Beyond these ruins, at the end of a long avenue bordered with tamarind trees, beyond an artificial lake, is the tomb of Shah Alam. A wide marble court; to the right a mosque9 with three ranks of columns; above, a massive roof crowned with a[Pg 56] bulbous dome10, flanked by fragile minarets11. The fountain for ablutions in the midst of the court is surmounted12 by a marble slab13 supported on slender columns. To the left, under the shade of a large tree, is the mausoleum of marble, yellow with age, looking like amber14, the panels pierced with patterns of freer design than goldsmith's work.
Inside, a subdued15 light, rosy16 and golden, comes in through the myriad17 interstices, casting a glow of colour on the pierced marble screens which enclose the tomb of Shah Alam, Sultan of Gujerat. The tomb itself, hung with a red cloth under a canopy18 on posts inlaid with mother-of-pearl, is dimly seen in the twilight19, scarcely touched here and there with the pearly gleam and lights reflected from ostrich20 eggs and glass balls—toys dedicated21 by the faithful to the hero who lies there in his last sleep. Yet further away, under the trees, is another tomb, almost the same, but less ornamented22, where the sultan's wives repose23.
Finally, in a third mosque, lies Shah Alam's brother. On the stone that covers him a sheet of lead bears the print of two gigantic feet, intended to perpetuate24 to all ages the remembrance of his enormous height.
[Pg 57]
In the town is the tomb of the Ranee Sipri: walls of lace, balconies of brocade carved in stone. Opposite this mausoleum are an open mosque and two minarets as slim as sapling pines, wrought25 with arabesques26 as fine as carved ivory. There are lamps carved in relief on the walls, each hung by chains under-cut in stone with Chinese elaboration; and this lamp is everywhere repeated—on the mosque, on the tomb, and on the base of the minarets. The building, which has the faintly russet tone of old parchment, when seen in the glow of sunset takes a hue27 of ruby28 gold that is almost diaphanous29, as filmy as embroidered30 gauze.
Wherever the alleys31 cross in the bazaar32, open cages are placed on pillars of carved marble or wood, and in these, charitable hands place grain for the birds; thus every evening, round these shelters there is a perpetual flutter of pigeons, minahs, and sparrows, pushing for places, and finally packed closely together, while the little lanterns flash out on all sides, giving a magical aspect to the shopfronts, turning copper33 to gold, fruit to flowers, and falling like a caress34 on the wayfarers35 in thin pale-hued robes.
Back to the station, where we lived in our carriage, far more comfortable than a hotel [Pg 58]bedroom. T., my travelling companion in Gujerat, received a visit from a gentleman badly dressed in the European fashion, and followed by black servants outrageously36 bedizened. When this personage departed in his landau, rather shabby but drawn37 by magnificent horses, T. was obliged to tell me he was a rajah—the Rajah of Surat—quite a genuine rajah, and even very rich, which is somewhat rare in these days among Indian princes.
Some prisoners were brought to the train; a single sepoy led them by a chain. Two carried enormous bales, and the third a heavy case. They packed themselves into a compartment38 that was almost full already, and one of a couple that were chained together by the wrists put the chain round his neck; then, when he had scraped acquaintance with the other travellers, he amused himself by tormenting39 the hawkers of drink and pastry40, bargaining with them for a long time and buying nothing, quite delighted when he had put them in a rage with him.
In the third-class carriages, where the compartments41 are divided by wooden lattice, among the bundles, the copper jars, and the trunks painted in the gaudiest42 colours, sit women in showy saree and decked in all their jewels; children in little silk[Pg 59] coats braided with tinsel, and open over their little bare bodies; men with no garment whatever but a loin-cloth or dhouti. There is endless chatter43, a perpetual bickering44 for places, the bewilderment of those who lose themselves, shouts from one end of the station to the other, and in the foreground of the hubbub45 the incessant46 cries of the water and sweetmeat sellers.
When the express had arrived that morning from Bombay, eight bodies were found of victims to the plague who had died on the way. They were laid on the platform and covered with a white sheet; and in the station there was a perfect panic, a surge of terror which spread to the town, and broke up the market. The shops were all shut, and the people rushed to their knees before the idols48 in the temples.
A naked fakir, his brown skin plastered with flour, and his long black hair all matted, bent49 over the bodies muttering holy words; then flourishing two yellow rags that he took out of a wallet hanging from his shoulder, he exorcised the station, driving away the spectre of the pestilence50; going very fast, running along the line by which the evil had come, and vanishing where the rails ended behind the trees.
