We stumbled about also on the south side of the town, and saw the reputed place of St. Paul's escape, which has been lately changed. It is a ruined Saracenic tower in the wall, under which is Bab Kisan, a gate that has been walled up for seven hundred years. The window does not any more exist from which the apostle was let down in a basket, but it used to be pointed7 out with confidence, and I am told that the basket is still shown, but we did not see it. There are still some houses on this south wall, and a few of them have projecting windows from which a person might easily be lowered. It was in such a house that the harlot of Jericho lived, who contrived8 the escape of the spies of Joshua. And we see how thick and substantial the town walls of that city must have been to support human habitations. But they were blown down.
Turning southward into the country, we came to the tomb of the porter who assisted Paul's escape, and who now sleeps here under the weight of the sobriquet9 of St. George. A little farther out on the same road is located the spot of Said's conversion10.
Near it is the English cemetery11, a small high-walled enclosure, containing a domed12 building surmounted13 by a cross; and in this historical spot, whose mutations of race, religion, and government would forbid the most superficial to construct for it any cast-iron scheme of growth or decay, amid these almost melancholy14 patches of vegetation which still hover15 in the Oriental imagination as the gardens of all delights, sleeps undisturbed by ambition or by criticism, having at last, let us hope, solved the theory of "averages," the brilliant Henry T. Buckle16.
Not far off is the Christian17 cemetery. "Who is buried here?" I asked our thick-witted guide.
"O, anybody," he replied, cheerfully, "Greeks, French, Italians, anybody you like"; as if I could please myself by interring18 here any one I chose.
Among the graves was a group of women, hair dishevelled and garments loosened in the abandon of mourning, seated about a rough coffin19 open its entire length. In it lay the body of a young man who had been drowned, and recovered from the water after three days. The women lifted up his dead hands, let them drop heavily, and then wailed20 and howled, throwing themselves into attitudes of the most passionate21 grief. It was a piteous sight, there under the open sky, in the presence of an unsympathizing crowd of spectators.
Returning, we went round by the large Moslem22 cemetery, situated23 at the southwest corner of the city. It is, like all Moslem burying-grounds, a melancholy spectacle,—a mass of small whitewashed24 mounds25 of mud or brick, with an inscribed26 headstone,—but here rest some of the most famous men and women of Moslem history. Here is the grave of Ibn' As鈑er, the historian of Damascus; here rests the fierce Moawyeh, the founder27 of the dynasty of the Omeiyades; and here are buried three of the wives of Mohammed, and Fatimeh, his granddaughter, the child of Ali, whose place of sepulture no man knows. Upon nearly every tomb is a hollow for water, and in it is a sprig of myrtle, which is renewed every Friday by the women who come here to mourn and to gossip.
Much of the traveller's time, and perhaps the most enjoyable part of it, in Damascus, is spent in the bazaars, cheapening scarfs and rugs and the various silken products of Syrian and Persian looms28, picking over dishes of antique coins, taking impressions of intaglios, hunting for curious amulets29, and searching for the quaintest31 and most brilliant Saracenic tiles. The quest of the antique is always exciting, and the inexperienced is ever hopeful that he will find a gem33 of value in a heap of rubbish; this hope never abandons the most blase34 tourist, though in time he comes to understand that the sharp-nosed Jew, or the oily Armenian, or the respectable Turk, who spreads his delusive35 wares36 before him, knows quite as well as the Seeker the value of any bit of antiquity37, not only in Damascus, but in Constantinople, Paris, and London, and is an adept38 in all the counterfeits39 and impositions of the Orient.
The bazaars of the antique, of old armor, ancient brasses40, and of curiosities generally, and even of the silver and gold smiths, are disappointing after Cairo; they are generally full of rubbish from which the choice things seem to have been culled42; indeed, the rage for antiquities43 is now so great that sharp buyers from Europe range all the Orient and leave little for the innocent and hopeful tourist, who is aghast at the prices demanded, and usually finds himself a victim of his own cleverness when he pays for any article only a fourth of the price at first asked.
