登陆注册
5395000000201

第201章

Here, at the very point, has been built a town. Whether the town existed during Mr. Tapley's time I have not been able to learn. At the period of my visit it was falling quickly into ruin; indeed, Ithink I may pronounce it to have been on its last legs. At that moment a galvanic motion had been pumped into it by the war movements of General Halleck; but the true bearings of the town, as a town, were not less plainly to be read on that account. Every street was absolutely impassable from mud. I mean that in walking down the middle of any street in Cairo, a moderately-framed man would soon stick fast, and not be able to move. The houses are generally built at considerable intervals, and rarely face each other; and along one side of each street a plank boarding was laid, on which the mud had accumulated only up to one's ankles. I walked all over Cairo with big boots, and with my trowsers tucked up to my knees; but at the crossings I found considerable danger, and occasionally had my doubts as to the possibility of progress. I was alone in my work, and saw no one else making any such attempt. But few only were moving about, and they moved in wretched carts, each drawn by two miserable, floundering horses. These carts were always empty, but were presumed to be engaged in some way on military service. No faces looked out at the windows of the houses, no forms stood in the doorways. A few shops were open, but only in the drinking-shops did I see customers. In these, silent, muddy men were sitting, not with drink before them, as men sit with us, but with the cud within their jaws, ruminating. Their drinking is always done on foot. They stand silent at a bar, with two small glasses before them. Out of one they swallow the whisky, and from the other they take a gulp of water, as though to rinse their mouths. After that, they again sit down and ruminate. It was thus that men enjoyed themselves at Cairo.

I cannot tell what was the existing population of Cairo. I asked one resident; but he only shook his head and said that the place was about "played out." And a miserable play it must have been. Itried to walk round the point on the levees, but I found that the mud was so deep and slippery on that which protected the town from the Mississippi that I could not move on it. On the other, which forms the bank of the Ohio, the railway runs, and here was gathered all the life and movement of the place. But the life was galvanic in its nature, created by a war galvanism of which the shocks were almost neutralized by mud.

As Cairo is of all towns in America the most desolate, so is its hotel the most forlorn and wretched. Not that it lacked custom. It was so full that no room was to be had on our first entry from the railway cars at five A.M., and we were reduced to the necessity of washing our hands and faces in the public wash-room. When I entered it the barber and his assistants were asleep there, and four or five citizens from the railway were busy at the basins. There is a fixed resolution in these places that you shall be drenched with dirt and drowned in abominations, which is overpowering to a mind less strong than Mark Tapley's. The filth is paraded and made to go as far as possible. The stranger is spared none of the elements of nastiness.

I remember how an old woman once stood over me in my youth, forcing me to swallow the gritty dregs of her terrible medicine cup. The treatment I received in the hotel at Cairo reminded me of that old woman. In that room I did not dare to brush my teeth lest I should give offense; and I saw at once that I was regarded with suspicion when I used my own comb instead of that provided for the public.

At length we got a room, one room for the two. I had become so depressed in spirits that I did not dare to object to this arrangement. My friend could not complain much, even to me, feeling that these miseries had been produced by his own obstinacy. "It is a new phase of life," he said. That at any rate was true. If nothing more be necessary for pleasurable excitement than a new phase of life, I would recommend all who require pleasurable excitement to go to Cairo. They will certainly find a new phase of life. But do not let them remain too long, or they may find something beyond a new phase of life. Within a week of that time my friend was taking quinine, looking hollow about the eyes, and whispering to me of fever and ague. To say that there was nothing eatable or drinkable in that hotel, would be to tell that which will be understood without telling. My friend, however, was a cautious man, carrying with him comfortable tin pots, hermetically sealed, from Fortnum & Mason's; and on the second day of our sojourn we were invited by two officers to join their dinner at a Cairo eating-house. We plowed our way gallantly through the mud to a little shanty, at the door of which we were peremptorily commanded by the landlord to scrub ourselves, before we entered, with the stump of an old broom. This we did, producing on our nether persons the appearance of bread which has been carefully spread with treacle by an economic housekeeper. And the proprietor was right, for had we not done so, the treacle would have run off through the whole house.

But after this we fared royally. Squirrel soup and prairie chickens regaled us. One of our new friends had laden his pockets with champagne and brandy; the other with glasses and a corkscrew; and as the bottle went round, I began to feel something of the spirit of Mark Tapley in my soul.

