Oriental palaces, except perhaps in the great Indian peninsula, do not realise the dreams and glittering visions of the Arabian Nights, or indeed the authentic1 histories written in the flush and fullness of the success of the children of the desert, the Tartar and the Saracen. Commerce once followed in the train of the conquerors2 of Asia, and the vast buildings which they hastily threw up of slight and perishing materials, were filled, not only with the plunder3 of the East, but furnished with all the productions of art and curious luxury, which the adventurous4 spirit of man brought from every quarter of the globe to Samarcand and Bagdad. The site of these mighty5 capitals is almost erased6 from the map of the modern traveller; but tribute and traffic have also ceased to sustain even the dilapidated serail of the once omnipotent7 Stamboul, and, until very recently, all that remained of the splendour of the Caliphs of Egypt was the vast Necropolis, which still contains their palatial8 sepulchres.
How the bold Roumelian peasant who in our days has placed himself on the ancient throne of the Pharaohs and the Ptolemies, as Napoleon on the seat of the Merovingian kings, usurping9 political power by military prowess, lodged10 and contented11 himself in the valley of the Nile, was not altogether an uninteresting speculation12; and it was with no common curiosity that some fifteen years ago, before he had conquered Syria and scared Constantinople, I made one morning a visit to Shoubra, the palace of Mehemet Ali.
Nothing can be conceived more animated13 and picturesque14 than Cairo during the early morning or at night. It seems the most bustling15 and populous16 city in the world. The narrow streets, abounding17 with bazaars18, present the appearance of a mob, through which troops of richly dressed cavaliers force with difficulty their prancing19 way, arrested often in their course by the procession of a harem returning from the bath, the women enveloped20 in inscrutable black garments, and veils and masks of white linen21, and borne along by the prettiest donkeys in the world. The attendant eunuchs beat back the multitude; even the swaggering horsemen, with their golden and scarlet22 jackets, rich shawls and scarfs, and shining arms, trampling23 on those around, succeed in drawing aside; but all efforts are vain, for at the turning of the street appears the first still solemn visage of a long string of tall camels bearing provisions to the citadel24, a Nubian astride on the neck of the leader, and beating a wild drum, to apprise25 the people of his approach. The streets, too, in which these scenes occur are in themselves full of variety and architectural beauty. The houses are lofty and latticed, abounding in balconies; fountains are frequent and vast and as richly adorned26 as Gothic shrines27; sometimes the fortified28 palace of one of the old Mamlouks, now inhabited by a pasha, still oftener the exquisite29 shape of an Arabian mosque30. The temples of Stamboul cannot vie with the fanes of Cairo. Their delicate domes31 and airy cupolas, their lofty minarets32 covered with tracery, and the flowing fancy of their arabesques33 recalled to me the glories of the Alhambra, the fantastic grace of the Alcazars and the shrines of Seville and Cordova.
At night the illuminated34 coffee-houses, the streaming population, each person carrying a lantern, in an atmosphere warmer and softer than our conservatories35, and all the innocent amusements of an out-door life—the Nubian song, the Arabian tale, the Syrian magic—afford a different, but not less delightful36 scene.
It was many hours before noon, however, that I made my first visit to Shoubra, beneath a sky as cloudless as it remained during the whole six months I was in Egypt, during which time I have no recollection that we were favoured by a single drop of rain; and yet the ever-living breeze on the great river, and the excellent irrigation of the earth, produce a freshness in the sky and soil, which are missed in other Levantine regions, where there is more variety of the seasons.
Shoubra is about four or five miles from the metropolis37. It rises on the banks of the Nile, and the road to it from Cairo is a broad but shady avenue, formed of sycamores, of noble growth and colour; on one side delightful glimpses of the river, with its palmy banks and sparkling villages, and on the other, after a certain tract38 of vivid vegetation, the golden sands of the desert, and the shifting hillocks which it forms; or, perhaps, the grey peaks of some chain of pyramids.
The palace of Shoubra is a pile of long low buildings looking to the river—moderate in its character, and modest in its appointments; but clean, orderly, and in a state of complete repair; and, if we may use such an epithet39 with reference to oriental life, comfortable. It possesses all the refined conveniences of European manners, of which the pasha at the time I am referring to was extremely proud. Most of these had been the recent gift of the French government, and his highness occasionally amused his guests—some sheikh from Arabia, or some emir from the Lebanon—by the exhibition of some scientific means of domestic accommodation with which use has made us familiar, but which I was assured had sensibly impressed the magnates of the desert and the mountain with the progress of modern civilisation40.
The gardens of Shoubra, however, are vast, fanciful, and kept in admirable order. They appeared to me in their character also entirely41 oriental. You enter them by long, low, winding42 walks of impenetrable shade; you emerge upon an open ground sparkling with roses, arranged in beds of artificial forms, and leading to gilded43 pavilions and painted kiosks. Arched walks of orange trees, with the fruit and the flowers hanging over your head, lead again to fountains, or to some other garden-court, where myrtles border beds of tulips, and you wander on mosaic44 walks of polished pebbles45. A vase flashes amid a group of dark cypresses46, and you are invited to repose47 under a Syrian walnut48 tree by a couch or a summer-house.
