英国语文第六册(双语):大马士革与伦敦（一）(6)
Great transactions cannot be carried on without credit, and credit is necessarily based on the belief of wealth; so that very often, where there may be little real property, it may be most desirable that there should be the appearance of it……
没有信用就无法促成大单交易，而信用又必须建立在对财富的信仰之上；所以说，贫穷之人往往更在意外表……
The mean, low door in Damascus, tells you of tyranny, concealment, and the want of confidence in public justice. Misery without and splendour within, is a principle which befits a land where paper is just paper, whatever name it bears; where gold is the only circulating medium; where a man's own house is his bank; and where the suspicion of being rich may make him a prey to the rapacity of the government.
大马士革矮小简陋的门正显露了他们的专制、封闭以及对社会正义的自信。这样一个地方是外苦内荣，在那里，不管你是不是纸老虎，纸就是纸；在那里，黄金是唯一的流通媒介；在那里，人们只敢把钱放在家里；在那里，露富会使自己成为政府掠夺的对象。
On the contrary, the noble streets, squares, crescents, &c., of our modern cities, are clear indications, not only of great wealth and power, but also of something far dearer and nobler—namely, that confidence in one another, formed by myriads of concurring circumstances, of which Christianity is one of the mightiest, and out of which flow most of the blessings of European civilization and free political institutions.
相反，现代城市中气派的街道、广场、新月形街区等都是明确的象征，它们不仅象征着伟大的财富和权利，也象征着某种更为尊贵更为高尚的东西——那就是，彼此之间的一种信任，那种信任建立在双方有很多共同的境遇之上，其中最强有力的便是对基督教的信仰，欧洲文明和自由政治制度的大部分福祉都来自于此。
But what is the use of that stone by the door-post? These stones are the steps from which ladies mount their donkeys, mules, and horses. Nor should you think this strange. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Paris presented these mounting-stones at all the angles of the streets, and at other convenient places. At Frankfort on the Main, there was a certain gate at which these conveniences were prepared for the emperor and the magnates of the German Diet; and I have no doubt that, in the days of feudalism and knightly glory, London was not behind its neighbours in this respect.
门柱旁的石头是做什么用的呢？这些石头是淑女们骑驴、骑骡子和骑马时用的垫脚石，想必你对此不会感到陌生。在14世纪和15世纪的巴黎，所有街道的拐角处和一些便利的地方都会放置这种垫脚石。在美茵河畔的法兰克福就有一扇专门为皇帝和德国议会的大资本家提供方便用的门。在封建社会、骑士辉煌的时代，伦敦在这方面毫无疑问是不会落后于其他邻国的。
—Rev. Dr. Graham
——雷夫·格拉汉姆博士