The silk bazaars of Damascus still preserve, however, a sort of pre-eminence of opportunity, although they are largely supplied by the fabrics44 manufactured at Beyrout and in other Syrian towns. Certainly no place is more tempting45 than one of the silk khans,—gloomy old courts, in the galleries of which you find little apartments stuffed full of the seductions of Eastern looms. For myself, I confess to the fascination46 of those stuffs of brilliant dyes, shot with threads of gold and of silver. I know a tall, oily-tongued Armenian, who has a little chamber47 full of shelves, from which he takes down one rich scarf after another, unfolds it, shakes out its shining hues48, and throws it on the heap, until the room is littered with gorgeous stuffs. He himself is clad in silk attire49, he is tall, suave50, insinuating51, grave, and overwhelmingly condescending52. I can see him now, when I question the value put upon a certain article which I hold in my hand and no doubt betray my admiration53 of in my eyes,—I can see him now throw back his head, half close his Eastern eyes, and exclaim, as if he had hot pudding in his mouth, "Thot is ther larster price."
I can see Abd-el-Atti now, when we had made up a package of scarfs, and offered a certain sum for the lot, which the sleek54 and polite trader refused, with his eternal, "Thot is ther larster price," sling55 the articles about the room, and depart in rage. And I can see the Armenian bow us into the corridor with the same sweet courtesy, knowing very well that the trade is only just begun; that it is, in fact, under good headway; that the Arab will return, that he will yield a little from the "larster price," and that we shall go away loaded with his wares, leaving him ruined by the transaction, but proud to be our friend.
Our experience in purchasing old Saracenic and Persian tiles is perhaps worth relating as an illustration of the character of the traders of Damascus. Tiles were plenty enough, for several ancient houses had recently been torn down, and the dealers56 continually acquire them from ruined mosques57 or those that are undergoing repairs. The dragoman found several lots in private houses, and made a bargain for a certain number at two francs and a half each; and when the bargain was made, I spent half a day in selecting the specimens58 we desired.
The next morning, before breakfast, we went to make sure that the lots we had bought would be at once packed and shipped. But a change had taken place in twelve hours. There was an Englishman in town who was also buying tiles; this produced a fever in the market; an impression went abroad that there was a fortune to be made in tiles, and we found that our bargain was entirely59 ignored. The owners supposed that the tiles we had selected must have some special value; and they demanded for the thirty-eight which we had chosen—agreeing to pay for them two francs and a half apiece—thirty pounds. In the house where we had laid aside seventy-three others at the same price, not a tile was to be discovered; the old woman who showed us the vacant chamber said she knew not what had become of them, but she believed they had been sold to an Englishman.
We returned to the house first mentioned, resolved to devote the day if necessary to the extraction of the desired tiles from the grip of their owners. The contest began about eight o'clock in the morning; it was not finished till three in the afternoon, and it was maintained on our side with some disadvantage, the only nutriment that sustained us being a cup of tea which we drank very early in the morning. The scene of the bargain was the paved court of the house, in which there was a fountain and a lemon-tree, and some rose-trees trained on espaliers along the walls. The tempting enamelled tiles were piled up at one side of the court and spread out in rows in the lew鈔,—the open recess60 where guests are usually received. The owners were two Greeks, brothers-in-law, polite, cunning, sharp, the one inflexible61, the other yielding,—a combination against which it is almost impossible to trade with safety, for the yielding one constantly allures62 you into the grip of the inflexible. The women of the establishment, comely63 Greeks, clattered64 about the court on their high wooden pattens for a time, and at length settled down, in an adjoining apartment, to their regular work of embroidering65 silken purses and tobacco-pouches, taking time, however, for an occasional cigarette or a pull at a narghileh, and, in a constant chatter66, keeping a lively eye upon the trade going on in the court. The handsome children added not a little to the liveliness of the scene, and their pranks67 served to soften68 the asperities69 of the encounter; although I could not discover, after repeated experiments, that any affection lavished70 upon the children lowered the price of the tiles. The Greek does not let sentiment interfere71 with business, and he is much more difficult to deal with than an Arab, who occasionally has impulses.
