譯/莊蕙嘉
Being laid to rest in Westminster Abbey is perhaps the greatest posthumous honor that can be given to any Briton, and when Stephen Hawking's ashes were interred there Friday, they were placed between the remains of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, two of the giants of science.
But rare though it may be, entry to what is sometimes called "Britain's Valhalla" does not involve a complicated process, according to the Very Rev. John R. Hall, the dean of Westminster.
安葬於西敏寺，應該是英國人死後能獲得的最大殊榮。當霍金的骨灰周五（6月15日）下葬於此地時，被安置在兩大科學界巨人、艾薩克．牛頓和查爾斯．達爾文中間。
下葬西敏寺縱然難得，但依西敏寺座堂主任牧師約翰．霍爾的說法，要進入有時被稱為「英國英靈神殿」的此地，過程並不複雜。
Actually, he says, it's up to him to decide.
事實上，他說，這正是由他一人決定。
An engaging, humorous and commanding figure, Hall relishes the history surrounding his unique position, and sees Hawking's ceremony in the context of the thousands that have come before in a place of worship that was founded more than a thousand years ago.
霍爾是個富魅力、幽默且威嚴的人，享受環繞他獨特職務的歷史。這座一千多年以前建立的敬拜場所，已有數千人安葬於此，他也在這樣的背景下看待霍金的儀式。
「我們在牛頓去世後八日將他安葬於此。」霍爾坐在位於古老修道院隔壁的辦公室說。「我們在1882年達爾文去世時也迅速做出決定。」
"We buried Isaac Newton here eight days after he died," said Hall, speaking in his office next to the ancient abbey. "We also took an immediate decision in 1882 about Charles Darwin."
Hawking qualifies not just because of his contributions to science but also by virtue of the inspirational life he lived in the face of huge obstacles. The religious views of a man sometimes described as the world's most famous atheist were not disqualifying, Hall said.
霍金之所以有資格在此下葬，不僅因為他在科學上的貢獻，也因為他面對巨大的阻礙，卻活出了激勵人心的一生。霍金時而被稱為舉世最出名的無神論者，但霍爾說，霍金的宗教觀點不會讓他失去資格。
"Whether he was actually an atheist, whether he was actually an agnostic, what his position was, is not, to my mind, entirely clear," Hall said. "My position is quite simply this: Whether a person believes in God or not, if someone is achieving extraordinary things then I believe God is in that process."
「他是否真是無神論者，真是不可知論者，他的立場又如何，對我而言，並不全然明確。」霍爾說。「我的立場十分簡單明瞭：不論一個人是否相信上帝，假使這個人締造了非凡的成就，我相信上帝必也參與其中。」
More than 3,300 Britons are buried or commemorated in the abbey, and a walk through its Gothic splendor, under pointed arches, ribbed vaulting and flying buttresses, provides a remarkable, if eclectic, tour of a millennium of history, culture and scientific progress.
西敏寺下葬或紀念的英國人超過3300人，在這座壯麗的哥德式教堂走一遭，經過尖形拱門、肋狀拱頂與飛扶壁之下，提供一次不凡、可能也是兼容並蓄的，包含歷史、文化及科學進展的千年之旅。
Many of those laid to rest here are long forgotten, but there are splendid memorials, including one to Queen Elizabeth I, who is among 17 monarchs lying alongside some of the nation's greatest poets, scientists and musicians.
許多長眠於此的人早已被遺忘，但是這裡有莊嚴的紀念碑，包括一座紀念伊麗莎白一世者，連同她，共有17位君王與這個國家一些最偉大的詩人、科學家及音樂家同眠於此。
King George II, who died in 1760, was the last monarch to be buried at Westminster (the royal family now favors Windsor). With space at a premium, the abbey stopped conducting burials in the early part of the last century, though this was not a completely smooth process.
1760年去世的國王喬治二世，是最後一位葬於西敏寺的君主（現在的王室較偏好溫莎堡）。由於寸土寸金，西敏寺已於上世紀初期停止受理葬禮，雖然過程並非全然平順。
In 1907, the abbey was expecting the cremated remains of Angela Burdett-Coutts, a prominent philanthropist, but received her body instead. "They buried her standing up," Hall said.
1907年，西敏寺原本要接受知名慈善家安琪拉．柏德特－庫茲的骨灰，收到的卻是她的遺體。霍爾說：「他們將她立著下葬。」
The last burial, in 1920, was that of the Unknown Warrior, a memorial to those who died in World War I. This slab of black Belgian marble, covering the remains of a soldier and soil from France, is the only stone that visitors are not permitted to walk upon.
最後一次葬禮是1920年為無名戰士辦的，紀念喪生於第一次世界大戰的軍人。這片黑色比利時大理石石板，覆蓋於自法國運回的一名軍人的遺骸及泥土之上，是唯一一塊不許參觀者踩踏的石頭。
※說文解字看新聞
這篇文章談論英國物理學家霍金下葬西敏寺一事，有一些宗教相關字詞。西敏寺正式名稱為The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster（西敏聖彼得協同教堂），Westminster Abbey是通稱。位於威爾斯的Tintern Abbey也有近900年的歷史，曾被英國浪漫主義詩壇祭酒華滋華斯（William Wordsworth）入題，因而名聞遐邇。Abbey的主事者男性為abbot，女性是abbess。
管理西敏寺的最高聖職職位稱為dean（座堂主任牧師），其頭銜是第二段的the Very Reverend。此外，dean這個字也常見於稱呼大學學院的院長。
西敏寺被稱作「英國的英靈聖殿」，Valhalla源於北歐神話，音譯「瓦爾哈拉」，是戰死沙場的勇士接受嘉獎與款待的巨大宮殿，因此這個字便象徵「英勇之人死後的榮耀歸處」。
atheist意為「無神論者」，相關詞為atheism（無神論），指不相信神存在的人，字首a-表否定語態。霍金雖然出身基督教家庭，但他是有名的無神論者，認為宇宙的起源是一場大爆炸。
agnostic意為「不可知論者」，相關詞為agnosticism（不可知論），字源可拆解為a-（沒有）和gnosis（認識），用來指「認為是否有來世、神或鬼是否存在...是根本無法確知的人」。
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