同类推荐
  • 金刚般若经

    金刚般若经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大智度论

    大智度论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太原和严长官八月十

    太原和严长官八月十

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 律二十二明了论

    律二十二明了论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Two Gentlemen of Verona

    Two Gentlemen of Verona

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 健康是三分水补七分食补

    健康是三分水补七分食补

    本书结合中医药理论和现代营养学,给出了一些科学严谨的饮食建议。饮食决定健康,吃出的来健康,喝出来的美丽。食物是最好的药,药补不如食补;好水是最佳的营养品,补水胜于补药。好水如好药,坏水似毒。营养专家:最适全自己的食物就是最有营养的食物。食物是你最好的健康之药。
  • 海贼之大海风神

    海贼之大海风神

    一个对海贼王知之甚少的大学生来到海贼王的世界会发什什么?并且阴差阳错,成为了娜美的哥哥,变成了一个妹控。所有试图吃娜美豆腐的人都可以死了!看什么看说的就是你桃之助!这是一个海军的故事!一个掌握了大海上航行最重要因素——风的故事。简介较为无力!进来看看吧!
  • 故事

    故事

    少年出现在长街的时间是下午四点三十分。冬日天短,少年刚刚走进临街的中医诊所,最后一抹夕阳就消逝在远处天空上,而玩具店老板恰好利用那临终前的阳光瞥见了少年的样子。第二天,在警局里,玩具店老板是这样描述那个少年的:中等身材,面色苍白,穿了一件黑风衣,围着白色丝巾。除此之外,给人印象最深的就是他的眼睛,一双孤独而骄傲的眼睛。探长老泰一边用粗大的手指轻轻敲着桌面,一边认真听着玩具店老板提供的线索,沉吟片刻后说道:这是个新近出道的杀手,据说他每次杀人前,枪里只留一颗子弹。关于他,我们知道的只有一个谦卑的绰号——小二。
  • 佛说须摩提菩萨经

    佛说须摩提菩萨经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • A Man of Business

    A Man of Business

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Boss大神求放过

    Boss大神求放过

    姜小贝收到一份匿名邀请,结果刚上游轮就被人暗杀。没过多久,她发现自己竟然重生了!重生有代价!姜小贝身上频频出现各种副作用。但只要跟顾霆琛发生肢体接触,这些副作用的症状就有所缓解。 为了弄清这一切,姜小贝主动靠近顾霆琛,并成为他的私人特助,可却意外发现他跟自己失踪的父亲有关……
  • 末世重生之锦鲤空间

    末世重生之锦鲤空间

    末世来临,人类感染,全城闹丧尸!阮云卿,年仅十八岁的少女,在末世垂死挣扎十年,最终落得个尸骨无存。重生归来,回到末世前七天,这时,父母尚在,挚友未亡,而他,还在等她。这一次,我要把命运掌握在自己手里,保护好那些爱我的人,我爱的人。且看女主空间在手,神马都有末世愉快之旅,99%不会随便救人,1%得考虑考虑。总之,简而言说,这是一个重生少女在末世打怪夺宝最后找到真爱的故事,这是一对异能夫妻携手共创新世纪的传奇故事。注:此作品作者闲时之笔,如有雷同,纯属巧合!
  • 有匪3:多情累

    有匪3:多情累

    霍家堡那一场大火,没有烧掉霍家堡的根基,却烧起了中原武林中人的心火。“征北英雄会”顺势而生,霍连涛野心昭然若揭,然而不明内情的他没有想到,慎独印上的一截诡异的水波纹图案却为他招来祸事。与此同时,周翡一行人追踪着谢允的踪迹,也来到了风雨飘摇的永州。谢允那双冰凉的手、体内压抑已久的毒素,还有他不为人知的过往,像一座大山一样压在周翡心头。透骨青的解药,“海天一色”的隐秘,*终全都指向了失踪已久的齐门禁地……
  • 临风等你来

    临风等你来

    陆临风是这个世界上最擅长伪装的人,他总是在林沐面前做些孩子气的举动,他的眼神里总是盛满孩子气的倔强他明明还是年少时那个性格张扬的陆临风,可是当他身上的秘密一件件暴露在眼前时,林沐甚至搞不清楚,到底是她从未了解过他,还是他变了他可以在她面前笑得一脸天真坦荡,转眼却嗜血杀人眼睛都不眨一下她本来要说服自己和他在一起了......
  • 甜心娇妻

    甜心娇妻

    她,温柔,善良,大方,聪明,个性洒脱。他,阳光,沉稳,睿智,做事果决。他们相遇在大学时期,却也分离在大学时期,因为误会,父母反对,这对有情人最终没有成为眷属。几年后,他们再次相遇,已物是人非,可是那段注定好的孽缘却又该何去何从。再次的相遇,他们还会重新在一起吗?以后的路上还会遇到什么样的人和事呢?