第 29 节
作者:敏儿不觉      更新:2021-02-19 21:45      字数:6901
  his salary is less than thirty pounds English per annum。
  Before a ship hath been visited by one of those magistrates no
  person can lawfully go on board her; nor can any on board depart
  from her。  This I saw exemplified in a remarkable instance。  The
  young lad whom I have mentioned as one of our passengers was here
  met by his father; who; on the first news of the captain's
  arrival; came from Lisbon to Bellisle in a boat; being eager to
  embrace a son whom he had not seen for many years。  But when he
  came alongside our ship neither did the father dare ascend nor
  the son descend; as the magistrate of health had not yet been on
  board。  Some of our readers will; perhaps; admire the great
  caution of this policy; so nicely calculated for the preservation
  of this country from all pestilential distempers。  Others will as
  probably regard it as too exact and formal to be constantly
  persisted in; in seasons of the utmost safety; as well as in
  times of danger。  I will not decide either way; but will content
  myself with observing that I never yet saw or heard of a place
  where a traveler had so much trouble given him at his landing as
  here。  The only use of which; as all such matters begin and end
  in form only; is to put it into the power of low and mean fellows
  to be either rudely officious or grossly corrupt; as they shall
  see occasion to prefer the gratification of their pride or of
  their avarice。
  Of this kind; likewise; is that power which is lodged with other
  officers here; of taking away every grain of snuff and every leaf
  of tobacco brought hither from other countries; though only for
  the temporary use of the person during his residence here。  This
  is executed with great insolence; and; as it is in the hands of
  the dregs of the people; very scandalously; for; under pretense
  of searching for tobacco and snuff; they are sure to steal
  whatever they can find; insomuch that when they came on board our
  sailors addressed us in the Covent…garden language:  〃Pray;
  gentlemen and ladies; take care of your swords and watches。〃
  Indeed; I never yet saw anything equal to the contempt
  and hatred which our honest tars every moment expressed
  for these Portuguese officers。
  At Bellisle lies buried Catharine of Arragon; widow of prince
  Arthur; eldest son of our Henry VII; afterwards married to; and
  divorced from Henry VIII。  Close by the church where her remains
  are deposited is a large convent of Geronymites; one of the most
  beautiful piles of building in all Portugal。
  In the evening; at twelve; our ship; having received previous
  visits from all the necessary parties; took the advantage of
  the tide; and having sailed up to Lisbon cast anchor there; in a
  calm and moonshiny night; which made the passage incredibly
  pleasant to the women; who remained three hours enjoying it;
  whilst I was left to the cooler transports of enjoying their
  pleasures at second…hand; and yet; cooler as they may be; whoever
  is totally ignorant of such sensation is; at the same time; void
  of all ideas of friendship。
  Wednesday。Lisbon; before which we now lay at anchor; is said to
  be built on the same number of hills with old Rome; but these do
  not all appear to the water; on the contrary; one sees from
  thence one vast high hill and rock; with buildings arising above
  one another; and that in so steep and almost perpendicular a
  manner; that they all seem to have but one foundation。
  As the houses; convents; churches; &c。; are large; and all built
  with white stone; they look very beautiful at a distance; but as
  you approach nearer; and find them to want every kind of
  ornament; all idea of beauty vanishes at once。  While I was
  surveying the prospect of this city; which bears so little
  resemblance to any other that I have ever seen; a reflection
  occurred to me that; if a man was suddenly to be removed from
  Palmyra hither; and should take a view of no other city; in how
  glorious a light would the ancient architecture appear to him!
  and what desolation and destruction of arts and sciences would he
  conclude had happened between the several eras of these cities!
  I had now waited full three hours upon deck for the return of my
  man; whom I had sent to bespeak a good dinner (a thing which had
  been long unknown to me) on shore; and then to bring a Lisbon
  chaise with him to the seashore; but it seems the impertinence of
  the providore was not yet brought to a conclusion。  At three
  o'clock; when I was from emptiness; rather faint than hungry; my
  man returned; and told me there was a new law lately made that no
  passenger should set his foot on shore without a special order
  from the providore; and that he himself would have been sent to
  prison for disobeying it; had he not been protected as the
  servant of the captain。  He informed me likewise that the captain
  had been very industrious to get this order; but that it was then
  the providore's hour of sleep; a time when no man; except the
  king himself; durst disturb him。
  To avoid prolixity; though in a part of my narrative which may be
  more agreeable to my reader than it was to me; the providore;
  having at last finished his nap; dispatched this absurd matter of
  form; and gave me leave to come; or rather to be carried; on shore。
  What it was that gave the first hint of this strange law is not
  easy to guess。  Possibly; in the infancy of their defection; and
  before their government could be well established; they were
  willing to guard against the bare possibility of surprise; of the
  success of which bare possibility the Trojan horse will remain
  for ever on record; as a great and memorable example。  Now the
  Portuguese have no walls to secure them; and a vessel of two or
  three hundred tons will contain a much larger body of troops than
  could be concealed in that famous machine; though Virgil tells us
  (somewhat hyperbolically; I believe) that it was as big as a
  mountain。
  About seven in the evening I got into a chaise on shore; and was
  driven through the nastiest city in the world; though at the same
  time one of the most populous; to a kind of coffee…house; which
  is very pleasantly situated on the brow of a hill; about a mile
  from the city; and hath a very fine prospect of the river Tajo
  from Lisbon to the sea。  Here we regaled ourselves with a good
  supper; for which we were as well charged as if the bill had been
  made on the Bath…road; between Newbury and London。
  And now we could joyfully say;
  Egressi optata Troes potiuntur arena。
  Therefore; in the words of Horace;
  hie Finis chartaeque viaeque。
  End