第9章 DAMASCUS AND LONDON (I) 大马士革和伦敦（I）

Damascus is one of the greatest and most truly oriental cities in the world; let us,therefore,for our amusement and instruction,compare it in its general external features with London.In this way we may,perhaps,be able to get a clear idea of an oriental city.

From the dome of St. Paul's you behold London lying around, like a wide, waving, endless sea of slates, tiles, houses, churches, spires and monuments of all kinds. The eye is relieved with the heights and the hollows, the great and the little, the lowly lanes and the heaven-pointing spires.

In Damascus the scene is very different: there is much less variety; no spires, but multitudes of domes upon the mosques, and baths surmounted by little minarets. The houses are all flat-roofed, and the hue of the whole is a dim ash colour. A stillness like that of the dead reigns over the whole scene; and the city, surrounded with its celebrated evergreen gardens, suggests the idea of a ship sailing away through an ocean of verdure. Dun walls, flat roofs, domes and minarets, the stillness of death and the verdure of paradise, make up the elements of this most charming oriental scene. Tradition tells that Moham'med refused to enter the city, saying, “As there is only one paradise allotted to man, I shall reserve mine for the future world.”

London and most large western cities are very often surmounted by clouds of smoke, owing to the coldness of the climate and the great consumption of coal. The sky over Damascus appears as bright and serene as elsewhere. For the greater part of the year the climate renders little or no fire necessary; and the little that is used is not from coal, but from wood or charcoal. The rooms have neither chimneys nor fire-places, and, except for the preparation of the supper, fire is rarely required during the course of the day. Hence the oriental city is not encircled with a graceful wreath of smoke, to remind you either of an ungenial clime or of the progress of mechanical genius.

But approach the city. All seems very still and quiet. Is it an enchanted capital, whose inhabitants have been turned into stone or brass? No; but the streets are not paved; there are no wheel-carriages of any kind; the shoes, more like foot-gloves than shoes, have no nails; no cotton-mills lift up their voice in the streets;— all those noisy triumphs of mechanical genius, in the way of forging, spinning, weaving, beetling, which are so frequent among us, are unknown in Damascus. The Easterns hold on their old course steadily, and yield to no seductions of novelty: the water-pump was invented in Alexandria, but the Alexandrians still prefer the ancient well and bucket.

But if the ear is not saluted with the roar and turbulence of mills, forges, and mechanical operations, Damascus has its own peculiar sounds, not less various and interesting in their way. The streets are filled with innumerable dogs, lean, lazy, and hungry-like; mules, donkeys, camels, dromedaries, meet and mingle in those narrow streets, and impress both the eye and the ear of the traveller with a pure and perfect idea of Orientalism.

British cities spread out, as it were indefinitely, into the country, in the way of parks, gardens, summer-houses, gentlemen's seats, and smiling villages. It is not so in the East. The city is within the walls, and all without is garden as at Damascus, or desert as at Jerusalem. Single houses are, in any country, the proof of the supremacy of law as well as of the respectability and independence of labour. Life and property have not attained perfect security in the East: a pistol, or rather a musket, was presented at my breast, within half a mile of Damascus, in broad daylight!

These noble gardens have no inhabitants; nor do any fine cottages, tasteful houses, or princely palaces, adorn this fertile region. Within the city you are safe;— without are dogs, insecurity of property, and the liability of being shot. The whole population, therefore, live either in cities or in villages, except in such regions as Beirout, where European influence and power prevail. There, you have gardens and single houses, much after the English fashion.

But place a Damascene at Charing Cross, or at Cheapside, and what do you think would amaze him most? The number of vehicles, undoubtedly. He would say, “When will this stream of cars, cabs, coaches, carriages, omnibuses of every shape and size, have an end? Are the people mad? Can they not take their time?”

But had the oriental nations of antiquity no wheel-carriages? They had; the Jews and the Egyptians had them, the Greeks and the Romans had them, and perhaps they may exist in some parts of the East to the present time. Here in Damascus there are none. The streets are not formed for them. The horses are trained only for riding. There are no common, levelled, and well-ordered public roads. Our fathers used no coaches; they preferred the more manly exercise of horsemanship, and yielded the soft, effeminate luxury of the coach to the ladies. But in London there are now about nine hundred omnibuses, each of which takes about £1000 annually. Such is the present state of coaching with us. How different is Damascus! and how different must the aspect of the streets appear!

With us, the city is laid out in streets, squares, crescents, royal circuses, and similar devices of beauty and regularity. This is the case particularly in the“west-ends” and newer parts of our cities and towns. There is nothing of this in Damascus, or in any of the eastern cities that I have seen: squares, crescents, and circuses are unknown. The streets are extremely irregular, crooked, winding, and narrow; which seems to arise out of the anxiety to find a protection from the sun.

