The River Thames泰晤士河

M. F. 曼斯菲爾德 寧一中

【導讀】泰晤士河發源于英格蘭西南部的科茨沃爾德山，全長346公里，橫貫英國首都倫敦，在倫敦下游注入北海。泰晤士河盡管不如長江之滾滾滔滔，但它哺育了英國的燦爛文化，是英國人的母親河。河的兩岸有許多著名建筑，如宏偉的威斯敏斯特大教堂、標志著英國黑暗時期的倫敦塔、可以升降的塔橋等。伊頓、牛津等文化場所亦聞名于世。英國歷代文人都有對它的禮贊。本篇譯自《狄更斯筆下的倫敦》（Dickens London）之“泰晤士河”（The River Thames），有刪節。

Ever present in the minds and hearts of the true Londoner is the “majestic Thames;” though， in truth， while it is a noble stream， it is not so all-powerful and mighty a river as romance would have us believe.

From its source， down through the Shires， past Oxford， Berks， and Bucks， and finally between Middlesex， Surrey， and Essex， it ambles slowly but with dignity. From Oxford to Henley and Cookham， it is at its best and most charming stage. Passing Maidenhead， Windsor， Stains， Richmond， Twickenham， and Hammersmith， and reaching Putney Bridge， it comes into London proper， after having journeyed on its gladsome way through green fields and sylvan banks for a matter of some hundred and thirty miles.

Poets have sung its praises， and painters extolled its charms. To cite Richmond1 alone， as a locality， is to call up memories of Sir Joshua Reynolds2， Walpole3， Pope4， Thomson5， and many others whose names are known and famed of letters and art.

If swans are characteristic of the upper reaches， the waterman or the bargeman， assuredly， is of the lower. With the advent of the railway， —which came into general use and effective development during Dickens day， —it was popularly supposed that the traffic of the “silent highway”6 would be immeasurably curtailed.

Coming to London proper， from “Westminster” to the “Tower，” there is practically an inexhaustible store of reminiscence to be called upon， if one would seek to enumerate or picture the sights， scenes， and localities immortalized by even the authors contemporary with Dickens.

In Dickens time， that glorious thoroughfare， known of all present-day visitors to London， the Victoria Embankment7， was in a way non-existent. In the forties there was some agitation for a new thoroughfare leading between the western and the eastern cities.

The Thames in London proper was， in 1850， crossed by but six bridges. Blackfriars Railway Bridge， Charing Cross Railway Bridge， and the Tower Bridge did not come into the ensemble till later， though the two former were built during Dickens lifetime.

Westminster Bridge， from whence the Embankment starts， was the second erected across the Thames. It appears that attempts were made to obtain another bridge over the Thames besides that known as “London Bridge，” in the several reigns of Elizabeth， James I.， Charles I. and II.， and George I.; but it was not until the year 1736 that Parliament authorized the building of a second bridge， namely， that at Westminster. Prior to this date， the only communication between Lambeth and Westminster was by ferry-boat.

On the 1st of May， 1845， Hungerford Suspension Bridge was opened to the public without ceremony， but with much interest and curiosity， for between noon and midnight 36，254 persons passed over it. Hungerford was at that time the great focus of the Thames Steam Navigation， the embarkation and landing exceeding two millions per annum. The bridge was the work of Sir I. K. Brunel， and was a fine specimen of engineering skill. It was built without any scaffolding， with only a few ropes， and without any impediment to the navigation of the river. The entire cost of the bridge was ?110，000， raised by a public company.

“Billingsgate” was one of the earliest water-gates of London， the first on the site having been built in the year 400 B. C.， and named after Belin， King of the Britons. The present “Billingsgate Market” is a structure completed in 1870.

Below the metropolis of docks and moorings the river widens to meet the sea， so that any journey of observation must perforce be made upon its bosom rather than as a ramble along its banks.

Opposite Gravesend， from where Dickens first set sail for America， is Tilbury Fort， a reminder of the glories of Englands arms in the days of Elizabeth. It may be said to be the real outpost of London. Here passing from the “Lower Hope” into “Sea Reach，” we fairly enter upon the estuary of the Thames. Here the river has rapidly expanded into an arm of the sea， having widened from two hundred and ninety yards at London Bridge to perhaps four and a half miles at the “London Stone” by Yantlet Creek， where the jurisdiction of the Corporation of London ends.

To the north the Essex shore trends rapidly away toward Yarmouth; to the south straight to the eastern end of the English Channel， past the historic Medway， with Gads Hill Place and Higham.

Beyond is Strood， Rochester， Chatham， Maidstone， Canterbury， and Broadstairs， and with the latter place one takes leave， as it were， of England， Dickens， and his personal and literary associations therewith.

