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第7节

egypt-第7节

小说: egypt 字数: 每页4000字

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was such that they stampeded like a herd of cattle; and the Pharaoh

was overturned。 He has; moreover; given much cause for conversation;

this great Sesostris; since his installation in the museum。 Suddenly

one day with a brusque gesture; in the presence of the attendants; who

fled howling with fear; he raised that hand which is still in the air;

and which he has not deigned since to lower。'*' And subsequently there

supervened; beginning in the old yellowish…white hair; and then

swarming over the whole body; a hatching of cadaveric fauna; which

necessitated a complete bath in mercury。 He also has his paper ticket;

pasted on the end of his box; and one may read there; written in a

careless hand; that name which once caused the whole world to tremble

〃Ramses II。 (Sesostris)〃! It need not be said that he has greatly

fallen away and blackened even in the fifteen yeas that I have known

him。 He is a phantom that is about to disappear; in spite of all the

care lavished upon him; a poor phantom about to fall to pieces; to

sink into nothingness。 We move our lantern about his hooked nose; the

better to decipher; in the play of shadow; his expression; that still

remains authoritative。 。 。 。 To think that once the destinies of the

world were ruled; without appeal; by the nod of this head; which looks

now somewhat narrow; under the dry skin and the horrible whitish hair。

What force of will; of passion and colossal pride must once have dwelt

therein! Not to mention the anxiety; which to us now is scarcely

conceivable; but which in his time overmastered all othersthe

anxiety; that is to say; of assuring the magnificence and

inviolability of sepulture! 。 。 。 And this horrible scarecrow;

toothless and senile; lying here in its filthy rags; with the hand

raised in an impotent menace; was once the brilliant Sesostris; the

master of kings; and by virtue of his strength and beauty the demigod

also; whose muscular limbs and deep athletic chest many colossal

statues at Memphis; at Thebes; at Luxor; reproduce and try to make

eternal。 。 。 。



'*' This movement is explained by the action of the sun; which;

    falling on the unclothed arm; is supposed to have expanded the

    bone of the elbow。



In the next coffin lies his father; Seti I。; who reigned for a much

shorter period; and died much younger than he。 This youthfulness is

apparent still in the features of the mummy; which are impressed

besides with a persistent beauty。 Indeed this good King Seti looks the

picture of calm and serene reverie。 There is nothing shocking in his

dead face; with its long closed eyes; its delicate lips; its noble

chin and unblemished profile。 It is soothing and pleasant even to see

him sleeping there with his hands crossed upon his breast。 And it

seems strange; that he; who looks so young; should have for son the

old man; almost a centenarian; who lies beside him。



In our passage we have gazed on many other royal mummies; some

tranquil and some grimacing。 But; to finish; there is one of them (the

third coffin there; in the row in front of us); a certain Queen

Nsitanebashru; whom I approach with fear; albeit it is mainly on her

account that I have ventured to make this fantastical round。 Even in

the daytime she attains to the maximum of horror that a spectral

figure can evoke。 What will she be like to…night in the uncertain

light of our little lantern?