In the narrower streets, where the houses are high, the sun's rays are effectually excluded; and in the wider ones, where this is not attainable, the numerous windings and angles afford salient points where the passenger may for a moment of two enjoy the shade. This may appear trifling, but I have often found the heat of the solar rays so intense and unendurable that even the sun-burnt Bedouins, the children of the desert, were glad of the least passing shade, the least momentary shelter, from the intolerable heat.

In the bazaars of Damascus, on the contrary, the streets or avenues are laid out with the greatest regularity, and are as straight as possible. In the heat of the day these are nearly deserted; business is at a stand; the merchant is reclining with pipe in mouth, in a state of semi-somnolence, in which the influence of opium or the odour of the redolent weed has carried the fertile imagination into the regions of celestial ease.

In an eastern city you have no prospect. With us you can see a considerable way along the streets. In Damascus you feel absolutely isolated; the streets are so narrow and crooked that at the most you can rarely see a perch before you, and nothing that does meet the eye in the way of buildings has the least attraction. Irregularity in style and clumsiness of execution, combined with the absence of fine doors, all windows, everything in the shape of fronts, railings, ornaments,&c., make the impression in that respect very disagreeable.

In our streets, we are pleased with large houses, fine rows of large windows,tastefully arranged doors and entrances; — everything seems to convey the idea of order, attention, cleanliness combined with the possession of wealth and the consciousness that it is our own. We conceal nothing, for we have no motive for concealment. Our house is our palace, and though the winds may thistle whorugh our dilapidated halls, the Queen herself dare not enter without our permission. Freedom has increased our property, and our wealth has enhanced the value of our freedom. Our temptation is not to concealment, but to ostentation and unnecessary display.

This tendency or temptation among us stands in connection with our character as a highly civilized and commercial nation. Great transactions cannot be carried on without credit, and credit is necessarily based on the belief of wealth; so that very often, where there may be little real property, it may be most desirable that there should be the appearance of it……

The mean, low door in Damascus, tells you of tyranny, concealment, and the want of confidence in public justice. Misery without and splendour within, is a principle which befits a land where paper is just paper, whatever name it bears;where gold is the only circulating medium; where a man's own house is his bank;and where the suspicion of being rich may make him a prey to the rapacity of the government.

On the contrary, the noble streets, squares, crescents, &c., of our modem cities, are clear indications, not only of great wealth and power, but also of something far dearer and nobler—namely,that confidence in one another,formed by myriads of concurring circumstances, of which Christianity is one of the mightiest, and out of which flow most of the blessings of European civilization and free political institutions.

But what is the use of that stone by the door-post? These stones are the steps from which ladies mount their donkeys, mules, and horses. Nor should you think this strange. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Paris presented these mounting-stones at all the angles of the streets, and at other convenient places. At Frankfort on the Main, there was a certain gate at which these conveniences were prepared for the emperor and the magnates of the German Diet; and I have no doubt that, in the days of feudalism and knightly glory, London was not behind its neighbours in this respect.

—Rev. Dr. Graham

Words

absolutely,wholly.

allotted,assigned.

attainable,procurable.

celebrated,renowned.

celestial,heavenly.

circumstances,events.

concealment;secrecy.

concurring,agreeing.

confidence,trust.

consciousness,knowledge.

consumption,employment.

disagreeable,unpleasant.

effectually,successfully.

effeminate,womanish.

enchanted,bewitched.

encircled,encompassed.

enhanced,increased.

external,outward.

extremely,very.

indefinitely,without bounds.

intolerable,insufferable.

isolated,alone.

levelled,smoothed.

liability,danger.

momentary,temporary.

myriads,hosts.

oriental,eastern.

preparation,cooking.

protection,covering.

reclining,resting.

redolent,fragrant.

relieved,gratifled.

respectability,estimation.

seductions,allurement.

Bemi-somliolence,being half-asleep.

supremacy,authority.

suspicion,surmise.

tendency,inclination.

turbulence,tumult.

vehicles,carriages.

verdure,greenness.

Questions

What contrast to London does Damascus present, in respect of its buildings? What, in respect of its atmosphere? What is the cause of the great stillness in the eastern city? Why are there no country-houses around Damascus? What are these the proof of in any country? What would most strike a Damascene in the treets of London? Why are the streets in eastern cities made narrow and crooked? What effect has this upon the prospect? What are fine houses and streets proof of in a commercial nation? What do the mean low doors in Damascus indicate? For what purpose are stones set up at the door-posts?