縈繞在真正的倫敦人腦海里、心坎上的，莫過于那條“威嚴的泰晤士河”了。實際上，說它是一條高貴的溪流倒也沒錯，說它像傳奇故事里讓我們相信的那樣波瀾壯闊，則滿不是那么回事。

泰晤士河由源頭順諸郡而下，流經牛津、伯克和白金漢，最后穿過米德爾賽克斯、薩里和埃塞克斯，一路悠然而威嚴地流淌。從牛津到亨利鎮和庫克漢姆這一段是最壯觀、最美麗的。經梅登黑德、溫莎、斯特恩斯、里士滿、特維克納姆和漢默史密斯到普特尼橋，就到了倫敦市區。一路流來，長約130英里，兩岸綠滿田疇，樹木森森，令人心曠神怡。

詩人們寫詩歌頌它，畫家們以畫筆贊頌它的嫵媚。只說里士滿這個地方，就喚起人們對喬舒亞·雷諾茲、沃爾波爾、蒲柏、湯姆森等諸多因文學藝術而名傳遐邇的大家們的記憶。

假若上游的特色是天鵝的話，那么下游的特色定然就是船工和駁船船員了。自從有了鐵路（狄更斯的時代，鐵路已廣泛使用、有效開發），人們就普遍認為“安靜公路”上的交通運輸會大大減少。

來到倫敦市區，如果有人要歷數或描繪因狄更斯那一輩的作家而變得不朽的地方或景觀，從威斯敏斯特大教堂到倫敦塔，幾乎有說不盡道不完的記憶。

在狄更斯那時候，維多利亞堤岸這條如今來倫敦的游客都知道的通衢大道從某種程度上說還不存在。19世紀40年代有人提議要修一條貫通倫敦西城和東城的新大道。

1850年，倫敦市區的泰晤士河河段上只有6座橋。黑衣修士鐵路橋、查令跨鐵路大橋和倫敦塔橋都是后來才進入泰晤士河大橋之列的，不過前兩座大橋在狄更斯生前就已建好。

威斯敏斯特大橋是堤岸大道的起點，也是橫跨泰晤士河的第二座大橋。在伊麗莎白一世、詹姆斯一世、查理一世和二世及喬治一世當政期間，似乎有過在倫敦橋之側再修一座跨河大橋的打算，不過直到1736年議會才授權建第二座橋，即位于威斯敏斯特的大橋。在此之前，來往朗伯斯和威斯敏斯特都靠渡船。

1845年5月1日，亨格福德吊橋沒有舉行儀式便開通了，但人們對這座橋很感興趣，也很好奇——從那天中午到午夜，過橋人數總計36254。那時的亨格福德橋可是泰晤士河蒸汽航運引人注目的要沖，每年上下船的乘客超200萬。該橋由伊桑巴德·金德姆·布魯內爾爵士設計，是工程技術的范本。建造過程中未曾使用過腳手架，就用了幾條繩子，也沒對河運構成任何障礙。建橋的總開支是11萬英鎊，由一家上市公司募得。

比靈斯蓋特（又譯比靈斯門）是倫敦最早的水門之一。那里的第一個門為公元前400年所建，以不列顛人的國王貝林的名字命名。如今的“比靈斯蓋特海鮮市場”是1870年完工的建筑。

這座都市遍布碼頭和泊處，都市下游方向，泰晤士河河面變寬，由此流入海洋。因此，對于泰晤士河這一路的觀察一定要在河上進行，而不是沿河漫步。

在格雷夫森德對面，即蒂爾伯里堡，當年狄更斯就是由此起航去美國的。這里讓人們想起伊麗莎白時代英國軍隊的榮光。此處也許可以說是倫敦的真正前哨。從下厚樸河段進入近海河段，就已進入泰晤士河的河口了。這里，泰晤士河急速變寬，成了海灣，其寬度從倫敦橋水域的290碼增加到揚特利特河旁“倫敦石”那里的約4.5英里——在此，倫敦作為法人的管轄權也就終止了。

在泰晤士河以北，埃塞克斯河岸急轉至雅茅斯;以南，直入英吉利海峽東端，穿越歷史悠久的梅德韋，其間有蓋德山莊和海厄姆。

更遠處，便是斯特羅德、羅切斯特、查塔姆、梅德斯通、坎特伯雷和布羅德斯泰斯。到了最后這地方，某種程度上就可以與英格蘭、與狄更斯、與他本人及其文學作品的聯系揖別了。

1里士滿，位于倫敦西南泰晤士河畔，區內的漢普頓宮有“英國凡爾賽宮”之稱，這里還有眾多王公大臣、富貴名流、演藝明星的別墅莊園，一度被稱為“英國的比弗利山莊”。2018年獲評倫敦最適合居住的行政區。? 2喬舒亞·雷諾茲爵士（1723—1792），英國18世紀學院派肖像畫家。? 3 = Sir Hugh Walpole休·沃爾波爾爵士（1884—1941），英國小說家。? 4 = Alexander Pope亞歷山大·蒲柏（1688—1744），18世紀英國偉大的詩人。? 5 = John Thomson約翰·湯姆森（1837—1921），蘇格蘭著名攝影家、地理學家、探險家，19世紀最重要的攝影先驅之一，被譽為“攝影界的馬可·波羅”。? 6指水路。7倫敦一條重要的濱河大道。

Best 10 London Attractions （1）

The London Eye

Climb aboard one of the 32 glass capsules of the London Eye for unforgettable views of some of Londons most famous landmarks. Take in amazing 360-degree views as the capsule slowly rotates over the river Thames.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

Have a magical day out with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Harry Potter films at Warner Bros. See first-hand the sets， costumes and props used in all the Harry Potter films， and step inside some of the films locations， including the Great Hall， Dumbledores office and Hagrids hut. Its the ultimate Harry Potter experience！

Tower of London

Take a tour with one of the Yeoman Warders around the Tower of London， one of the worlds most famous buildings. Discover its 900-year history as a royal palace， prison and place of execution， arsenal， jewel house and zoo！ Gaze up at the White Tower， tiptoe through a medieval kings bedchamber and marvel at the Crown Jewels.