Each tile was the subject of a separate bargain and conflict. The dicker went on in Arabic, Greek, broken English, and dislocated French, and was participated in not only by the parties most concerned, but by the young Greek guide and by the donkey-boys. Abd-el-Atti exhibited all the qualities of his generalship. He was humorous, engaging, astonished, indignant, serious, playful, threatening, indifferent. Beaten on one grouping of specimens, he made instantly a new combination; more than once the transaction was abruptly72 broken off in mutual73 rage, obstinacy74, and recriminations; and it was set going again by a timely jocularity or a seeming concession75. I can see now the soft Greek take up a tile which had painted on it some quaint32 figure or some lovely flower, dip it in the fountain to bring out its brilliant color, and then put it in the sun for our admiration; and I can see the dragoman shake his head in slow depreciation76, and push it one side, when that tile was the one we had resolved to possess of all others, and was the undeclared centre of contest in all the combinations for an hour thereafter.
When the day was two thirds spent we had purchased one hundred tiles, jealously watched the packing of each one, and seen the boxes nailed and corded. We could not have been more exhausted77 if we had undergone an examination for a doctorate78 of law in a German university. Two boxes, weighing two hundred pounds each, were hoisted79 upon the backs of mules80 and sent to the French company's station; there does not appear to be a dray or a burden-cart in Damascus; all freight is carried upon the back of a mule30 or a horse, even long logs and whole trunks of trees.
When this transaction was finished, our Greek guide, who had heard me ask the master of the house for brass41 trays, told me that a fellow whom I had noticed hanging about there all the morning had some trays to show me; in fact, he had at his house "seventeen trays." I thought this a rich find, for the beautiful antique brasses of Persia are becoming rare even in Damascus; and, tired as we were, we rode across the city for a mile to a secluded81 private house, and were shown into an upper chamber. What was our surprise to find spread out there the same "seventy-three" tiles that we had purchased the day before, and which had been whisked away from us. By "seventeen tray," the guide meant "seventy-three." We told the honest owner that he was too late; we had already tiles enough to cover his tomb.
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1
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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2
bazaars
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| （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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3
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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4
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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7
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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8
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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9
sobriquet
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| n.绰号 | |
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10
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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12
domed
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| adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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13
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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14
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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15
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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16
buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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18
interring
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| v.埋，葬( inter的现在分词 ) | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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22
Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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23
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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24
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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26
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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28
looms
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| n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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29
amulets
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| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
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30
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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31
quaintest
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| adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 )；少见的，古怪的 | |
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32
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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34
blase
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| adj.厌烦于享乐的 | |
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delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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36
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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37
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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38
adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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39
counterfeits
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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40
brasses
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| n.黄铜( brass的名词复数 )；铜管乐器；钱；黄铜饰品（尤指马挽具上的黄铜圆片） | |
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41
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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42
culled
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| v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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44
fabrics
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| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
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45
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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46
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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47
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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48
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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49
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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50
suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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51
insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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52
condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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53
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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54
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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55
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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56
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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57
mosques
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| 清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
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58
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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59
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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60
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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61
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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62
allures
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| 诱引，吸引( allure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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64
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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65
embroidering
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| v.（在织物上）绣花( embroider的现在分词 )；刺绣；对…加以渲染（或修饰）；给…添枝加叶 | |
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66
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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67
pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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68
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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69
asperities
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| n.粗暴( asperity的名词复数 )；（表面的）粗糙；（环境的）艰苦；严寒的天气 | |
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70
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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72
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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73
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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74
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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75
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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76
depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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77
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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78
doctorate
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| n.(大学授予的)博士学位 | |
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79
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
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