Here in Damascus there are none. The streets are not formed for them. The horses are trained only for riding. There are no common, levelled, and well-ordered public roads. Our fathers used no coaches;they preferred the more manly exercise of horsemanship, and yielded the soft, effeminate luxury of the coach to the ladies. But in London there are now about nine hundred omnibuses, each of which takes about £1000 annually. Such is the present state of coaching with us. How different is Damascus! and how different must the aspect of the streets appear!
大马士革没有,那里的街道并不适合驱赶马车,而且那里训练的马只是用来骑的(不用来拉马车),那里的公路也没有一般的公路规划地那么好,且路面崎岖不堪。我们的父辈们不坐马车;他们往往更喜欢自己骑马,因为骑马更能彰显自己的飒爽英姿和男子气概;相反,淑女们则更喜欢乘坐舒适柔软的豪华马车。然而,现今的伦敦已经有大约900辆公共汽车,每辆公共汽车每年需要花费1000英镑,我们这里目前公共汽车的状况就是这样。大马士革真的太不一样了!想必那里的街景会更与众不同!
With us, the city is laid out in streets, squares, crescents, royal circuses, and similar devices of beauty and regularity. This is the case particularly in the "west-ends" and newer parts of our cities and towns. There is nothing of this in Damascus, or in any of the eastern cities that I have seen: squares, crescents, and circuses are unknown. The streets are extremely irregular, crooked, winding, and narrow; which seems to arise out of the anxiety to find a protection from the sun.
我们这里的城市布局里会有街道、广场、新月形街区、皇家马戏场,还有其他被整齐规划的漂亮设施,这种布局尤其是在伦敦的最西边以及城市新区和城镇新区更为常见。所有的这些布局,在大马士革都没有,或者说,在我见过的所有东方城市里都没有:广场、新月形排屋、皇家马戏场在那里都是闻所未闻的。那里的街道极其地错乱、弯曲、曲折、狭窄;这样的设计似乎是出于对防晒的考虑。
In the narrower streets, where the houses are high, the sun's rays are effectually excluded; and in the wider ones, where this is not attainable, the numerous windings and angles afford salient points where the passenger may for a moment or two enjoy the shade. This may appear trifling, but I have often found the heat of the solar rays so intense and unendurable that even the sun-burnt Bedouins, the children of the desert, were glad of the least passing shade, the least momentary shelter, from the intolerable heat.
高大的房屋在相对狭窄的街道里矗立着,把太阳光遮地严严实实;在相对较宽敞的街道上太阳光则无法全部被遮挡,游客们只能依靠许多弯曲的道路和拐角为自己带来片刻阴凉。这种说法似乎有些夸张,但是大马士革那强烈的太阳光照真的无法忍受,即使是号称“沙漠之子”的贝尔因人在看到能带来片刻阴凉的遮阴地时也会大声欢呼,而且这种场面很常见。
In the bazaars of Damascus, on the contrary, the streets or avenues are laid out with the greatest regularity, and are as straight as possible.
然而,在大马士革的集市上情形却大为相反:街道和林荫大道的布局都非常地整齐,而且道路笔直地简直不能再笔直。