Through this summer calm voyages our great steamer, a world in itself, an exhibition, a fair, a f阾e, a camp-meeting, cut loose from the earth and set afloat. There are not less than eight hundred pilgrims on board, people known as first-class and second-class stowed in every nook and corner. Forward of the first cabin, the deck of the long vessel4 is packed with human beings, two deep and sometimes crossed, a crowd which it is almost impossible to penetrate5. We look down into the hold upon a mass of bags and bundles and Russians heaped indiscriminately together,—and it is very difficult to distinguish a Russian woman from a bundle of old clothes, when she is in repose6. These people travel with their bedding, their babies, and their cooking utensils7, and make a home wherever they sit down.
The forward passengers have overflowed8 their limits and extend back upon our portion of the deck, occupying all one side of it to the stern, leaving the so-called privileged class only a narrow promenade9 on the starboard side. These intruders are, however, rather first-class second-class. Parties of them are camped down in small squares, which become at once miniature seraglios. One square is occupied by wealthy Moslems from Damascus, and in another is a stately person who is rumored11 to be the Prince of Damascus. These turbaned and silk-clad Orientals have spread their bright rugs and cushions, and lounge here all day and sleep here at night; some of them entertain themselves with chess, but the most of them only smoke and talk little. Why should they talk? has not enough already been said in the world? At intervals12 during the day, ascertaining13, I do not know how, the direction of Mecca, these grave men arise, spread their prayer-carpets, and begin in unison14 their kneelings and prostrations, servants and masters together, but the servants behind their masters. Next to them, fenced off by benches, is a harem square, occupied by veiled women, perhaps the wives of these Moslems and perhaps "some others." All the deck is a study of brilliant costume.
A little later the Oriental prince turns out to be only a Turkish pasha, who has a state-room below for himself, and another for his harem; but in another compartment15 of our flower-bed of a deck is a merchant-prince of Damascus, whose gorgeousness would impose upon people more sophisticated than we.
"He no prince; merchant like me," explains Achmed, "and very rich, God be merciful."
"But why don't you travel about like that, Achmed, and make a fine display?"
"For why? Anybody say Mohammed Achmed any more respect? What for I show my rich? Take my advice. When I am dragoman, I am servant; and dress [here a comico-sarcastic glance at his plain but handsome dragoman apparel] not in monkey shine, like Selim—you remember him—at Jaffa, fierce like a Bedawee. I make business. When I am by my house, that is another thing."
The pasha has rooms below, and these contiguous squares on deck are occupied, the one by his suite17 and the other by their ladies and slaves, all veiled and presumably beautiful, lolling on the cushions in the ennui18 that appears to be their normal condition. One of them is puffing19 a cigarette under her white veil at the risk of a conflagration20. One of the slaves, with an olive complexion21 and dark eyes, is very pretty, and rather likes to casually22 leave her face uncovered for the benefit of the infidels who are about; that her feet and legs are bare she cares still less. This harem is, however, encroached upon by Greek women, who sprawl23 about with more freedom, and regard the world without the hindrance24 of a veil. If they are not handsome, they are at least not self-conscious, as you would think women would be in baggy25 silk trousers and embroidered26 jackets.
In the afternoon we came in sight of the ancient coasts of Pamphylia and Lycia and a lovely range of what we took to be the Karamanian mountains, snow-covered and half hid in clouds, all remote and dim to our vision as the historical pageant27 of Assyrian, Persian, and Roman armies on these shores is to our memory. Eastward28 on that rugged29 coast we know is Cilicia and the Tarsus of Paul and Haroun al Raschid. The sunset on the Lycian mountains was glorious; the foot by the water was veiled in golden mist; the sea sank from indigo to purple, and when the light waves broke flecks30 of rose or blood flowed on the surface.
After dark, and before we were abreast31 of old Xanthus, we descried32 the famous natural light which is almost as mysterious to the moderns as it was to the ancients. The Handbook says of it: "About two miles from the coast, through a fertile plain, and then ascending33 a woody glen, the traveller arrives at the Zanar, or volcanic34 flame, which issues perpetually from the mountain." Pliny says: "Mount Chimaera, near Phaselis, emits an unceasing flame that burns day and night." Captain Beaufort observed it from the ship during the night as a small but steady light among the hills. We at first mistook it for a lighthouse. But it was too high above the water for that, and the flame was too large; it was rather a smoky radiance than a point of light, and yet it had a dull red centre and a duller luminous35 surrounding. We regarded with curiosity and some awe16 a flame that had been burning for over twenty centuries, and perhaps was alight before the signal-fires were kindled36 to announce the fall of Troy,—Nature's own Pharos to the ancient mariners37 who were without compass on these treacherous38 seas.
