前言

漢斯和威廉：

我十二三歲的時(shí)候，一位讓我愛上書畫的叔叔許諾，要帶我參加一次難忘的探險(xiǎn)活動(dòng)。我將和他一起，登上鹿特丹古老的圣勞倫斯塔頂。

就這樣，在一個(gè)晴朗的日子里，教堂司事拿著和圣彼得那把一樣大的鑰匙，打開一扇神秘之門。他說(shuō)：“當(dāng)你們回來(lái)想出來(lái)的時(shí)候，就按一下鈴。”伴隨銹跡斑斑、破爛老化的鉸鏈發(fā)出的一陣刺耳的吱吱聲，他把我們和鬧市的嘈雜聲隔離開來(lái)，把我們鎖進(jìn)了一個(gè)充滿新奇體驗(yàn)的世界。

這是我有生以來(lái)第一次感受聽得見的寂靜。爬完第一段樓梯時(shí)，我對(duì)于自己有限的自然知識(shí)又有了一個(gè)新的發(fā)現(xiàn)——可觸摸到的黑暗。一根火柴給我們照亮了上去的路。我們爬到上面一層，然后又一層。直到最后我已數(shù)不清是第幾層，但還是接著往上爬。突然，我們看到一片亮光。這一層與教堂的屋頂一樣高，當(dāng)作儲(chǔ)藏室使用。這里存放著一個(gè)寄托神圣信仰的廢棄物件，它表面覆蓋著厚厚的灰塵。許多年前，城中的良民拋棄了這個(gè)信仰。對(duì)我們的祖先來(lái)說(shuō)，這些物件曾經(jīng)意味著生與死，如今卻淪落為廢物。勤勞的老鼠在精雕細(xì)刻的神像里建造自己的窩，一貫謹(jǐn)慎

watchful spider had opened up shop between the outspread arms of a kindly saint.

The next floor showed us from where we had derived our light. Enormous open windows with heavy iron bars made the high and barren room the roosting place of hundreds of pigeons. The wind blew through the iron bars and the air was filled with a weird and pleasing music. It was the noise of the town below us, but a noise which had been purified and cleansed by the distance. The rumbling of heavy carts and the clinking of horses’hoofs, the winding of cranes and pulleys, the hissing sound of the patient steam which had been set to do the work of man in a thousand different ways—they had all been blended into a softly rustling whisper which provided a beautiful background for the trembling cooing of the pigeons.

Here the stairs came to an end and the ladders began. And after the first ladder（a slippery old thing which made one feel his way with a cautious foot）there was a new and even greater wonder, the town-clock. I saw the heart of time. I could hear the heavy pulsebeats of the rapid seconds—one—two—three—up to sixty. Then a sudden quivering noise when all the wheels seemed to stop and another minute had been chopped off eternity.Without pause it began again—one—two—three—until at last after a warning rumble and the scraping of many wheels a thunderous voice, high above us, told the world that it was the hour of noon.

On the next floor were the bells. The nice little bells and their terrible sisters. In the centre the big bell, which made me turn stiff with fright when I heard it in the middle of the night telling a story of fire or flood. In solitary grandeur it seemed to reflect upon those six hundred years during which it had shared the joys and the sorrows of the good people of Rotterdam.Around it, neatly arranged like the blue jars in an old-fashioned apothecary shop, hung the little

的蜘蛛也在一位和藹的圣徒伸開的手臂間忙碌。

再往上一層，我們才知道先前的光線從何而來(lái)。由于裝有粗重鐵欄的敞開的窗戶，讓這間身居高處而又人跡罕至的屋子變?yōu)槌砂偕锨е圾澴拥臈⒅亍ｏL(fēng)兒越過(guò)鐵欄，把神秘而優(yōu)美的樂(lè)曲聲送到耳邊。其實(shí)，那只不過(guò)是下面市井的喧鬧之聲，但由于相距甚遠(yuǎn)，聲音已經(jīng)被凈化了。人們?cè)诠ぷ髦校Х桨儆?jì)地發(fā)明提高效率的工具并用于生產(chǎn)實(shí)踐，于是出現(xiàn)了大卡車的隆隆聲、馬蹄的叮當(dāng)聲、起重機(jī)和滑輪的纏繞聲、耐心的蒸汽機(jī)發(fā)出的嘶嘶聲。它們交織在一起，變成輕柔的、沙沙的耳語(yǔ)，襯托出鴿子顫顫的咕咕聲的美妙動(dòng)聽。

