Lesson 7 Damascus and London (3)
第七课 大马士革与伦敦（三）
British cities spread out, as it were indefinitely, into the country, in the way of parks, gardens, summer-houses, gentlemen's seats, and smiling villages.
英国城市则以公园、花园、避暑别墅、俱乐部和社区向乡村扩张，就好像没有止境一样。
It is not so in Damascus. The city is within the walls, and all without is garden, or desert . Single houses are, in British, the proof of the supremacy of law as well as of the respectability and independence of labour.
而大马士革就不是这样。在这里，城市四周被城墙包围着，没有花园，也没有荒芜的地方。在英国，独立的住宅是受人尊敬的，是独立劳动的结果，在法律上是不可侵犯的。
Life and property have not attained perfect security: a pistol, or rather a musket, was presented at my breast, within half a mile of Damascus, in broad daylight!
在大马士革，生命和财产还没有得到完全的安全保障：在光天化日之下，在距离大马士革不到一公里时，我就得带一支手枪，或者一杆火枪！
These noble gardens have no inhabitants; nor do any fine cottages, tasteful houses, or princely palaces, adorn this fertile region. Within the city you are safe; —without are dogs, insecurity of property, and the liability of being shot.
在大马士革，美丽的花园里面没人居住，也没有精巧的农舍、雅致的住宅或者富丽堂皇的宫殿点缀这富饶的地方。在城市里面，你很安全——这里没有强盗出没，财产得到安全保障，也没有被枪击的可能。
The whole population, therefore, live either in cities or in villages, except in such regions as Beirout, where European influence and power prevail. There, you have gardens and single houses, much after the English fashion.
因此，所有的人们要么住城里，要么住村里。不过，像贝鲁特这样的地方除外，因为欧洲人在这里的影响和势力很大。在贝鲁特，你可以看到花园和独立的住宅，很有英国的风尚。
But place a Damascene at Charing Cross, or at Cheapside, and what do you think would amaze him most? The number of vehicles, undoubtedly.
不过，如果让一个大马士革人置身于伦敦的斯特兰德十字路口或者齐普赛大街，你知道最让他感到惊异的事情是什么吗?毫无疑问，当然是那车辆的数量。
He would say, "When will this stream of cars, cabs, coaches, carriages, omnibuses of every shape and size, have an end? Are the people mad? Can they not take their time?"
他会问，“这些由各种形状和大小不一的小汽车、出租车、长途汽车、四轮马车、公共汽车构成的车流到什么时候是个尽头呢?这些人是不是疯了？难道他们不能从容一些吗？”
（235单词）
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