[Pg 60]
Music attracted us to where the cross-roads met, darboukhas struck with rapid fingers and a bagpipe51 droning out a lively tune52. The musicians sat among stones and bricks, tapping in quick time on their ass's-skin drums, beating a measure for some masons to work to. Women carried the bricks men spread the mortar53; they all sang and worked with almost dancing movements in time with the music, as if they were at play.
A Ja?n temple. A confusion of ornament4, carved pillars, capitals far too heavy, with a medley54 of animals, gods and flowers, under a roof all graven and embossed. In the sanctuary55, where the walls are riddled56 with carving57, is an enormous Buddha58 of black marble decked out with emeralds, gold beads59 and rare pearls, hanging in necklaces down to his waist. A large diamond blazes in his forehead above crystal eyes, terrifically bright. Every evening all this jewellery—the gift of Hati Singh, a wealthy Ja?n merchant who built the temple—is packed away into a strong-box, which we were shown in the cellar.
All round the sanctuary, in niches60 under a square cloister61, are three hundred and fifty alabaster62 Buddhas63, all alike, with the same jewel in their forehead, and on their shoulders and round their bodies[Pg 61] gold bands set with imitation gems64 and cut glass. An old woman, who had come thither65 at daybreak, had prayed to each of these Buddhas; to each she had offered up the same brief petition, she had struck the three bells on her way, and she was now in the sanctuary, calling out a prayer while beating a gong that hangs from the arch. Meanwhile other worshippers were murmuring their invocations prostrate66 before the jewelled Buddha.
Out in the street a woman, bare-backed, was submitting to be brushed down the spine67 by a neighbour with a brush of cuscus; she scorned to answer me when I asked whether she felt better, but shutting her eyes desired the operator to go on more slowly.
In an ancient mosque, somewhat dilapidated, was an infant-school. Little heaps of stuff, pink and yellow and white, and above them emaciated68 little faces with large dark eyes that had greenish-blue lights in them, all moving and rocking continually, and spelling aloud out of open books set up on wooden folding desks. The master in his pulpit listened stolidly69 with half-shut eyes, and detected the mistakes in all this twitter of little voices.
Not far from Ahmedabad, in a sandy desert[Pg 62] where, nevertheless, a few proliferous baobabs grow, there is a subterranean70 pagoda71 drowned in stagnant72 water that has filled three out of the six floors. These are now sacred baths, in which, when I went there, Hindoos were performing their pious73 ablutions. Sculptured arcades74, upheld by fragile columns, skirt the pools; the stones are green under the water, and undistinguishable from the architecture reflected in the motionless surface that looks blue under the shadow of the great banyan76 trees meeting in an arch over the temple. A sickly scent77 of lotus and sandal-wood fills the moist air, and from afar, faint and shrill78, the cries of monkeys and minah-birds die away into silence over the calm pool.
A little way off, in the burning sandy plain, is a pagoda sacred to the pigeons. Lying as close as tiles, in the sun, they hide the roof under their snowy plumage. Round pots are hung all about the building, swaying in the wind, for the birds to nest in, a red decoration against the russet stone; each one contains an amorous79 and cooing pair.
The Jumna Musjid, in the middle of the bazaar, is a reminder80 of the mosque at Cordova. A thousand[Pg 63] unmatched columns stand in utter confusion of irregular lines, producing a distressing81 sensation of an unfinished structure ready to fall into ruins. Every style is here, and materials of every description, brought hither—as we are told by the inscription82 engraved83 over one of the lofty pointed doorways—from the temples of the unbelievers destroyed by Shah Mahmoud Bogarat, the taker of cities, that he might, out of their remains, raise this mosque to the glory of Allah. In the centre of the arcade75 a large flagstone covers the Ja?n idol47, which was formerly worshipped here; and my servant Abibulla, as a good Moslem84, stamped his foot on the stone under which lies the "contemptible85 image." Some workmen were carving a column; they had climbed up and squatted86 balanced; they held their tools with their toes, just chipping at the marble in a way that seemed to make no impression, chattering87 all the time in short words that seemed all of vowels88.
Behind this mosque, by narrow alleys hung with airy green silk that had just been dyed and spread to dry in the sun, we made our way to the mausoleum of Badorgi Shah: a cloister, an arcade of octagonal columns carved with flowers, and in the court, the tombs of white stone, covered with [Pg 64]inscriptions, that look like arabesques. There are some children's tombs, too, quite small, in finer and even whiter stone, and two tiny stones under which lie Badorgi's parrot and cat.
