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第14节

egypt-第14节

小说: egypt 字数: 每页4000字

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kind of corridor; astonishingly poor and old; twists itself

suspiciously; and then issues into a narrow court; more than a

thousand years old; where offertory boxes; fixed on Oriental brackets;

invite our alms。 The odour of the incense becomes more pronounced; and

at last a door; hidden in shadow at the end of this retreat; gives

access to the venerable church itself。



The church! It is a mixture of Byzantine basilica; mosque and desert

hut。 Entering there; it is as if we were introduced suddenly to the

na?ve infancy of Christianity; as if we surprised it; as it were; in

its cradlewhich was indeed Oriental。 The triple nave is full of

little children (here also; that is what strikes us first); of little

mites who cry or else laugh and play; and there are mothers suckling

their new…born babesand all the time the invisible mass is being

celebrated beyond; behind the iconostasis。 On the ground; on mats;

whole families are seated in circle; as if they were in their homes。 A

thick deposit of white chalk on the defaced; shrunken walls bears

witness to great age。 And over all this is a strange old ceiling of

cedarwood; traversed by large barbaric beams。



In the nave; supported by columns of marble; brought in days gone by

from Pagan temples; there are; as in all these old Coptic churches;

high transverse wooden partitions; elaborately wrought in the Arab

fashion; which divide it into three sections: the first; into which

one comes on entering the church; is allotted to the women; the second

is for the baptistery; and the third; at the end adjoining the

iconostasis; is reserved for the men。



These women who are gathered this morning in their apportioned space

so much at home there with their suckling little oneswear; almost

all of them; the long black silk veils of former days。 In their

harmonious and endlessly restless groups; the gowns /a la franque/ and

the poor hats of carnival are still the exception。 The congregation;

as a whole; preserves almost intact its na?ve; old…time flavour。



And there is movement too; beyond; in the compartment of the men;

which is bounded at the farther end by the iconostasisa thousand…

year…old wall decorated with inlaid cedarwood and ivory of precious

antique workmanship; and adorned with strange old icons; blackened by

time。 It is behind this wallpierced by several doorwaysthat mass

is now being said。 From this last sanctuary shut off thus from the

people comes the vague sound of singing; from time to time a priest

raises a faded silk curtain and from the threshold makes the sign of

blessing。 His vestments are of gold; and he wears a golden crown; but

the humble faithful speak to him freely; and even touch his gorgeous

garments; that might be those of one of the Wise Kings。 He smiles; and

letting fall the curtain; which covers the entrance to the tabernacle;

disappears again into this innocent mystery。



Even the least things here tell of decay。 The flagstones; trodden by

the feet of numberless dead generations; are become uneven through the

settling of the soil。 Everything is askew; bent; dusty and worn…out。

The daylight comes from above; through narrow barred windows。 There is

a lack of air; so that one almost stifles。 But though the sun does not

enter; a certain indefinable reflection from the whitened walls

reminds us that outside there is a flaming; resplendent Eastern

spring。



In this; the old grandfather; as it were; of churches; filled now with

a cloud of odorous smoke; what one hears; more even than the chanting

of the mass; is the ceaseless movement; the pious agitation of the

faithful; and more even than that; the startling noise that rises from

the holy crypt belowthe sharp clashing of cymbals and those

multitudinous little wailings; that sound like the mewings of kittens。



But let me not harbour thoughts of irony! Surely not。 If; in our

Western lands; certain ceremonies seem to me anti…Christianas; for

example; one of those spectacular high masses in the over…pompous

Cathedral of Cologne; where halberdiers overawe the crowdhere; on

the contrary; the simplicity of this primitive cult is touching and

respectable in the extreme。 These Copts who install themselves in

their church; as round their firesides; who make their home there and

encumber the place with their fretful little ones; have; in their own

way; well understood the word of Him who said: 〃Suffer the little

children to come unto Me; and do not forbid them; for of such is the

kingdom of God。〃







CHAPTER IX



THE RACE OF BRONZE



A monotonous chant on three notes; which must date from the first

Pharaohs; may still be heard in our days on the banks of the Nile;

from the Delta as far as Nubia。 At different places along the river;

half…made men; with torsos of bronze and voices all alike; intone it

in the morning when they commence their endless labours and continue

it throughout the day; until the evening brings repose。



Whoever has journeyed in a dahabiya up the old river will remember

this song of the water…drawers; with its accompaniment; in slow

cadence; of creakings of wet wood。



It is the song of the 〃shaduf;〃 and the 〃shaduf〃 is a primitive

rigging; which has remained unchanged since times beyond all

reckoning。 It is composed of a long antenna; like the yard of a

tartan; which is supported in see…saw fashion on an upright beam; and

carries at its extremity a wooden bucket。 A man; with movements of

singular beauty; works it while he sings; lowers the antenna; draws

the water from the river; and raises the filled bucket; which another

man catches in its ascent and empties into a basin made out of the mud

of the river bank。 When the river is low there are three such basins;

placed one above the other; as if they were stages by which the

precious water mounts to the fields of corn and lucerne。 And then

three 〃shadufs;〃 one above the other; creak together; lowering and

raising their great scarabaeus' horns to the rhythm of the same song。



All along the banks of the Nile this movement of the antennae of the

shadufs is to be seen。 It had its beginning in the earliest ages and

is still the characteristic manifestation of human life along the

river banks。 It ceases only in the summer; when the river; swollen by

the rains of equatorial Africa; overflows this land of Egypt; which it

itself has made in the midst of the Saharan sands。 But in the winter;

which is here a time of luminous drought and changeless blue skies; it

is in full swing。 Then every day; from dawn until the evening prayer;

the men are busy at their water…drawing; transformed for the time into

tireless machines; with muscles that work like metal bands。 The action

never changes; any more than the song; and often their thoughts must

wander from their automatic toil; and lose themselves in some dream;

akin to that of their ancestors who were yoked to the same rigging

four or five thousands years ago。 Their torsos; deluged at each rising

of the overflowing bucket; stream constantly with cold water; and

sometimes the wind is icy; even while the sun burns; but these

perpetual workers are; as we have said; of bronze; and their hardened

bodies take no harm。



These men are the fellahs; the peasants of the valley of the Nile

pure Egyptians; whose type has not changed in the course of centuries。

In the oldest of the bas…reliefs of Thebes or Memphis you may see many

such; with the same noble profile and thickish lips; the same

elongated eyes shadowed by heavy eyelids; the same slender figure;

surmounted by broad shoulders。



The women who from time to time descend to the river; to draw water

also; but in their case in the vases of potters' clay which they

carrythis fetching and carrying of the life…giving water is the one

primordial occupation in this Egypt; which has no rain; nor any living

spring; and subsists only by its riverthese women walk and posture

with an inimitable grace; draped in black veils; which even the

poorest allow to trail behind them; like the train of a court dress。

In this bright land; with its rose…coloured distances; it is strange

to see them; all so sombrely clothed; spots of mourning; as it were;

in the gay fields and the flaring desert。 Machine…like creatures; all

untaught; they yet possess by instinct; as did once the daughters of

Hellas; a sense of nobility in attitude and carriage。 None of the

women of Europe could wear these coarse black stuffs with such a

majestic harmony; and none surely could so raise their bare arms to

place on their heads the heavy jars filled with Nile water; and then;

departing; carry themselves so proudly; so upright and resilient under

their burden。



The muslin tunics which they wear are invariably black like the veils;

set off perhaps with some red embroidery or silver spangles。 They are

unfastened across the chest; and; by a narrow opening which descends

to the girdle; disclose the a

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