英國語文第六冊(雙語):尼羅河流域(4)

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Continuing a course against the stream, the traveller passes many interesting scenes, —the great corn tract of Faioum, pits packed with crocodile mummies, rock tombs excavated in the face of the mountains, magnificent ruins and scattered monuments, as at Dendera and Thebes. One hundred miles above he reaches the first cataract (of which there are seven in all), and the town of Assouan on the borders of Nubia.

當(dāng)逆流而上、繼續(xù)前行時，游客會看到許多有趣的景色，比如法烏姆的玉米地，滿是鱷魚木乃伊的坑，在山脈表面挖出的巖石墳?zāi)?，宏偉的廢墟和散落的紀(jì)念碑，就像在丹德拉和底比斯。再往上游一百英里，游客便能看到第一條瀑布（共七條），以及坐落在努比亞邊境處的阿斯旺小鎮(zhèn)。

The course of the Nile through the territory of Nubia presents considerable modifications in the scenery. For the most part the river is shut in by hills of granite and sandstone. The valley between these is arid, barren, sun-baked. It has the dull, leaden aspect of a desert. A few stunted palms are the only traces of vegetation that the eye can discover. Cultivation is nearly impossible, except here and there within a narrow strip of land on either side of the river. In some parts it is painfully carried on by means of irrigation—the water-wheels being worked by oxen, on whose labours those of the husbandman depend for success.

而流經(jīng)努比亞境內(nèi)的尼羅河河道上的風(fēng)景卻十分迥異，大部分河道被花崗巖和砂巖的山丘包圍著，中間的山谷由于被太陽炙烤，變得干旱而貧瘠，顯現(xiàn)出沙漠那沉悶、枯燥的一面。肉眼唯一可見的綠植就是那些矮小的棕櫚樹，唯一可耕種的地方就只有河道兩岸的狹長地帶。此外，有些地方的灌溉方式也十分痛苦——用牛來拉動水車，只有這樣農(nóng)民才能得以收獲。

The traveller now finds himself beyond the domain of history; and though he constantly passes both town and temple in never-ending series, he knows of no interest connected with them apart from that which usually attaches to the ruins of the past. He feels now that the Nile itself is the greatest marvel of his journey; which, although rolling along at the distance of eight hundred miles from the sea, has lost nothing of its volume or its majesty.

此刻，游客會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己超越了歷史的范疇。雖然經(jīng)過了一座又一座看不到盡頭的城鎮(zhèn)和廟宇，但是除了歷史的廢墟外，游客對它們毫無興趣。此刻游客會覺得尼羅河本身就是自己旅途最大的奇跡，它雖然在離海八百英里的地方涌動，但其龐大和威嚴(yán)卻絲毫未減。