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第40章

a little tour in france-第40章

小说: a little tour in france 字数: 每页4000字

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ip… ping along in the soundless darkness。  It had come on to rain; I know not what had happened to the moon; and the whole place was anything but gay。  It was not what I had looked for; what I had looked for was in the irrecoverable past。  I groped my way back to the inn over the infernal _cailloux_; feeling like a dis… comfited Dogberry。  I remember now that this hotel was the one (whichever that may be) which has the fragment of a Gallo…Roman portico inserted into one of its angles。  I had chosen it for the sake of this ex… ceptional ornament。  It was damp and dark; and the floors felt gritty to the feet; it was an establishment at which the dreadful _gras…double_ might have appeared at the table d'hote; as it had done at Narbonne。  Never… theless; I was glad to get back to it; and nevertheless; too; … and this is the moral of my simple anecdote; … my pointless little walk (I don't speak of the pave… ment) suffuses itself; as I look back upon it; with a romantic tone。  And in relation to the inn; I suppose I had better mention that I am well aware of the in… consistency of a person who dislikes the modern cara… vansary; and yet grumbles when he finds a hotel of the superannuated sort。  One ought to choose; it would seem; and make the best of either alternative。  The two old taverns at Arles are quite unimproved; such as they must have been in the infancy of the modern world; when Stendhal passed that way; and the lum… bering diligence deposited him in the Place des Hommes; such in every detail they are to…day。  _Vieilles auberges de France_; one ought to enjoy their gritty floors and greasy window…panes。  Let it be put on re… cord; therefore; that I have been; I won't say less com… fortable; but at least less happy; at better inns。

To be really historic; I should have mentioned that before going to look for the Rhone I had spent part of the evening on the opposite side of the little place; and that I indulged in this recreation for two definite reasons。  One of these was that I had an opportunity of conversing at a cafe with an attractive young Eng… lishman; whom I had met in the afternoon at Tarascon; and more remotely; in other years; in London; the other was that there sat enthroned behind the counter a splendid mature Arlesienne; whom my companion and I agreed that it was a rare privilege to contem… plate。  There is no rule of good manners or morals which makes it improper; at a cafe; to fix one's eyes upon the _dame de comptoir_; the lady is; in the nature of things; a part of your _consommation_。  We were there… fore feee to admire without restriction the handsomest person I had ever seen give change for a five…franc piece。  She was a large quiet woman; who would never see forty again; of an intensely feminine type; yet wonderfully rich and robust; and full of a certain phy… sical nobleness。  Though she was not really old; she was antique; and she was very grave; even a little sad。 She had the dignity of a Roman empress; and she handled coppers as if they had been stamped with the head of Caesar。  I have seen washerwomen in the Trastevere who were perhaps as handsome as she; but even the head…dress of the Roman contadina con… tributes less to the dignity of the person born to wear it than the sweet and stately Arlesian cap; which sits at once aloft and on the back of the head; which is accompanied with a wide black bow covering a con… siderable part of the crown; and which; finally; accom… modates itself indescribably well to the manner in which the tresses of the front are pushed behind the cars。

This admirable dispenser of lumps of sugar has distracted me a little; for I am still not sufficiently historical。  Before going to the cafe I had dined; and before dining I had found time to go and look at the arena。  Then it was that I discovered that Arles has no general physiognomy; and; except the delightful little church of Saint Trophimus; no architecture; and that the rugosities of its dirty lanes affect the feet like knife…blades。  It was not then; on the other hand; that I saw the arena best。  The second day of my stay at Arles I devoted to a pilgrimage to the strange old hill town of Les Baux; the mediaeval Pompeii; of which I shall give myself the pleasure of speaking。  The even… ing of that day; however (my friend and I returned in time for a late dinner); I wandered among the Roman remains of the place by the light of a magnificent moon; and gathered an impression which has lost little of its silvery glow。  The moon of the evening before had been aqueous and erratic; but if on the present occasion it was guilty of any irregularity; the worst it did was only to linger beyond its time in the heavens; in order to let us look at things comfortably。  The effect was admirable; it brought back the impression of the way; in Rome itself; on evenings like that; the moonshine rests upon broken shafts and slabs of an… tique pavement。  As we sat in the theatre; looking at the two lone columns that survive … part of the decora… tion of the back of the stage … and at the fragments of ruin around them; we might have been in the Roman forum。  The arena at Arles; with its great magnitude; is less complete than that of Nimes; it has suffered even more the assaults of time and of the children of time; and it has been less repaired。  The seats are almost wholly wanting; but the external walls minus the topmost tier of arches; are massively; rug… gedly; complete; and the vaulted corridors seem as solid as the day they were built。  The whole thing is superbly vast; and as monumental; for place of light amusement … what is called in America a 〃variety… show〃 … as it entered only into the Roman mind to make such establishments。  The _podium_ is much higher than at Nimes; and many of the great white slabs that faced it have been recovered and put into their places。 The proconsular box has been more or less recon… structed; and the great converging passages of approach to it are still majestically distinct: so that; as I sat there in the moon…charmed stillness; leaning my elbows on the battered parapet of the ring; it was not im… possible … to listen to the murmurs and shudders; the thick voice of the circus; that died away fifteen hun… dred years ago。

The theatre has a voice as well; but it lingers on the ear of time with a different music。  The Roman theatre at Arles seemed to me one of the most charm… ing and touching ruins I had ever beheld; I took a particular fancy to it。  It is less than a skeleton; … the arena may be called a skeleton; for it consists only of half a dozen bones。  The traces of the row of columns which formed the scene … the permanent back…scene … remain; two marble pillars … I just mentioned them … are upright; with a fragment of their entablature。  Be fore them is the vacant space which was filled by the stage; with the line of the prosoenium distinct; marked by a deep groove; impressed upon slabs of stone; which looks as if the bottom of a high screen had been in… tended to fit into it。  The semicircle formed by the seats … half a cup … rises opposite; some of the rows are distinctly marked。  The floor; from the bottom of the stage; in the shape of an arc of which the chord is formed by the line of the orchestra; is covered by slabs of colored marble … red; yellow; and green … which; though terribly battered and cracked to…day; give one an idea of the elegance of the interior。  Every… thing shows that it was on a great scale: the large sweep of its enclosing walls; the massive corridors that passed behind the auditorium; and of which we can still perfectly take the measure。  The way in which every seat commanded the stage is a lesson to the architects of our epoch; as also the immense size of the place is a proof of extraordinary power of voice on the part of the Roman actors。  It was after we had spent half an hour in the moonshine at the arena that we came on to this more ghostly and more exquisite ruin。  The principal entrance was locked; but we effected an easy _escalade_; scaled a low parapet; and descended into the place behind file scenes。  It was as light as day; and the solitude was complete。  The two slim columns; as we sat on the broken benches; stood there like a pair of silent actors。  What I calle

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