There she is indeed; the dishevelled vampire in her place right

enough; stretched at full length; but looking always as if she were

about to leap up; and straightway I meet the sidelong glance of her

enamelled pupils; shining out of half…closed eyelids; with lashes that

are still almost perfect。 Oh! the terrifying person! Not that she is

ugly; on the contrary we can see that she was rather pretty and was

mummied young。 What distinguishes her from the others is her air of

thwarted anger; of fury; as it were; at being dead。 The embalmers have

coloured her very religiously; but the pink; under the action of the

salts of the skin; has become decomposed here and there and given

place to a number of green spots。 Her naked shoulders; the height of

the arms above the rags which were once her splendid shroud; have

still a certain sleek roundness; but they; too; are stained with

greenish and black splotches; such as may be seen on the skins of

snakes。 Assuredly no corpse; either here or elsewhere; has ever

preserved such an expression of intense life; of ironical; implacable

ferocity。 Her mouth is twisted in a little smile of defiance; her

nostrils pinched like those of a ghoul on the scent of blood; and her

eyes seem to say to each one who approaches: 〃Yes; I am laid in my

coffin; but you will very soon see I can get out of it。〃 There is

something confusing in the thought that the menace of this terrible

expression; and this appearance of ill…restrained ferocity had endured

for some hundreds of years before the commencement of our era; and

endured to no purpose in the secret darkness of a closed coffin at the

bottom of some doorless vault。



Now that we are about to retire; what will happen here; with the

complicity of silence; in the darkest hours of the night? Will they

remain inert and rigid; all these embalmed bodies; once left to

themselves; who pretended to be so quiet because we were there? What

exchanges of old human fluid will recommence; as who can doubt they do

each night between one coffin and another。 Formerly these kings and

queens; in their anxiety as to the future of their mummy; had foreseen

violation; pillage and scattering amongst the sands of the desert; but

never this: that they would be reunited one day; almost all unveiled;

so near to one another under panes of glass。 Those who governed Egypt

in the lost centuries and were never known except by history; by the

papyri inscribed with hieroglyphics; brought thus together; how many

things will they have to say to one another; how many ardent questions

to ask about their loves; about their crimes! As soon as we shall have

departed; nay; as soon as our lantern; at the end of the long

galleries; shall seem no more than a foolish; vanishing spot of fire;

will not the 〃forms〃 of whom the attendants are so afraid; will they

not start their nightly rumblings and in their hollow mummy voices;

whisper; with difficulty; words? 。 。 。



Heavens! How dark it is! Yet our lantern has not gone out。 But it

seems to grow darker and darker。 And at night; when all is shut up;

how one smells the odour of the oils in which the shrouds are

saturated; and; more intolerable still; the sickly stealthy stench;

almost; of all these dead bodies! 。 。 。



As I traverse the obscurity of these endless halls; a vague instinct

of self…preservation induces me to turn back again; and look behind。

And it seems to me that already the woman with the baby is slowly

raising herself; with a thousand precautions and stratagems; her head

still completely covered。 While farther down; that dishevelled

hair。 。 。 。 Oh! I can see her well; sitting up with a sudden jerk; the

ghoul with the enamel eyes; the lady Nsitanebashru!







CHAPTER V



A CENTRE OF ISLAM



  〃To learn is the duty of every Moslem。〃

        Verse from the Hadith or Words of the Prophet。



In a narrow street; hidden in the midst of the most ancient Arab

quarters of Cairo; in the very heat of a close labyrinth mysteriously

shady; an exquisite doorway opens into a wide space bathed in

sunshine; a doorway formed of two elaborate arches; and surmounted by

a high frontal on which intertwined arabesques form wonderful

rosework; and holy writings are enscrolled with the most ingenious

complications。



It is the entrance to El…Azhar; a venerable place in Islam; whence

have issued for nearly a thousand years the generations of priests and

doctors charged with the propagation of the word of the Prophet

amongst the nations; from the Mohreb to the Arabian Sea; passing

through the great deserts。 About the end of our tenth century the

glorious Fatimee Caliphs built this immense assemblage of arches and

columns; which became the seat of the most renowned Moslem university

in the world。 And since then successive sovereigns of Egypt have vied

with one another in perfecting and enlarging it; adding new halls; new

galleries; new minarets; till they have made of El…Azhar almost a town

within a town。



*****



 〃He who seeks instruction is more loved of God than he who fights

  in a holy war。〃

        A verse from the Hadith。



Eleven o'clock on a day of burning sunshine and dazzling light。 El…

Azhar still vibrates with the murmur of many voices; although the

lessons of the morning are nearly finished。



Once past the threshold of the double ornamented door we enter the

courtyard; at this moment empty as the desert and dazzling with

sunshine。 Beyond; quite open; the mosque spreads out its endless

arcades; which are continu

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