英國語文第六冊(雙語):大馬士革與倫敦（一）(1)

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LESSON 9 Damascus and London (I)

第九課 大馬士革與倫敦（一）

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.

大馬士革擁有純正的東方血統(tǒng)，是世界上最偉大的城市之一。為了能對東方城市有一個(gè)更為清晰的認(rèn)識，同時(shí)兼顧消遣和學(xué)習(xí)，因此咱們拿倫敦和大馬士革作對比，對比其一般外部特征的差異。

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.

從圣保羅大教堂的圓頂處放眼望去，你會看到由各種各樣的石板、瓷磚、房屋、教堂、尖塔和紀(jì)念碑組成的倫敦，就像是一片寬闊起伏、無邊無際的海洋。到處的高地、低洼、大小不一的建筑、低矮的巷子和高聳入云的尖塔，簡直就是消除眼疲勞的良藥。

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."

而大馬士革和倫敦則不同：它很規(guī)整，沒有尖塔，有的只是許多清真寺上方的圓頂和浴池上方的小尖塔。所有房屋的房頂都是平的，灰色色調(diào)，顯得死氣沉沉；整個(gè)大馬士革被其著名的常青花園環(huán)繞在內(nèi)，這不禁使人聯(lián)想到一艘在碧綠的海洋中遠(yuǎn)航的大船?；液稚膲Ρ?、平坦的屋頂、圓屋頂和尖塔、死一般的寂靜和天堂碧綠，這一切不正是東方景致中最令人著迷的元素所在。傳聞?wù)f默罕默德當(dāng)年拒絕進(jìn)入這座城市，他說：“因?yàn)槿祟愔荒苓M(jìn)一次天堂，所以我要把我的那次留在未來。（人生只能進(jìn)天堂一次，大馬士革是人間天堂，如果我現(xiàn)在進(jìn)了這個(gè)天堂，將來怎能再進(jìn)天上的天堂呢？）”

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.

倫敦就和其他大多數(shù)西方城市一樣，因?yàn)楹涞臍夂蚝痛罅棵禾康氖褂?，?dǎo)致其常年被煙霧籠罩。然而，大馬士革上方的天空卻和別處的天空一樣，明亮而又清澈。