The most striking picture, however, of this charming retreat is a lake surrounded by light cloisters49 of white marble, and in its centre a fountain of crocodiles, carved in the same material. That material as well as the art, however, are European. It was Carrara that gave the pure and glittering blocks, and the Tuscan chisel50 called them into life. It is a pity that the honourable51 board of directors, in their recent offering of the silver fountain to the pasha, had not been aware of the precedent52 thus afforded by his highness’s own creation for the introduction of living forms into Moslem53 sculpture and carving54. They might have varied55 their huge present with advantage. Indeed, with the crocodile and the palm-tree, surely something more beautiful and not less characteristic than their metallic56 mausoleum might easily have been devised.
This marble pavilion at Shoubra, indeed, with its graceful57, terraced peristyles, its chambers58 and divans59, the bright waters beneath, with their painted boats, wherein the ladies of the harem chase the gleaming shoals of gold and silver fish, is a scene worthy60 of a sultan; but my attendant, a Greek employed in the garden, told me I ought to view it on some high festival, crowded by the court in their rich costumes, to appreciate all its impressive beauty. This was a scene not reserved for me, yet my first visit to Shoubra closed with an incident not immemorable.
I had quitted the marble pavilion and was about to visit the wilderness61 where roam, in apparent liberty, many rare animals, when I came, somewhat suddenly, on a small circular plot into which several walks emptied, cut through a thick hedge of myrtle. By a sun-dial stood a little man, robust62, though aged63, rather stout64, and of a very cheerful countenance65; his attire66 plain and simple, a pelisse of dark silk, and a turban white as his snowy beard; he was in merry conversation with his companion, who turned out to be his jester. In the background, against the myrtle wall, stood three or four courtiers in rich dresses—courtiers, for the little old man was their princely master—the great Pasha of Egypt.
1 authentic | |
a.真的,真正的;可靠的,可信的,有根据的 | |
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2 conquerors | |
征服者,占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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3 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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4 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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5 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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6 erased | |
v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;清除 | |
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7 omnipotent | |
adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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8 palatial | |
adj.宫殿般的,宏伟的 | |
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9 usurping | |
篡夺,霸占( usurp的现在分词 ); 盗用; 篡夺,篡权 | |
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10 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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11 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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12 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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13 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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14 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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15 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
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16 populous | |
adj.人口稠密的,人口众多的 | |
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17 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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18 bazaars | |
(东方国家的)市场( bazaar的名词复数 ); 义卖; 义卖市场; (出售花哨商品等的)小商品市场 | |
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19 prancing | |
v.(马)腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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20 enveloped | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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22 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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23 trampling | |
踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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24 citadel | |
n.城堡;堡垒;避难所 | |
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25 apprise | |
vt.通知,告知 | |
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26 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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27 shrines | |
圣地,圣坛,神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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28 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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29 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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30 mosque | |
n.清真寺 | |
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31 domes | |
n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 );像圆屋顶一样的东西;圆顶体育场 | |
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32 minarets | |
n.(清真寺旁由报告祈祷时刻的人使用的)光塔( minaret的名词复数 ) | |
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33 arabesques | |
n.阿拉伯式花饰( arabesque的名词复数 );错综图饰;阿拉伯图案;阿拉贝斯克芭蕾舞姿(独脚站立,手前伸,另一脚一手向后伸) | |
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34 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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35 conservatories | |
n.(培植植物的)温室,暖房( conservatory的名词复数 ) | |
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36 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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37 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
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38 tract | |
n.传单,小册子,大片(土地或森林) | |
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39 epithet | |
n.(用于褒贬人物等的)表述形容词,修饰语 | |
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40 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
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41 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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42 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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43 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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44 mosaic | |
n./adj.镶嵌细工的,镶嵌工艺品的,嵌花式的 | |
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45 pebbles | |
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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46 cypresses | |
n.柏属植物,柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
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47 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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48 walnut | |
n.胡桃,胡桃木,胡桃色,茶色 | |
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49 cloisters | |
n.(学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的)走廊( cloister的名词复数 );回廊;修道院的生活;隐居v.隐退,使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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50 chisel | |
n.凿子;v.用凿子刻,雕,凿 | |
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51 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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52 precedent | |
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的 | |
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53 Moslem | |
n.回教徒,穆罕默德信徒;adj.回教徒的,回教的 | |
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54 carving | |
n.雕刻品,雕花 | |
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55 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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56 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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57 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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58 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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59 divans | |
n.(可作床用的)矮沙发( divan的名词复数 );(波斯或其他东方诗人的)诗集 | |
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60 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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61 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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62 robust | |
adj.强壮的,强健的,粗野的,需要体力的,浓的 | |
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63 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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65 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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66 attire | |
v.穿衣,装扮[同]array;n.衣着;盛装 | |
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