Otherwise, this classic coast is dark, extinguished is the fire on the altar of Apollo at Patera, silent is the winter oracle39 of this god, and desolate40 is the once luxurious41 metropolis42 of Lycia. Even Xanthus, the capital, a name disused by the present inhabitants, has little to show of Greek culture or Persian possession, and one must seek the fragments of its antique art in the British Museum.
Coming on deck the next morning at the fresh hour of sunrise, I found we were at Rhodes. We lay just off the semicircular harbor, which is clasped by walls—partly shaken down by earthquakes—which have noble round towers at each embracing end. Rhodes is, from the sea, one of the most picturesque43 cities in the Mediterranean44, although it has little remains45 of that ancient splendor46 which caused Strabo to prefer it to Rome or Alexandria. The harbor wall, which is flanked on each side by stout47 and round stone windmills, extends up the hill, and, becoming double, surrounds the old town; these massive fortifications of the Knights49 of St. John have withstood the onsets50 of enemies and the tremors51 of the earth, and, with the ancient moat, excite the curiosity of this so-called peaceful age of iron-clads and monster cannon52. The city ascends53 the slope of the hill and passes beyond the wall. Outside and on the right towards the sea are a picturesque group of a couple of dozen stone windmills, and some minarets54 and a church-tower or two. Higher up the hill is sprinkled a little foliage55, a few mulberry-trees, and an isolated56 palm or two; and, beyond, the island is only a mass of broken, bold, rocky mountains. Of its forty-five miles of length, running southwesterly from the little point on which the city stands, we can see but little.
Whether or not Rhodes emerged from the sea at the command of Apollo, the Greeks expressed by this tradition of its origin their appreciation57 of its gracious climate, fertile soil, and exquisite58 scenery. From remote antiquity59 it had fame as a seat of arts and letters, and of a vigorous maritime60 power, and the romance of its early centuries was equalled if not surpassed when it became the residence of the Knights of St. John. I believe that the first impress of its civilization was given by the Phoenicians; it was the home of the Dorian race before the time of the Trojan war, and its three cities were members of the Dorian Hexapolis; it was in fact a flourishing maritime confederacy, strong enough to send colonies to the distant Italian coast, and Sybaris and Parthenope (modern Naples) perpetuated61 the luxurious refinement62 of their founders63. The city of Rhodes itself was founded about four hundred years before Christ, and the splendor of its palaces, its statues and paintings, gave it a pre-eminence among the most magnificent cities of the ancient world. If the earth of this island could be made to yield its buried treasures as Cyprus has, we should doubtless have new proofs of the influence of Asiatic civilization upon the Greeks, and be able to trace in the early Doric arts and customs the superior civilization of the Phoenicians, and of the masters of the latter, in science and art, the Egyptians.
Naturally, every traveller who enters the harbor of Rhodes hopes to see the site of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Colossus. He is free to place it on either mole64 at the entrance of the harbor, but he comprehends at once that a statue which was only one hundred and five feet high could never have extended its legs across the port. The fame of this colossal65 bronze statue of the sun is disproportioned to the period of its existence; it stood only fifty-six years after its erection, being shaken down by an earthquake in the year 224 b.c., and encumbering66 the ground with its fragments till the advent67 of the Moslem10 conquerors68.
When we landed, the town was not yet awake, except the boatmen and the coffee-houses by the landing-stairs. The Greek boatman, whom we accepted as our guide, made an unsuccessful excursion for bread, finding only a black uneatable mixture, sprinkled with aromatic69 seeds; but we sat under the shelter of an old sycamore in a lovely place by the shore, and sipped70 our coffee, and saw the sun coming over Lycia, and shining on the old towers and walls of the Knights.
