LESSON 9 Damascus and London (I)
第九课 大马士革与伦敦（一）
Damascus is one of the greatest and most truly oriental cities in the world; let us, therefore, for our amusement and instruction, compare it in its general external features with London. In this way we may, perhaps, be able to get a clear idea of an oriental city.
大马士革拥有纯正的东方血统，是世界上最伟大的城市之一。为了能对东方城市有一个更为清晰的认识，同时兼顾消遣和学习，因此咱们拿伦敦和大马士革作对比，对比其一般外部特征的差异。
From the dome of St. Paul's you behold London lying around, like a wide, waving, endless sea of slates, tiles, houses, churches, spires and monuments of all kinds. The eye is relieved with the heights and the hollows, the great and the little, the lowly lanes and the heaven-pointing spires.
从圣保罗大教堂的圆顶处放眼望去，你会看到由各种各样的石板、瓷砖、房屋、教堂、尖塔和纪念碑组成的伦敦，就像是一片宽阔起伏、无边无际的海洋。到处的高地、低洼、大小不一的建筑、低矮的巷子和高耸入云的尖塔，简直就是消除眼疲劳的良药。

In Damascus the scene is very different: there is much less variety; no spires, but multitudes of domes upon the mosques, and baths surmounted by little minarets. The houses are all flat-roofed, and the hue of the whole is a dim ash colour. A stillness like that of the dead reigns over the whole scene; and the city, surrounded with its celebrated evergreen gardens, suggests the idea of a ship sailing away through an ocean of verdure. Dun walls, flat roofs, domes and minarets, the stillness of death and the verdure of paradise, make up the elements of this most charming oriental scene. Tradition tells that Moham'med refused to enter the city, saying, "As there is only one paradise allotted to man, I shall reserve mine for the future world."
而大马士革和伦敦则不同：它很规整，没有尖塔，有的只是许多清真寺上方的圆顶和浴池上方的小尖塔。所有房屋的房顶都是平的，灰色色调，显得死气沉沉；整个大马士革被其著名的常青花园环绕在内，这不禁使人联想到一艘在碧绿的海洋中远航的大船。灰褐色的墙壁、平坦的屋顶、圆屋顶和尖塔、死一般的寂静和天堂碧绿，这一切不正是东方景致中最令人着迷的元素所在。传闻说默罕默德当年拒绝进入这座城市，他说：“因为人类只能进一次天堂，所以我要把我的那次留在未来。（人生只能进天堂一次，大马士革是人间天堂，如果我现在进了这个天堂，将来怎能再进天上的天堂呢？）”
London and most large western cities are very often surmounted by clouds of smoke, owing to the coldness of the climate and the great consumption of coal. The sky over Damascus appears as bright and serene as elsewhere.
伦敦就和其他大多数西方城市一样，因为寒冷的气候和大量煤炭的使用，导致其常年被烟雾笼罩。然而，大马士革上方的天空却和别处的天空一样，明亮而又清澈。