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The
Middle Eastern bazaar takes you back hundreds --- even thousands
--- of years. The one I am thinking of particularly is entered by
a Gothic -
arched gateway of aged brick and stone. You pass from the heat and
glare of a big, open square into a cool,
dark cavernwhich
extends as far as the eye can see, losing itself in the shadowy
distance. Little donkeys with harmoniously tinkling bells
thread their way among thethrongsof
people entering and leaving the bazaar. The roadway is about twelve
feet wide, but it is narrowed every few yards by
little stalls where
goods of every conceivable kind
are sold. The din of
the stall-holder; crying their wares, of donkey-boys and porters
clearing a way for themselves by shouting vigorously, and of
would-be purchasers arguing and bargaining is
continuous and makes you dizzy.
Then as you penetrate deeper into the bazaar, the noise of the
entrance fades away, and you come to the muted cloth-market.
The earthen floor, beaten hard by countless feet, deadens the sound
of footsteps, and thevaulted mud-brick
walls and roof have hardly any sounds
to echo.
The shop-keepers speak in slow, measured tones, and the
buyers, overwhelmed by
thesepulchral atmosphere,
follow suit .
One of the peculiarities of
the Eastern bazaar is that shopkeepers dealing in the same kind of
goods do not scatter themselves over the bazaar, in order to avoid
competition, but collect in the same area, so that purchasers can
know where to find them, and so that they can form a
closelyknit guild against injustice or persecution .
In the cloth-market, for instance, all the sellers of material for
clothes, curtains, chair covers and so on line the roadway on both
sides, each open-fronted shop having a trestletrestle
table for display
and shelves for storage. Bargaining is the order of the cay, and
veiled women move at a leisurely pace
from shop to shop, selecting, pricing and doing a
little preliminary bargaining
before they narrow down their choice and begin the really serious
business of beating the price down.
It is a point of honour with the customer not to let the
shopkeeper guess what it is she really likes and wants until the
last moment. If he does guess correctly, he will price the item
high, and yield little in the bargaining. The seller, on the other
hand, makes a point of protesting that the price he is charging
is depriving him
of all profit,
and that he is sacrificing this because of his personal regard for
the customer. Bargaining can go on the whole day, or even several
days, with the customer coming and
going at
intervals .
One of the most picturesque and
impressive parts of the bazaar is the copper-smiths' market. As you
approach it, a tinkling and banging and clashing begins
to impinge on
your ear. It grows louder and more distinct, until you round a
corner and see a fairyland of
dancing flashes, as theburnished copper
catches the light of innumerable lamps
and braziers .
In each shop sit the apprentices – boys and youths, some of them
incredibly young – hammering away at copper vessels of all shapes
and sizes, while the shop-owner instructs, and sometimes takes a
hand with a hammer himself. In the background, a tiny apprentice
blows a bi-, charcoal fir e with a huge
leather bellowsworked
by a string attached to his big toe -- the red of the live coals
glowing, bright and then dimming rhythmicallyto
the strokes of the bellows.
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Here you
can find beautiful pots and bowls engrave with delicate
and intricate traditional
designs, or the simple, everyday kitchenware used in this country,
pleasing in form, but undecorated and strictly functional.
Elsewhere there is the carpet-market, with its profusion of rich
colours, varied textures and regional designs -- some bold and
simple, others unbelievably detailed and yet harmonious. Then there
is the spice-market, with its pungentand exotic smells;
and the food-market, where you can buy everything you need for the
most sumptuous dinner,
or sit in a tiny restaurant with porters and apprentices and eat
your humble bread and cheese. The dye-market, the pottery-market
and the carpenters' market lie elsewhere in the maze of
vaulted streets which honeycomb this
bazaar. Every here and there, a doorway gives a glimpse of a sunlit
courtyard, perhaps before a mosque or
a caravanserai ,
where camels lie disdainfully chewing
their hay, while the great bales of merchandise they have carried
hundreds of miles across the desert lie beside them.
Perhaps the most unforgettable thing in the bazaar, apart from
its general atmosphere, is the place where they
make linseed oil.
It is a vast,sombre cavern
of a room, some thirty feet high and sixty feet square, and so
thick with the dust of centuries that the mudbrick walls and
vaulted roof are only dimly visible. In this cavern are three
massive stone wheels, each with a huge pole through its centre as
an axle. The pole is attached at the one end to an upright post,
around which it can revolve, and at the other to a blind-folded
camel, which walks constantly in a circle, providing the motive
power to turn the stone wheel. This revolves in a circular stone
channel, into which an attendant feeds linseed. The stone wheel
crushes it to a pulp,
which is then pressed to extract the
oil .The camels are the largest and finest I have ever seen, and
in superb condition
– muscular,
massive and stately.