Passing from the quay71 through a highly ornamented72 Gothic gateway73, we ascended74 the famous historic street, still called the Street of the Knights, the massive houses of which have withstood the shocks of earthquakes and the devastation75 of Saracenic and Turkish occupation. At this hour the street was as deserted76 as it was three centuries and a half ago, when the Knights sorrowfully sailed out of the harbor in search of a new home. Their four months' defence of the city., against the overwhelming force of Suleiman the Magnificent, added a new lustre77 to their valor78, and extorted79 the admiration80 of the victor and the most honorable terms of surrender. With them departed the prosperity of Rhodes. This street, of whose palaces we have heard so much, is not imposing81; it is not wide, its solid stone houses are only two stories high, and their fronts are now disfigured by cheap Arab balconies, but the fa鏰des are gray with age. All along are remains of carved windows. Gothic sculptured doorways82, and shields and coats of arms, crosses and armorial legends, are set in the walls, partially83 defaced by time and accident; for the Moslems, apparently84 inheriting the respect of Suleiman for the Knights, have spared the mementos85 of their faith and prowess. I saw no inscriptions86 that are intact, but made out upon one shield the words voluntas mei est. The carving87 is all beautiful.
We went through the silent streets, waking only echoes of the past, out to the ruins of the once elegant church of St. John, which was shaken down by a powder-explosion some thirty years ago, and utterly88 flattened89 by an earthquake some years afterwards. Outside the ramparts we met, and saluted90 frith the freedom of travellers, a gorgeous Turk who was taking the morning air, and whom our guide in bated breath said was the governor. In this part of the town is the Mosque91 of Suleiman; in the portal are two lovely marble columns, rich with age; the lintels are exquisitely92 carved with flowers, arms, casques, musical instruments, the crossed sword and the torch, and the mandolin, perhaps the emblem93 of some troubadour knight48. Wherever we went we found bits of old carving, remains of columns, sections of battlemented roofs. The town is saturated94 with the old Knights. Near the mosque is a foundation of charity, a public kitchen, at which the poor were fed or were free to come and cook their food; it is in decay now, and the rooks were sailing about its old round-topped chimneys.
There are no Hellenic remains in the city, and the only remembrance of that past which we searched for was the antique coin, which has upon one side the head of Medusa and upon the other the rose (rhoda) which gave the town its name. The town was quiet; but in pursuit of this coin in the Jews' quarter we started up swarms95 of traders, were sent from Isaac to Jacob, and invaded dark shops and private houses where Jewish women and children were just beginning to complain of the morning light. Our guide was a jolly Greek, who was willing to awaken96 the whole town in search of a silver coin. The traders, when we had routed them out, had little to show in the way of antiquities97. Perhaps the best representative of the modern manufactures of Rhodes is the wooden shoe, which is in form like the Damascus clog98, but is inlaid with more taste. The people whom we encountered in our morning walk were Greeks or Jews.
The morning atmosphere was delicious, and we could well believe that the climate of Rhodes is the finest in the Mediterranean, and also that it is the least exciting of cities.
"Is it always so peaceful here?" we asked the guide.
"Nothing, if you please," said he, "has happened here since the powder-explosion, nothing in the least."
"And is the town as healthy as they say?"
"Nobody dies."
The town is certainly clean, if it is in decay. In one street we found a row of mulberry-trees down the centre, but they were half decayed, like the street. I shall always think of Rhodes as a silent city,—except in the Jews' quarter, where the hope of selling an old coin set the whole hive humming,—and I suspect that is its normal condition.
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1
indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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grotto
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| n.洞穴 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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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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rumored
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| adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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sprawl
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| vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延 | |
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hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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baggy
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| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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flecks
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| n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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41
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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42
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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43
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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45
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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46
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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50
onsets
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| 攻击，袭击（onset的复数形式） | |
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51
tremors
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| 震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动 | |
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52
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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53
ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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54
minarets
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| 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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55
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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perpetuated
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| vt.使永存（perpetuate的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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encumbering
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的现在分词 ) | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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70
sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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79
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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80
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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81
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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82
doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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83
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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84
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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85
mementos
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| 纪念品，令人回忆的东西( memento的名词复数 ) | |
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86
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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87
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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88
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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89
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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90
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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91
mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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92
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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93
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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94
saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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95
swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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96
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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97
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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98
clog
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| vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐 | |
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