大马士革是世界上最伟大和最真实的东方城市之一。因此，为了自我娱乐和学习，我们可以将其一般性的外部特征与伦敦进行比较。这样我们也许能得到一个东方城市的清晰的概念。

从圣保罗大教堂的圆顶上，你可以俯瞰伦敦横亘于此，就像一片广阔、飘动、无尽的石板、瓷砖、房屋、教堂、尖顶和各种纪念碑的海洋。眼前会布满各种建筑，高耸的和凹陷的，伟大的与渺小的，卑微的小巷和指向天际的尖顶。

在大马士革，人们看到的场面则十分不同：建筑的多样性不像伦敦；这里没有尖顶，而是众多清真寺的圆顶，和占据整个城市的小尖塔。这些房子都是平顶的，而整体的色调是暗淡的灰色。这样死亡一般的寂静统治着整个场景；周围布满著名的常青花园的城市，让人想到一艘轮船漂洋过翠绿海洋的场面。盾墙，平顶，圆顶和尖塔，死亡的寂静和天堂的翠绿，构成了这最迷人的东方场景的各种元素。传说中讲道，穆罕默德拒绝进入这座城市，他说：“由于人间只能有一个这样属于人类的天堂，我将保留我的天堂，直到未来世界。”

由于气候的寒冷和对煤炭的巨大消耗，伦敦和大多数西方大都市都经常笼罩在烟雾中。大马士革的上空则呈现出如其他地方一样的明亮而宁静的天际。一年中的大部分时间，这里都很少或根本没有烟火；而那很少的烟火也不是由燃煤引起的，而是源自木材或木炭。这里的房子既没有烟囱也没有火炉，并且除了准备晚餐，火在一天的生活中都很少需要。所以，东方的城市从未环绕着烟雾的曼妙晕圈——这些会提醒你恶劣的气候或者工业的进步。

但接近城市之后，你会发现一切似乎都很宁静安详。这里难道是一座被施了魔法的都城，这里的居民已经变成了石头或黄铜吗？当然不是，但街道没有铺砌；这里也没有任何带车轮的车辆；鞋子，更像脚套而不是鞋子，没有任何鞋跟；没有棉厂在街道上喧嚣它们的声音——所有这些属于机械的灵光的那些嘈杂的胜利，比如锻造、纺纱、织布、锤木，这些在我们的城市中如此频繁活动，在大马士革都似乎是未知的。东方人保持稳步推进他们的进步，从不屈服于新颖的诱惑。水泵是在亚历山大发明的，但亚历山大的人们还是喜欢古井和水桶。

但耳朵即使没有充斥着这种磨坊、熔炉和机械操作的吼声和湍流，大马士革也有其自身特有的声音，而其自身特有的方式也同样多样、有趣。街道上到处都是瘦弱懒惰、饥肠辘辘的狗；骡子、驴、骆驼、干草，在那些狭窄的街道上交汇、嘈杂，给旅行者的耳朵和眼睛留下深刻印象，让你清楚地明白这就是东方。

英国的城市向外扩散，正如它无限地延伸到乡村之中。公园、花园、避暑的凉亭、绅士的座椅和微笑的村庄，则是城市的模样。但在东方，却不是这般状况。城市都是在围墙之内，其外部都是像大马士革的花园，或是耶路撒冷的沙漠一样的地带。在任何国家，单独一座房子都是法律至高无上的证明，和对劳动的尊重和独立。生命和财富，在东方世界从未拥有过完全的安全：一支手枪或是滑膛枪，在大马士革之外的半英里内，在光天化日之下，就能穿透我的胸膛！

这些尊贵的花园里没有人居住；也没有美好的别墅、雅致的房子或王族的宫殿，来装饰这片肥沃的土地。在城市之内你是安全的——在城市外面，会有狗，财产没有安全，而且可能会被击毙。因此，所有人都生活在城市或村镇中，除了贝鲁特——欧洲的影响和权力在这里盛行。在那里，你有花园和独栋的房子，这与英国的风景是一致的。

但如果把一个大马士革人放在十字广场，或在齐普赛，你觉得什么最容易让他感到惊奇？毫无疑问，是车辆的数目。他会说：“如此大流量的汽车、出租车、大马车、货车、巴士，什么时候是个尽头啊？人们疯了吗？他们不可以放松心情，慢慢来吗？”

