第七十四課 磚石切磚石
Mansour, the Egyptian merchant, one day repaired to the cadi on account of a suit, the issue of which troubled him but little.
埃及商人曼蘇爾由于一樁訴訟案子的緣故,去找地方法官,爭論的問題多少令他感到棘手。
A private conversation with the judge had given him hopes of the justice of his cause.
與法官私下進(jìn)行的談話,給他帶來了公正判決的希望。
The old man asked his son Omar to accompany him in order to accustom him early to deal with the law.
這位老人之所以讓兒子奧馬爾陪他去,是為了讓他盡早養(yǎng)成運(yùn)用法律的習(xí)慣。
The cadi was seated in the courtyard of the mosque.
那位下級法官坐在清真寺的院子里。
He was a fat, good-looking man, who never thought, and talked little,
他體態(tài)肥胖,不過相貌不錯(cuò),此人從不動腦子,也很少開口說話,
which, added to his large turban and his air of perpetual astonishment, gave him a great reputation for justice and gravity.
使得他那塊很大的包頭巾和他的外表平添了一種始終令人驚愕的神情,賦予他公正和莊嚴(yán)的好名聲。
The spectators were numerous; the principal merchants were seated on the ground on carpets, forming a semicircle around the magistrate.
旁觀者為數(shù)甚眾;商人們坐在四周的地毯上,成半圓形圍著地方法官。
Mansour took his seat a little way from the sheik, and Omar placed himself between the two.
曼蘇爾的座位離教長稍遠(yuǎn),而奧馬爾在兩者之間。
his curiosity strongly excited to see how the law was obeyed, and how it was trifled with in case of need.
他的好奇心強(qiáng)烈地驅(qū)使著他凝神注視著,他想看看法律是如何得到遵守的,如果必要又是如何被輕視的。
The first case called was that of a young Banian, as yellow as an orange, with loose flowing robes and an effeminate air, who had lately landed from India,
審理的第一件案子是關(guān)于一位年輕的印度商人,此人膚色黃得如同柑橘,穿了一件寬松下垂的長袍,一副柔弱的樣子。他不久前從印度來到此地,
and who complained of having been cheated by one of Mansour's rivals.
指控說被曼蘇爾的一位競爭對手騙了。