书城教材教辅智慧教育活动用书-名人书信
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第9章 Lawrence to His Mother(Ⅱ)

Evreux

Sunday 11 August, 1907

Dear Mother,

Father is out, and so I am at last writing to you. I would have written before, but was so busy taking photos, etc. at Chateau Gaillard.

Beauvais was a wonderful place, and I left it with great regret for Gisors(a large castle), which was disappointing, but all the towers locked up, from Gisors we came to Petit Andelys. The Chateau Gaillard was so magnificent, and the post cards so abominable①, that I stopped there an extra day. And did nothing but photograph, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. I took ten altogether and if all are successful, I will have a wonderful series. I will certainly have to start a book. Some of them were very difficult to take, and the whole day was very hard.

I think Pt. Andelys would be a good place to stop at. The hotel is cheap, and very pleasant. The Seine runs near the back door and the bathing is excellent②, from a little wooded island in the center of the river. There are plenty of hills within③ sight, and many interesting places. Also the scenery all along the river is exceedingly fine. Long strings④ of barges pulled by a steam—tug pass the hotel occasionally, and the whole place is over shadowed by the hills with the ruins of the Chateau.

I have talked so much about this to you that you must know it all by heart, so I had better content myself with saying that its plan is marvelous⑤, the execution wonderful, and the situation perfect. The whole construction bears the unmistakable stamp of genius. Richard Ⅰ must have been a far greater man than we usually consider him: he must have been a great strategist and a great engineer, as well as a great man at arms.

① abominable adj. 可恶的,令人讨厌的

② excellent adj. 出色的,杰出的,优等的

③ withinprep. 在……范围内,不超过

④ stringn. 一串,一行,一列

⑤ marvelousadj. 令人惊叹的,非凡的,不可思议的

劳伦斯致母亲(2)

亲爱的妈妈:

父亲出去了,我终于能给您写信了。我本该早就给您写,只因忙于在加里阿德城堡拍照等等。

波微是一个迷人的地方,我依依不舍地离开它前往计索(一个大城堡),但计索令我失望:所有的塔都被锁上了。从计索我又来到了小安德利斯。加里阿德城堡是如此富丽堂皇,然而那里的明信片却是如此的糟糕,致使我在那儿多停留了一天,没做别的什么事,只是一个劲儿地拍照,从早晨6点到下午7点,我一共拍了十卷。如果所拍的全部成功,我就会得到一套极好的系列照片,于是我肯定得为此而写一本书。有些照片特别难拍,所以那一整天很辛苦。

我认为小安德利斯是个不错的停留地,旅店既便宜又舒适。塞纳河从旅店后门的不远处流过,在河中心的一个树林茂密的小岛周围是一个极佳的浴场。许多小山丘和有趣的景致尽收眼底。塞纳河边的风光非常迷人,不时可见拖船拖着一长串驳船从旅店门前驶过,整个地方被映着城堡废墟的小丘的阴影遮蔽着。

我对你描述了这么多,想必你一定对它有一个清晰的轮廓了。因此我可以得意地说城堡规划奇特,实施巧妙,与周围环境完全融为一体,整个建筑真是巧夺天工,具有天才的特质。理查德一世定是一位远比我们通常所想象的还要伟大得多的人物:他一定是一位伟大的战略家,伟大的工程师,也一定是一位伟大的士兵。

于艾莆勒,

星期日

1907年8月11日