The pressing of the linseed pulp to extract the oil is done by a
vastramshackle apparatus
of beams and ropes and pulleys which
towers to the vaulted ceiling
and dwarfs the
camels and their stone wheels. The machine is operated by one man,
who shovels the linseed pulp into a stone vat, climbs
upnimbly to
a dizzy height to fasten ropes, and then throws his weight on to a
great beam made out of a tree trunk to set the ropes and pulleys in
motion. Ancient girders girders creak and groan ,
ropes tighten and then a trickleof
oil oozes oozes down
a stone runnel into
a used petrol can. Quickly the trickle becomes a flood of
glistening linseed oil as the beam sinks
earthwards, taut and
protesting, its creaks blending with
the squeaking andrumbling of
the grinding-wheels and the
occasional grunts and
sighs of the
camels.
(from Advanced Comprehension and Appreciation pieces, 1962 )
NOTES
1) This piece is taken from Advanced Comprehension and Appreciation Pieces, compiled for overseas students by L. A. Hill and D.J. May, published by Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1962.
2) Middle East: generally referring to the area from Afghanistan to Egypt, including the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, and Asiatic Turkey.
3) Gothic: a style of architecture originated in N. France in 11th century, characterized by pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, steep, high roofs, etc.
4) veiled women: Some Moslems use the veil---more appropriately, the purdah --- to seclude or hide their women from the eyes of strangers.
5) caravanserai (caravansary): in the Middle East, a kind of inn with a large central court, where bands of merchants or pilgrims, together with their camels or horses, stay for shelter and refreshment
中东的集市仿佛把你带回到了几百年、甚至几千年前的时代。此时此刻显现在我脑海中的这个中东集市，其入口处是一座古老的砖石结构的哥特式拱门。你首先要穿过一个赤日耀眼、灼热逼人的大型露天广场，然后走进一个凉爽、幽暗的洞穴。这市场一直向前延伸，一眼望不到尽头，消失在远处的阴影里。赶集的人们络绎不绝地进出市场，一些挂着铃铛的小毛驴穿行于这熙熙攘攘的人群中，边走边发出和谐悦耳的叮当叮当的响声。市场的路面约有十二英尺宽，但每隔几码远就会因为设在路边的小货摊的挤占而变窄；那儿出售的货物各种各样，应有尽有。你一走进市场，就可以听到摊贩们的叫卖声，赶毛驴的小伙计和脚夫们大着嗓门叫人让道的吆喝声，还有那些想买东西的人们与摊主讨价还价的争吵声。各种各样的噪声此伏彼起，不绝于耳，简直叫人头晕。
