与其砍倒150年的树，不如就地建房子

When the Kesharwani family in Jabalpur, India, decided to expand their home back in 1994, they pondered what to do about the giant fig tree growing in their garden. Rather than cut it down, they decided to build a four-storey house around it.

1994年，印度贾巴尔布尔的凯萨瓦尼(Kesharwani)一家决定扩建房屋时，他们在考虑如何处理花园里那棵巨大的无花果树。他们没有把它砍倒，而是决定围着它建一座四层楼的房子。

Today, the Kesharwanis’ residence is one of the most stunning sights in Jabalpur – a concrete villa with a giant tree trunk growing through its multiple stories and thick branches coming out through the windows, walls and roof. Yogesh Kesharwani, whose parents built the house 25 years ago, said that the fig tree is about 150 years old but still blossoms into leaves and fruits every year. Even though they have to navigate around its thick trunk when moving through the house, the Kesharwanis have gotten used to it and even grown to consider it a member of the family.

今天，Kesharwanis的住宅是贾巴尔普尔最令人惊叹的景观之一，这是一座混凝土别墅，巨大的树干从多层楼长出来，粗大的树枝从窗户、墙壁和屋顶伸出来。Yogesh Kesharwani的父母在25年前建造了这座房子，他说这棵无花果树已经有150年的历史了，但是每年仍然会开花结果。尽管他们在房子里走动时必须绕过它粗粗的树干，但凯萨瓦尼一家已经习惯了它，甚至认为它是家里的一员。

(Photo: ANI video screengrab)

“We are nature lovers and my father insisted that we keep the tree,” Yogesh Kesharwani told AFP. We knew it was easy to cut the tree but difficult to grow one like it.”

约格什·凯沙瓦尼告诉法新社：“我们热爱大自然，我父亲坚持要我们保留这棵树。”我们知道砍这棵树很容易，但要长成这样却很难。”

Known as “peepal” in Hindi, the fig tree is considered sacred in India, and cutting one down is considered by many to be sacrilegious. It’s mentioned in the Geeta, a Hindu religious text, and Hindus believe that 350 million gods and goddesses reside in one peepal tree.

在印度，无花果树被称为“peepal”，在印度被认为是神圣的，很多人认为砍掉一棵无花果树是亵渎神灵的。在印度宗教文本《吉塔》中提到过，印度教徒相信有3.5亿神居住在一棵菩提树下。

The Kesharwani family claim that apart from keeping the house cool, the giant tree growing through their home is also practical to have from a religious standpoint. Yogesh’s wife doesn’t have to go to the temple to pray, she can just do it in front of the tree every morning.

Kesharwani一家声称，除了保持房子凉爽，从宗教的角度来看，这棵生长在他们家里的大树也是实用的。Yogesh的妻子不需要去寺庙祈祷，她可以每天早上在树前祈祷。

Yogesh recalls that soon after the house was completed, local engineering and architecture students started to come by to see how it was built. Today, his home is one of the main attractions of Jabalpur.

Yogesh回忆说，房子完工后不久，当地工程和建筑专业的学生就开始过来看房子是如何建造的。如今，他的家是贾巴尔普尔的主要景点之一。

“We don’t even realize that the tree exists because it doesn’t come in our way. It just stands there silently,” Yogesh said.

“我们甚至没有意识到这棵树的存在，因为它没有挡住我们的路。它只是静静地站在那里，”Yogesh说。