英國語文第六冊(cè)(雙語):大馬士革與倫敦（二）(2)

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A certain baker in Constantinople used false weights in selling his bread: the Sultan ordered him to be roasted alive in his own oven, and afterwards boasted that this one act of severity had effectually prevented all similar crimes. Here you see the principle of government in the East;—it is nothing but terror and religious fanaticism.

曾經(jīng)有一個(gè)君士坦丁堡的面包師在賣面包的時(shí)候缺斤少兩：蘇丹便下令將此人放在其烤面包的烤爐里生烤，之后還吹噓自己的殘酷之舉有效地預(yù)防了類似違法犯罪事件的發(fā)生。由此便可見東方政府做事的原則；——只有恐怖和宗教狂熱。

As to coffee-houses, there are plenty of them in Damascus; but they can hardly be called houses, much less palaces: they are open courts with fountains of water, sheltered from the sun; and in many cases they have little stools, some six inches high, on which, if you do not prefer the ground, you can rest while you enjoy your sherbet, coffee, and tobacco. Pipes, nargilies, ices, eau sucre, sherbet, and fruits of all kinds, are in abundance, and of the lowest possible price.

說到喝咖啡的屋子，大馬士革倒是有很多；但是那些所謂喝咖啡的屋子也只能勉強(qiáng)稱其為“咖啡屋”，離真正的咖啡廳還差得遠(yuǎn)：就是一些有噴泉的開放式庭院，庭院上面有遮陽棚；庭院內(nèi)通常會(huì)放置一些六英尺高的小凳子，不喜歡坐在地上的客人們便可以坐在小凳子上享受著冰凍果子露、咖啡和香煙，煙管、水煙筒、冰凍食品、軟水、冰凍果汁和各種水果應(yīng)有盡有，而且價(jià)格極低。

These cafés are very quiet: there is no excitement, no reading of newspapers, no discussion of politics and religion; no fiery demagogue or popular orator to mislead the people; no Attic wit provokes a smile, and no bold repartee calls forth applauding laughter on the other side. But yet they have their own amusements, and they play earnestly at games both of chance and of skill. The traveller tells his escapes and dangers to an admiring little circle; the story-teller repeats one of the "Thousand and One Nights" to a wondering audience; and if memory fails, the imagination, fertile as an oriental spring, supplies its boundless stores.

咖啡屋內(nèi)很安靜：沒有人喧嘩，沒有人讀報(bào)紙，沒有人談?wù)撜魏妥诮?；也沒有斗志昂揚(yáng)的鼓吹者和誤導(dǎo)群眾的演講家；沒有逗趣耍小聰明之人，也沒有妙語之人在另一邊叱咤風(fēng)云引起喝彩和哄堂大笑。但是，每個(gè)人又都有其自己的娛樂方式——認(rèn)真地玩著需要技巧的賭博游戲。有一小圈兒人面露欽佩、圍在一名游客旁聽他講述自己的逃跑和危險(xiǎn)經(jīng)歷；那名游客實(shí)則是把“一千零一夜”里的其中一個(gè)故事來回地講給這群已經(jīng)著了迷的聽眾；如果不小心忘記了故事情節(jié)，那名游客的想象力便會(huì)像這東方的噴泉一樣源源不斷地迸發(fā)，把故事扯得越來越遠(yuǎn)。