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egypt-第27部分

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In the hypostyle there is a little blue shade behind the monstrous

pillars; but even that shade is dusty and hot。 The columns too are

hot; and so are all the blocksand yet it is winter and the nights

are cold; even to the point of frost。 Heat and dust; a reddish dust;

which hangs like an eternal cloud over these ruins of Upper Egypt;

exhaling an odour of spices and mummy。



The great heat seems to augment the retrospective sensation of fatigue

which seizes you as you regard these stonestoo heavy for human

strengthwhich are massed here in mountains。 One almost seems to

participate in the efforts; the exhaustions and the sweating toils of

that people; with their muscles of brand new steel; who in the

carrying and piling of such masses had to bear the yoke for thirty

centuries。



Even the stones themselves tell of fatiguethe fatigue of being

crushed by one another's weight for thousands of years; the suffering

that comes of having been too exactly carved; and too nicely placed

one above the other; so that they seem to be riveted together by the

force of their mere weight。 Oh! the poor stones of the base that bear

the weight of these awful pilings!



And the ardent colour of these things surprises you。 It has persisted。

On the red sandstone of the hypostyle; the paintings of more than

three thousand years ago are still to be seen; especially above the

central chamber; almost in the sky; the capitals; in the form of great

flowers; have kept the lapis blues; the greens and yellows with which

their strange petals were long ago bespeckled。



Decrepitude and crumbling and dust。 In broad daylight; under the

magnificent splendour of the life…giving sun; one realises clearly

that all here is dead; and dead since days which the imagination is

scarcely able to conceive。 And the ruin appears utterly irreparable。

Here and there are a few impotent and almost infantine attempts at

reparation; undertaken in the ancient epochs of history by the Greeks

and Romans。 Columns have been put together; holes have been filled

with cement。 But the great blocks lie in confusion; and one feels;

even to the point of despair; how impossible it is ever to restore to

order such a chaos of crushing; overthrown thingseven with the help

of legions of workers and machines; and with centuries before you in

which to complete the task。



And then; what surprises and oppresses you is the want of clear space;

the little room that remained for the multitudes in these halls which

are nevertheless immense。 The whole space between the walls was

encumbered with pillars。 The temples were half filled with colossal

forests of stone。 The men who built Thebes lived in the beginning of

time; and had not yet discovered the thing which to us to…day seems so

simplenamely; the vault。 And yet they were marvellous pioneers;

these architects。 They had already succeeded in evolving out of the

dark; as it were; a number of conceptions which; from the beginning no

doubt; slumbered in mysterious germ in the human brainthe idea of

rectitude; the straight line; the right angle; the vertical line; of

which Nature furnishes no example; even symmetry; which; if you

consider it well; is less explicable still。 They employed symmetry

with a consummate mastery; understanding as well as we do all the

effect that is to be obtained by the repetition of like objects placed

/en pendant/ on either side of a portico or an avenue。 But they did

not invent the vault。 And therefore; since there was a limit to the

size of the stones which they were able to place flat like beams; they

had recourse to this profusion of columns to support their stupendous

ceilings。 And thus it is that there seems to be a want of air; that

one seems to stifle in the middle of their temples; dominated and

obstructed as they are by the rigid presence of so many stones。 And

yet to…day you can see quite clearly in these temples; for; since the

suspended rocks which served for roof have fallen; floods of light

descend from all parts。 But formerly; when a kind of half night

reigned in the deep halls; beneath the immovable carapaces of

sandstone or granite; how oppressive and sepulchral it must all have

beenhow final and pitiless; like a gigantic palace of Death! On one

day; however; in each year; here at Thebes; a light as of a

conflagration used to penetrate from one end to the other of the

sanctuaries of Amen; for the middle artery is open towards the north…

west; and is aligned in such a fashion that; once a year; one solitary

time; on the evening of the summer solstice; the sun as it sets is

able to plunge its reddened rays straight into the sanctuaries。 At the

moment when it enlarges its blood…coloured disc before descending

behind the desolation of the Libyan mountains; it arrives in the very

axis of this avenue; of this suite of aisles; which measures more than

800 yards in length。 Formerly; then; on these evenings it shone

horizontally beneath the terrible ceilingsbetween these rows of

pillars which are as high as our Colonne Vendomeand threw; for some

seconds; its colours of molten copper into the obscurity of the holy

of holies。 And then the whole temple would resound with the clashing

of music; and the glory of the god of Thebes was celebrated in the

depths of the forbidden halls。



*****



Like a cloud; like a veil; the continual red…coloured dust floats

everywhere above the ruins; and; athwart it; here and there; the sun

traces long; white beams; But at one point of the avenue; behind the

obelisks; it seems to rise in clouds; this dust of Egypt; as if it

were smoke。 For the workers of bronze are assembled there to…day and;

hour by hour; without ceasing; they dig in the sacred soil。

Ridiculously small and almost negligible by the side of the great

monoliths they dig and dig。 Patiently they clear the ruins; and the

earth goes away in little parcels in rows of baskets carried by

children in the form of a chain。 The periodical deposits of the Nile;

and the sand carried by the wind of the desert; had raised the soil by

about six yards since the time when Thebes ceased to live。 But now men

are endeavouring to restore the ancient level。 At first sight the task

seemed impossible; but they will achieve it in the end; even with

their simple means; these fellah toilers; who sing as they labour at

their incessant work of ants。 Soon the grand hypostyle will be freed

from rubbish; and its columns; which even before seemed so tremendous;

uncovered now to the base; have added another twenty feet to their

height。 A number of colossal statues; which lay asleep beneath this

shroud of earth and sand; have been brought back to the light; set

upright again and have resumed their watch in the intimidating

thoroughfares for a new period of quasi…eternity。 Year by year the

town…mummy is being slowly exhumed by dint of prodigious effort; and

is repeopled again by gods and kings who had been hidden for thousands

of years!'*' Year in; year out; the digging continuesdeeper and

deeper。 It is scarcely known to what depth the debris and the ruins

descend。 Thebes had endured for so many centuries; the earth here is

so penetrated with human past; that it is averred that; under the

oldest of the known temples there are still others; older still and

more massive; of which there was no suspicion; and whose age must

exceed eight thousand years。



'*' As is generally known; the maintenance of the ancient monuments of

    Egypt and their restoration; so far as that may be possible; has

    been entrusted to the French。 M。 Maspero has delegated to Thebes

    an artist and a scholar; M。 Legrain by name; who is devoting his

    life passionately to the work。



In spite of the burning sun; and of the clouds of dust raised by the

blows of the pickaxes; one might linger for hours amongst the dust…

stained; meagre fellahs; watching the excavations in this unique soil

where everything that is revealed is by way of being a surprise and

a lucky find; where the least carved stone had a past of glory; formed

part of the first architectural splendours; was /a stone of Thebes/。

Scarcely a moment passes but; at the bottom of the trenches; as the

digging proceeds; some new thing gleams。 Perhaps it is the polished

flank of a colossus; fashioned out of granite from Syene; or a little

copper Osiris; the debris of a vase; a golden trinket beyond price; or

even a simple blue pearl that has fallen from the necklace of some

waiting…maid of a queen。



This activity of the excavators; which alone reanimates certain

quarters during the day; ends at sunset。 Every evening the lean

fellahs receive the daily wage of their labour; and take themselves

off to sleep in the silent neighbourhood in their huts of mud; and the

iron gates are shut behind them。 At night; except for the guards at

the entrance; no one inhabits the ruins。



*****



Crumbling and dust。 。 。 。 Far around; o
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