点击收听单词发音
1 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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2 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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3 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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4 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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5 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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6 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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7 marvels | |
n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 );令人惊奇的事物(或事例);不平凡的成果;成就v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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8 delicacy | |
n.精致,细微,微妙,精良;美味,佳肴 | |
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9 mosque | |
n.清真寺 | |
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10 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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11 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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12 surmounted | |
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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13 slab | |
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上 | |
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14 amber | |
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的 | |
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15 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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16 rosy | |
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
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17 myriad | |
adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量 | |
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18 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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19 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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20 ostrich | |
n.鸵鸟 | |
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21 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
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22 ornamented | |
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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23 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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24 perpetuate | |
v.使永存,使永记不忘 | |
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25 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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26 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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27 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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28 ruby | |
n.红宝石,红宝石色 | |
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29 diaphanous | |
adj.(布)精致的,半透明的 | |
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30 embroidered | |
adj.绣花的 | |
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31 alleys | |
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径 | |
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32 bazaar | |
n.集市,商店集中区 | |
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33 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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34 caress | |
vt./n.爱抚,抚摸 | |
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35 wayfarers | |
n.旅人,(尤指)徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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36 outrageously | |
凶残地; 肆无忌惮地; 令人不能容忍地; 不寻常地 | |
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37 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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38 compartment | |
n.卧车包房,隔间;分隔的空间 | |
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39 tormenting | |
使痛苦的,使苦恼的 | |
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40 pastry | |
n.油酥面团,酥皮糕点 | |
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41 compartments | |
n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 );(列车车厢的)隔间;(家具或设备等的)分隔间;隔层 | |
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42 gaudiest | |
adj.花哨的,俗气的( gaudy的最高级 ) | |
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43 chatter | |
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战 | |
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44 bickering | |
v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 );口角;(水等)作潺潺声;闪烁 | |
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45 hubbub | |
n.嘈杂;骚乱 | |
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46 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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47 idol | |
n.偶像,红人,宠儿 | |
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48 idols | |
偶像( idol的名词复数 ); 受崇拜的人或物; 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物; 神像 | |
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49 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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50 pestilence | |
n.瘟疫 | |
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51 bagpipe | |
n.风笛 | |
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52 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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53 mortar | |
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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54 medley | |
n.混合 | |
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55 sanctuary | |
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区 | |
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56 riddled | |
adj.布满的;充斥的;泛滥的v.解谜,出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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57 carving | |
n.雕刻品,雕花 | |
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58 Buddha | |
n.佛;佛像;佛陀 | |
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59 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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60 niches | |
壁龛( niche的名词复数 ); 合适的位置[工作等]; (产品的)商机; 生态位(一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位) | |
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61 cloister | |
n.修道院;v.隐退,使与世隔绝 | |
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62 alabaster | |
adj.雪白的;n.雪花石膏;条纹大理石 | |
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63 Buddhas | |
n.佛,佛陀,佛像( Buddha的名词复数 ) | |
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64 gems | |
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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65 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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66 prostrate | |
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的 | |
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67 spine | |
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊 | |
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68 emaciated | |
adj.衰弱的,消瘦的 | |
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69 stolidly | |
adv.迟钝地,神经麻木地 | |
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70 subterranean | |
adj.地下的,地表下的 | |
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71 pagoda | |
n.宝塔(尤指印度和远东的多层宝塔),(印度教或佛教的)塔式庙宇 | |
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72 stagnant | |
adj.不流动的,停滞的,不景气的 | |
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73 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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74 arcades | |
n.商场( arcade的名词复数 );拱形走道(两旁有商店或娱乐设施);连拱廊;拱形建筑物 | |
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75 arcade | |
n.拱廊;(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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76 banyan | |
n.菩提树,榕树 | |
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77 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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78 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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79 amorous | |
adj.多情的;有关爱情的 | |
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80 reminder | |
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示 | |
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81 distressing | |
a.使人痛苦的 | |
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82 inscription | |
n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文 | |
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83 engraved | |
v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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84 Moslem | |
n.回教徒,穆罕默德信徒;adj.回教徒的,回教的 | |
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85 contemptible | |
adj.可鄙的,可轻视的,卑劣的 | |
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86 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );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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87 chattering | |
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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88 vowels | |
n.元音,元音字母( vowel的名词复数 ) | |
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