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egypt-第10部分

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that they are merely outlined in grey; high up among the clouds。



*****



The little carriages that have brought us to the necropolis of

Memphis; through the interminable forest of palm…trees; had their

wheels fitted with large pattens for their journey over the sand。



Now; arrived at the foot of the fearsome region; we commence to climb

a hill where all at once the trot of our horses ceases to be heard;

the moving felting of the soil establishes a sudden silence around us;

as indeed is always the case when we reach these sands。 It seems as if

it were a silence of respect which the desert itself imposes。



The valley of life sinks and fades behind us; until at last it

disappears; hidden by a line of sandhillsthe first wave; as one

might say; of this waterless seaand we are now mounted into the

kingdom of the dead; swept at this moment by a withering and almost

icy wind; which from below one would not have expected。



This desert of Memphis has not yet been profaned by hotels or motor

roads; such as we have seen in the 〃little desert〃 of the Sphinx

whose three pyramids indeed we can discern at the extreme limit of the

view; prolonging almost to infinity for our eyes this domain of

mummies。 There is nobody to be seen; nor any indication of the present

day; amongst these mournful undulations of yellow or pale grey sand;

in which we seem lost as in the swell of an ocean。 The sky is cloudy

such as you can scarcely imagine the sky of Egypt。 And in this immense

nothingness of sand and stones; which stands out now more clearly

against the clouds on the horizon; there is nothing anywhere save the

silhouettes of those eternal triangles; the pyramids; gigantic things

which rise here and there at hazard; some half in ruin; others almost

intact and preserving still their sharp point。 To…day they are the

only landmarks of this necropolis; which is nearly six miles in

length; and was formerly covered by temples of a magnificence and a

vastness unimaginable to the minds of our day。 Except for one which is

quite near us (the fantastic grandfather of the others; that of King

Zoser; who died nearly 5000 years ago); except for this one; which is

made of six colossal superposed terraces; they are all built after

that same conception of the /Triangle/; which is at once the most

mysteriously simple figure of geometry; and the strongest and most

permanently stable form of architecture。 And now that there remains no

trace of the frescoed portraits which used to adorn them; nor of their

multicoloured coatings; now that they have taken on the same dead

colour as the desert; they look like the huge bones of giant fossils;

that have long outlasted their other contemporaries on earth。 Beneath

the ground; however; the case is different; there; still remain the

bodies of men; and even of cats and birds; who with their own eyes saw

these vast structures building; and who sleep intact; swathed in

bandages; in the darkness of their tunnels。 /We know/; for we have

penetrated there before; what things are hidden in the womb of this

old desert; on which the yellow shroud of the sand grows thicker and

thicker as the centuries pass。 The whole deep rock had been perforated

patiently to make hypogea and sepulchral chambers; great and small;

and veritable palaces for the dead; adorned with innumerable painted

figures。 And though now; for some two thousand years; men have set

themselves furiously to exhume the sarcophagi and the treasures that

are buried here; the subterranean reserves are not yet exhausted。

There still remain; no doubt; pleiads of undisturbed sleepers; who

will never be discovered。



As we advance the wind grows stronger and colder beneath a sky that

becomes increasingly cloudy; and the sand is flying on all sides。 The

sand is the undisputed sovereign of the necropolis; if it does not

surge and roll like some enormous tidal wave; as it appears to do when

seen from the green valley below; it nevertheless covers everything

with an obstinate persistence which has continued since the beginning

of time。 Already at Memphis it has buried innumerable statues and

colossi and temples of the Sphinx。 It comes without a pause; from

Libya; from the great Sahara; which contain enough to powder the

universe。 It harmonises well with the tall skeletons of the pyramids;

which form immutable rocks on its always shifting extent; and if one

thinks of it; it gives a more thrilling sense of anterior eternities

even than all these Egyptian ruins; which; in comparison with it; are

things of yesterday。 The sandthe sand of the primitive seaswhich

represents a labour of erosion of a duration impossible to conceive;

and bears witness to a continuity of destruction which; one might say;

had no beginning。



Here; in the midst of these solitudes; is a humble habitation; old and

half buried in sand; at which we have to stop。 It was once the house

of the Egyptologist Mariette; and still shelters the director of the

excavations; from whom we have to obtain permission to descend amongst

the Apis。 The whitewashed room in which he receives us is encumbered

with the age…old debris which he is continually bringing to light。 The

parting rays of the sun; which shines low down from between two

clouds; enter through a window opening on to the surrounding

desolation; and the light comes mournfully; yellowed by the sand and

the evening。



The master of the house; while his Bedouin servants are gone to open

and light up for us the underground habitations of the Apis; shows us

his latest astonishing find; made this morning in a hypogeum of one of

the most ancient dynasties。 It is there on a table; a group of little

people of wood; of the size of the marionettes of our theatres。 And

since it was the custom to put in a tomb only those figures or objects

which were most pleasing to him who dwelt in it; the man…mummy to whom

this toy was offered in times anterior to all precise chronology must

have been extremely partial to dancing…girls。 In the middle of the

group the man himself is represented; sitting in an armchair; and on

his knee he holds his favourite dancing…girl。 Other girls posture

before him in a dance of the period; and on the ground sit musicians

touching tambourines and strangely fashioned harps。 All wear their

hair in a long plait; which falls below their shoulders like the

pigtail of the Chinese。 It was the distinguishing mark of these kinds

of courtesans。 And these little people had kept their pose in the

darkness for some three thousand years before the commencement of the

Christian era。 。 。 。 In order to show it to us better the group is

brought to the window; and the mournful light which enters from across

the infinite solitudes of the desert colours them yellow and shows us

in detail their little doll…like attitudes and their comical and

frightened appearancefrightened perhaps to find themselves so old

and issuing from so deep a night。 They had not seen a setting of the

sun; such as they now regard with their queer eyes; too long and too

wide oepn; they had not seen such a thing for some five thousand

years。 。 。 。



The habitation of the Apis; the lords of the necropolis; is little

more than two hundred yards away。 We are told that the place is now

lighted up and that we may betake ourselves thither。



The descent is by a narrow; rapidly sloping passage; dug in the soil;

between banks of sand and broken stones。 We are now completely

sheltered from the bitter wind which blows across the desert; and from

the dark doorway that opens before us comes a breath of air as from an

oven。 It is always dry and hot in the underground funeral places of

Egypt; which make indeed admirable stoves for mummies。 The threshold

once crossed we are plunged first of all in darkness and; preceded by

a lantern; make our way; by devious turnings; over large flagstones;

passing obelisks; fallen blocks of stone and other gigantic debris; in

a heat that continually increases。



At last the principal artery of the hypogeum appears; a thoroughfare

more than five hundred yards long; cut in the rock; where the Bedouins

have prepared for us the customary feeble light。



It is a place of fearful aspect。 As soon as one enters one is seized

by the sense of a mournfulness beyond words; by an oppression as of

something too heavy; too crushing; almost superhuman。 The impotent

little flames of the candles; placed in a row; in groups of fifty; on

tripods of wood from one end of the route to the other; show on the

right and left of the immense avenue rectangular sepulchral caverns;

containing each a black coffin; but a coffin as if for a mastodon。 And

all these coffins; so sombre and so alike; are square shaped too;

severely simple like so many boxes; but made out of a single block of

rare granite that gleams like marble。 They are entirely without

ornament。 It is necessary to look closely to distinguish on the smooth
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