Yale each year since its founding in 1701. These numbers grow with time as they spiral outward the table’s edge, swelling like the rings of water that bubble from the central spring and spill over on all sides.

P:除此之外，上面还刻着一连串的数字，记录着耶鲁自1701年建校以来每年录取 的女生人数。随着时间的流逝，这些数字也逐年增加。它们呈螺族状向外扩展， 恰如那汩汩的水流从中间一波一纹地向整个桌面漫去。

D: The Women’s Table witnesses women’s history at Yale, I think.

D:我想，‘'女人桌”见证了耶鲁女性的历史。

P: Yeah. In the first year when Yale opened her door to female students, the total number of women attending the university grew by over 700，and for every year after that, the number has kept on the increase. Yale women carved their own history there.

P：是的。在耶鲁开始招收女生的第一年，女生数量已达到700多人；之后，这个数 字每年都在不断增加。耶鲁女性在这上面记载着自己的历史。

D: Marvelous! Do you know who designed this piece of art?

D:真不可思议。你知道这件艺术品是谁设计的吗？

P: Of course I know. Recently I read much about this table and I learned from books that it was designed by Maya Ying Lin, an American woman with Chinese origin. She is an architect of great talent.

P：当然知道了。最近我读了很多关于这张桌子的书，从中了解到“女人桌”是出自 华裔建筑师林璎之手。她是一名很有天賦的建筑师。

D: Indeed. I know her another work—the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. She designed it in 1981 when she was just 21 years old. I think she made a good shot in that work.

D:是的。我知道她的另一部作品，就是位于华盛顿的‘‘越南战争纪念碑"，这是她 在1981年创作的，当时年仅21岁。在那部作品中，她表现不俗。

P: Right. She showed her talent at an early age.

P：对。她很早就在建筑设计上崭露头角。

D: Speaking of the table, where does it locate?

D:说到女人桌，它在耶鲁的哪个方位？

P: It locates in one of the most obvious position, in front of the Sterling Memorial Library. When Maya Lin dedicated it to her Alma Mater at 25th anniversary for co-education, President Richard C. Levin took great delight in accepting the present and spoke highly female influence on Yale.

P：它位于耶鲁大学最醒目的斯特林纪念图书馆前面。在耶鲁庆祝男女含校25周年 纪念会上,林璎正式把这张“女人桌”献给了母校。菜文校长欣然接受了这份礼物， 还高度评价自男女含校以来女性校友对耶鲁所产生的影响。

D: I can see that Yale has done well in women’s education.

D:看得出，耶鲁在女性教育方面做得非常好。

P: Yes. There is women’s studies program at Yale, which offers all students the opportunity to take classes on everything from women’s health to the historical role of gender in theatre. It has boasted many preeminent scholars and is proof of Yale’s recognition of the impact of women in modem society. In addition, women are not limited to a single area of study, but pervade all fields. Moreover, many extracurricular and support groups exist at Yale to serve the needs of women.

P：不错。在耶鲁，有专门的女性研究计划，这为所有的学生提供了学习的机会，涉 及的内容从女性健康直到性别在戏剧中的作用差异。它培养了许多杰出的学者， 是耶鲁认可女性在当代社会中的重要作用的一个凭证。而且，女性并不受限于某 —单一领域，而是活跃在各行各业。此外耶鲁有许多业余团体以满足女性的需求。

D: Then the Women’s Table reflects this point to some extent.

D:这张女人桌从某种程度上反映出这一点。

P: Right. Although not everything at Yale is perfect for women and there are still problems at issue, a significant number of Yalies are committed to fixing them.

P：是呀。尽管在女性问题上不是每件事都尽如人意，还有许多问题有待解决，但是 很多耶鲁人都在为之努力。

D: It seems that Women’s Table not only serves as a monument to record Yale Women’s footprints but lead them to pursue a better life as well.

D:女人桌即记录了耶鲁女性的过去，又引导她们追求美好的未来。

P: Absolutely.

P:太对了。