但古代的东方国家就没有四轮马车吗？他们有；犹太人和埃及人有四轮马车，希腊人和罗马人也有，或许如今，它们仍可能存在于东方世界的某些地方。在这里，在大马士革，却没有。街道并不是为四轮马车而铺就的。马匹只被训练来骑行。这里也没有共用的、平坦而秩序井然的公共道路。我们的父辈没有用大马车，他们更喜欢更有男人味的马术练习，并将柔软、柔弱的马车的奢侈赋予了女士们。但如今在伦敦，有大约九百辆公共机车，每辆车大约每年会花费一千英镑。这就是我们现在使用的大马车。但大马士革却是如此不同！街道呈现出来的不同也是如此明显！

这座城市给我们展现出来的是街道、广场、新月形建筑、王室马戏团、美容院和常规性的类似设施。这种情况特别出现在“最西方的世界”和我们崭新的城市和城镇之中。但这在大马士革是不存在的，或者在任何我见过的东方的城市也是一样：广场、新月形建筑和马戏在这些地方是不存在的。街道都极不规则、弯曲、卷绕而狭窄；这似乎让人产生了焦虑感，想要赶快找寻太阳的保护。

在更为较窄的街道上，那里的房子都很高，太阳的光芒被有效地遮挡在外；而在更广阔的街道上，如果太阳不是被高耸的房屋挡住，众多的拐角和角度也能使走过这里的路人享受到片刻的阴凉。这有时可能会显得微不足道，但我经常会觉得太阳光线的热量如此炙热和让人难以忍受，即使是习惯于太阳灼烤的游牧民族，沙漠中的子民，也会从酷暑难耐的内心深处因为哪怕一点点的阴影和片刻的遮蔽而感到欢愉。

相反，在大马士革的集市上，街道的布局则呈现出最大的规律性，并极端笔直。在热天，这些地方几近冷清；所有店铺都处于待业状态；商贩们都斜倚在某处，嘴里吹着口哨，打着瞌睡，这时鸦片或香草散发出来的气味，已经影响人们产生丰富的想象力，仿佛有了天国的安逸。

在一个东方的城市，你找不到前方的路。在我们的城市，你可以沿着街道看到一条大路。在大马士革，你会感觉到彻底的隔离；街道是如此的狭窄、弯曲，即使你看到最远处，你也看不到一个休息的地方，也没有什么样式的建筑物能够吸引人们的一点点关注。风格的不规则和制作的笨拙难看，加上没有漂亮的大门，所有的窗口看着像前门，栏杆、装饰物等东西，都使得这里的建筑给人留下极其不好的印象。

在我们的街道，我们很高兴能见到大房子，精妙排列的大窗户，布置高雅的大门和入口——似乎这一切事物都在传达着这些理念的互相结合：秩序、关注、清洁的理念，对财富的占有，这些都属于我们自己的意识。我们什么也不隐瞒，因为我们没有隐瞒的动机。我们的房子是我们的宫殿，虽然风可以吹拂我们破旧的厅堂，但就连女王陛下本人也不敢未经我们许可就进入我们的房间。自由增加了我们的财产，我们的财富增强了我们自由的价值。诱惑我们的并不是不隐瞒，而是排场和不必要的炫耀。

我们中间的倾向或诱惑在于将我们的性格和一个高度文明和商业化的国家相连接。伟大的交易无法在无信用的前提下进行，信用一定是基于财富的信念而建立起来的；所以很多时候，在那些可能不会有什么真正财富的地方，可能最需要财富的外观呈现……

大马士革的破败、低矮的大门，显示出这里统治的暴虐性和隐蔽性以及公共司法信念的意图。外在的苦难和内在的辉煌，是这里的一个原则，而此原则恰可以使这个任何事物的本质都不会随意改变的地方受益。在这里，黄金是唯一的循环介质；在这里，一个人的房子就是他的财产储存地；而他富有的任何显露都可能使他成为贪婪政府的猎物。

相反，我们的现代城市里高贵的街道、广场、新月形建筑，等等，不仅是巨大的财富和权力的明显的标志，同时也彰显了一些更美好和更高贵的事物——也就是，在无数相同的情况下，人与人之间的相互信任；其中，基督教就是最强大的一种情况。除此之外，充满对欧洲文明和自由的政治制度的祝福。

但是，门柱旁边那块石头是做什么用的？某个叫朱利的人为他的驴、骡子和马装上鞍子的时候，这些石头是他站着的垫脚石。你不要觉得这很奇怪。在14和15世纪，巴黎提出在所有街道的拐角处，或者在其他方便的地方，安装这样的垫脚石。在法兰克福，某种这样的大门也为皇帝和德国国会的富豪们准备了这种便利；我对此毫不怀疑，在封建社会和骑士荣耀的日子里，在这方面，伦敦也一定与它的这些邻居一样。

——雷夫·格雷厄姆