随后，当往市场深处走去时，人口处的喧闹声渐渐消失，眼前便是清静的布市了。这里的泥土地面，被无数双脚板踩踏得硬邦邦的，人走在上面几乎听不到脚步声了，而拱形的泥砖屋顶和墙壁也难得产生什么回音效果。布店的店主们一个个都是轻声轻气、慢条斯理的样子；买布的顾客们在这种沉闷压抑的气氛感染下，自然而然地也学着店主们的榜样，变得低声细语起来。
中东集市的特点之一是经销同类商品的店家，为避免相互间的竞争，不是分散在集市各处，而是都集中在一块儿，这样既便于让买主知道上哪儿找他们，同时他们自己也可以紧密地联合起来，结成同盟，以便保护自己不受欺侮和刁难。例如，在布市上，所有那 1些卖衣料、窗帘布、椅套布等的商贩都把货摊一个接一个地排设在马路两边，每一个店铺门面前都摆有一张陈列商品的搁板桌和一些存放货物的货架。讨价还价是人们习以为常的事。头戴面纱的妇女们迈着悠闲的步子从一个店铺逛到另一个店铺，一边挑选一边问价；在她们缩小选择范围并开始正儿八经杀价之前，往往总要先同店主谈论几句，探探价底。
对于顾客来说，至关重要的一点是，不到最后一刻是不能让店主猜到她心里究竟中意哪样东西、想买哪样东西的。假如让店主猜中了她所要买的商品的话，他便会漫天要价，而且在还价过程中也很难作出让步。而在卖主那一方来说，他必须竭尽全力地声称，他开出的价钱使他根本无利可图，而他之所以愿意这样做完全是出于他本人对顾客的敬重。顾客有时来了又去，去了又来，因此，像这样讨价还价的情形有可能持续一整天，甚至好几天。
集市上最引人注目、给人印象最深刻的地方之一是铜器市场。你一走近这里，耳朵里便只听得见金属器皿互相碰击时所发出的一阵阵砰砰啪啪、丁丁当当的响声；走得越近，响声便越来越大，越来越清晰。直待你走到拐角处一转弯，眼前便出现了锃亮的铜器，它们映照着无数盏明灯和火盆，流光飞舞，有如仙境。每个铜匠铺子里都有几个徒工——他们都是一些男性青少年，其中有的年龄小得让人难以置信——在那里不停地锤打着一些形状各异、大小不一的铜器，而铺子的老板则在一旁指点着，有时也亲自操锤敲打几下。铺子的后边，还有一个小不点儿的徒工在那里用一根拴在大脚趾上的绳子鼓动着一个巨大的皮风箱，煽着一大炉炭火——燃烧着的木炭随着风箱的鼓动而有节奏地变得忽明忽暗。
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在这里，你会看到许多精美的锅碗瓢盆，上面雕刻着各种精细复杂的传统图案，也能看到一些当地人日常使用的质朴无华的厨房用具，虽无花纹图案，但造形美观，经济实用。再走一处便是地毯市场。这儿有各种质地的地毯，它们色彩斑炯，花纹图案富有地方特色——有的简单粗犷，有的精巧和谐得令人吃惊。再往前走便是香料市场，这里充满各种浓烈的异香奇味；接下来是食品市场，在这里，你可以买到豪华酒宴上所需的任何山珍海味，也可以与徒工、脚夫一道坐进小饭馆里去吃那不能登大雅之堂的面包和奶酪。集市里有棚顶的街巷纵横交错，有如一座迷宫，鳞次栉比地坐落其间的有印染市场、陶器市场和木器市场。随便走到哪儿，你都有可能透过某个门洞瞥见一个洒满阳光的庭院，那也许是个清真寺的院子，也许是个商旅客栈的院子。在那儿，总会有几头骆驼旁若无人地卧着嚼草料，而在骆驼的身边则总是堆放着它们穿越沙漠，从几百英里以外的地方驮运而来的大捆大捆的货物。除了其给予人的总体印象外，集市中最令人难忘的地方恐怕要算是榨亚麻籽油的作坊了。那是一间约三十英尺高、六十英尺见方的屋子，空间阔大，但光线幽暗，犹如洞穴一般。其拱形屋顶及四面的泥砖墙壁因厚厚地覆盖着数百年积下的灰尘而变得模糊难辨。屋内有三个大石磙，每个石磙上都有一根粗木杆从中心穿过，作为磙轴，磙轴的一端与一根立柱相连，使石磙可以绕立柱作旋转运动，另一端则套在一头蒙着眼罩的骆驼身上，通过骆驼不停地绕圈子走动来带动石磙旋转。石磙沿着一个环形石槽作圆周运动，石槽旁边有一人专门负责往槽里装亚麻籽。亚麻籽先由石磙碾成浆，然后再拿去榨油。油坊的骆驼是我见过的骆驼中最大最好的，而且体格健壮无比——肌肉发达，身躯伟岸，气宇轩昂。
榨油工序是由一套摇摇欲坠的机械装置来完成的。该装置由大梁、缆索和滑轮组合而成，犹如一座高塔耸立在屋中，上端直与拱形屋顶相接。相形之下，油坊里的骆驼和石磙便显得矮小起来。这套装置是由一个人操作的。他先将亚麻籽浆铲入一只大石缸里，继而动作利索地爬上令人头晕目眩的高处系牢缆索，然后全身使劲压在一根用树干做成的粗大的横梁上，带动缆索的滑轮装置运转。古木大梁压得嘎吱作响，缆索开始绷紧，接着便见一滴滴的油沿着一条石槽流入一只废旧汽油桶里。随着大梁越压越低，缆索越绷越紧，大梁的嘎吱声，石磙的辘辘声，以及骆驼不时发出的咕噜咕噜的呼吸声和叹息声响成一片，榨出的油也很快地由涓滴细流变成了一股晶莹发亮、奔腾不止的洪流。 (选自《高级阅读与欣赏》，1962)
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青春就应该这样绽放 游戏测试：三国时期谁是你最好的兄弟！！ 你不得不信的星座秘密Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
