阮一峰的网络日志

卡尔维诺说，这本小说其实是一本随笔集。

它差不多变成了一本日记，记录下我的心情与思考；所有的一切最后都转变成了城市的图像。

所以，这实际上不是一本小说，而是一段段诗意的叙述。

下面就是昨天晚上我反复阅读的一段。如果你曾经对时间感到恐惧，曾经为期待而兴奋，曾经为现实而失落，那么你会体会到我的阅读感受。

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When a man rides a long time through wild regions he feels the desire for a city.

如果你骑马走过荒原，自然渴望一座城市。

Finally he comes to Isidora, a city where the buildings have spiral staircases encrusted with spiral seashells, where perfect telescopes and violins are made, where the foreigner hesitating between two women always encounters a third, where cockfights degenerate into bloody brawls among the bettors.

最后，他来到了城市。这里，楼房里有螺旋形楼梯，楼梯上镶着螺纹的贝壳；这里，制造完美的望远镜和小提琴；这里，当外乡人在两个女人之间犹豫不决，他总是会遇到第三个；这里，赌徒们会为了斗鸡而流血斗殴。

He was thinking of all these things when he dedired a city.

当他渴望一座城市的时候，他总是想到所有这些事情。

Isidora, therefore, is the city of his dreams: with one difference.

因此，这座城市是他梦中的城市：除了一个地方。

The dreamed-of city contained him as a young man; he arrives at Isidora in his old age.

在梦中，他是一个青年；来到这里他已是老年。

In the square there is the wall where the old men sit and watch the young go by; he is seated in a row with them.

广场上有一座墙，老年人坐在墙下，看着年轻人经过；他挨着他们坐下。

Desires are already memories.

欲望已成记忆。

（完）

参考链接：《看不见的城市》全文