Yet the emotions the sight aroused were less about the building itself than about what losing it might mean. Notre Dame is an expression of humanity at its collective best. Nobody could look up into that vaulted ceiling without wondering at the cumulative genius of the thousands of anonymous craftsmen who, over a century and a half, realised a vision so grand in its structural ambition and so delicate in its hand-chiselled detail. Its survival through 850 years of political turbulence—through war, revolution and Nazi occupation—binds the present to the past.
但這一現象所引發的情感與其說是對于建筑本身，不如說是因為失去這個建筑意味著什么。巴黎圣母院是在集體意義上人性的表達。仰望拱形穹頂，無人不驚嘆于成千上萬無名工匠的累積神工，一個半世紀以來，工匠們實現了一個愿景，結構如此宏偉，手工雕刻的細節如此精巧。圣母院在850年的政治動蕩中生存下來，經歷了戰爭、革命和納粹占領，將現在和歷史連接起來。
The fire also binds people to each other. The outpouring of emotion it has brought forth is proof that, despite the dark forces of division now abroad, we are all in it together. When nationalism is a rising threat, shared sadness makes borders suddenly irrelevant. When politics is polarised, a love of culture has the power to unite. When extremism divides Muslim from Christian and religious people from atheists, those of all faiths and none are mourning together. An edifice built for the glory of God also represents the unity of the human spirit.
而人們彼此也因這場火聯系起來。這場火引起的情感流露表明，盡管現在國外存在分裂的暗黑勢力，但我們團結一致。民族主義成為一個日益嚴重的威脅時，共同的悲傷讓邊界突然變得無關緊要。政治兩極分化時，對文化的熱愛具有團結的力量。極端主義將穆斯林與基督徒、宗教人士與無神論者區分開時，帶有各種信仰的人以及無神論者都在一起哀悼。這座為神的榮耀建造的建筑也代表了人類精神的統一。
And it will be rebuilt. The morning after the fire, the many Parisians who went to the cathedral to mourn its destruction found comfort instead. Although the spire is gone, the towers are still standing and it seems likely that the whole building can be revived. The effort to rebuild it, like the fire, will bring people together. Within 24 hours, 600m euros($677m) had been raised from businesses and rich people, and a rash of crowdfunding campaigns started. A high-resolution laser scan of the building, carried out recently, should help.
圣母院將被重建。火災發生后的第二天早晨，許多巴黎人前往大教堂為毀壞哀悼，但卻因重建得到安慰。雖然塔尖不見了，但教堂主體結構仍然矗立著，似乎整座建筑都可以恢復原樣。如同火災凝聚人心，重建圣母院的努力也將把人們團結在一起。24小時之內，企業和富人就捐了6億歐元（合6.77億美元），隨即開展了一系列眾籌活動。最近對該建筑進行的高分辨率激光掃描應該會有所幫助。
It will never be the same, but that is as it should be. As Victor Hugo wrote in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, a three-volume love-letter to the cathedral: “Great edifices, like great mountains, are the work of centuries. Art is often transformed as it is being made...Time is the architect, the nation is the builder.”
雖然不可能和原來絲毫不差，但至少能修復到差不多的程度。正如維克多·雨果在《巴黎圣母院》寫的那樣，這封給大教堂的三卷本情書寫道：“偉大的建筑，就像高山一樣，是幾個世紀的杰作。藝術常常在被創造的過程中被轉化……時間是建筑師，國家是建設者。
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