诺亚方舟的故事大概很多人都听过。它讲的是4000多年前，上帝为了惩罚人类发了场大洪水，唯一受到上帝眷顾的诺亚在洪水到来前受到上帝指引建造了一艘大船，带着自己的家人和各种动物躲过了那场劫难。如今，现实版的诺亚方舟正在修建中，并有望在2012年驶往伦敦。据介绍，建造方舟的男子为荷兰人，现年60岁，是名虔诚的基督徒。他在多年前曾经梦见荷兰被洪水淹没，并一直认为这是上帝给他的启示。于是在三年前不顾妻子的反对开始建造诺亚方舟，至今已耗资近100万英镑。这艘方舟长450英尺，宽75英尺，上有两个会议室能容纳1500人，竣工后将在方舟中装满各种动物和飞禽。据悉，方舟的主人已给伦敦市长写信，表示希望能在2012年带着方舟出现在奥运会的现场。

The vessel is 450ft long and 75ft wide and will be stuffed with pairs of model animals, while an aviary with free-flying live birds will take up most of the enormous deck house.

A giant recreation of Noah's Ark could be moored in the River Thames during the London 2012 Olympics.

Johan Huibers, an eccentric Dutch Christian, has spent around £1 million building the "Ark" after dreaming about a great flood sweeping Holland. He saw the dream as a signal to spread God's message.

The vessel is 450ft long and 75ft wide and will be stuffed with pairs of model animals, while an aviary with free-flying live birds will take up most of the enormous deck house.

Mr Huibers, 60, who is married, found the inspiration for the project 20 years ago but only started construction on the river at Dordrecht, near Rotterdam, three years ago, against the advice of his wife.

Twenty-five barges held together by a steel frame form the base of the ship, which also holds two conference rooms capable of hosting 1,500 people.

The timbers are Swedish pine, a choice Mr Huibers made because Noah, the Biblical Ark's captain, was told by God to use "resin wood".

Mr Huibers recently wrote to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to ask for permission to bring his Ark to London for the Olympic Games next summer and moor it in the capital.

The Dutchman said he hoped to use it to inspire children with the Biblical story of Noah and how he, his crew and the animals survived the flood which inundated everything else in the world and washed it clean of sin.

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(Agencies)

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）