樓梯到頭了，就開始爬云梯。第一段云梯（這是一種很滑很古老的梯子，讓人覺得必須用腳小心試探著攀爬）頂端，是一個(gè)既新穎又偉大的奇觀，即本市的大鐘。這是時(shí)間的心臟。我可以聽到不停走動(dòng)的秒針發(fā)出沉重的脈動(dòng)，一下——兩下——三下，直到六十下時(shí)突然響起一陣顫抖似的嘈雜聲，大鐘所有的齒輪似乎停止轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)，又一分鐘永遠(yuǎn)地流逝了。然而時(shí)間不肯停步，又開始下一分鐘，一下——兩下——三下。這一陣警示的轟鳴和許多齒輪摩擦之后，雷鳴般的聲音在我們頭頂響起，它在告訴世人，現(xiàn)在是正午時(shí)分。

再上面一層是鐘樓。那里有靈巧可愛的小鐘和莊嚴(yán)得可怕的大鐘。大鐘在中間，每次在半夜聽到它被敲響時(shí)，我總會(huì)嚇得發(fā)抖，因?yàn)槟钦f(shuō)明發(fā)生了火災(zāi)或水災(zāi)。平時(shí)的大鐘孤獨(dú)而肅穆，似乎在回想600年間，它與鹿特丹市民共同經(jīng)歷的快樂(lè)和痛苦。在它的周圍掛著一些小鐘。這些小家伙就像老式藥房里藍(lán)色的瓶瓶罐罐

fellows, who twice each week played a merry tune for the benefit of the countryfolk who had come to market to buy and sell and hear what the big world had been doing. But in a corner—all alone and shunned by the others—a big black bell, silent and stern, the bell of death.

Then darkness once more and other ladders, steeper and even more dangerous than those we had climbed before, and suddenly the fresh air of the wide heavens. We had reached the highest gallery.Above us the sky.Below us the city—a little toy-town, where busy ants were hastily crawling hither and thither, each one intent upon his or her particular business, and beyond the jumble of stones, the wide greenness of the open country.

It was my first glimpse of the big world.

Since then, whenever I have had the opportunity, I have gone to the top of the tower and enjoyed myself. It was hard work, but it repaid in full the mere physical exertion of climbing a few stairs.

Besides, I knew what my reward would be. I would see the land and the sky, and I would listen to the stories of my kind friend the watchman, who lived in a small shack, built in a sheltered corner of the gallery. He looked after the clock and was a father to the bells, and he warned of fires, but he enjoyed many free hours and then he smoked a pipe and thought his own peaceful thoughts. He had gone to school almost fifty years before and he had rarely read a book, but he had lived on the top of his tower for so many years that he had absorbed the wisdom of that wide world which surrounded him on all sides.

History he knew well, for it was a living thing with him.“There,” he would say, pointing to a bend of the river, “there, my boy, do you see those trees? That is where the Prince of Orange cut the dikes to drown the land and save Leyden.” Or he would tell me the tale of the old Meuse, until the broad river ceased to be a convenient harbour and became a

一樣，整齊地排列著。村民每周來(lái)集市兩次，或做買賣，或了解世界新聞。這時(shí)，可愛的小鐘就會(huì)為他們演奏歡快的樂(lè)曲。還有一口黑色大鐘藏在一個(gè)角落里，獨(dú)處一隅，遠(yuǎn)離同伴，冷漠而威嚴(yán)——它就是喪鐘。

再上去的云梯比我們先前攀爬的那些要陡得多、險(xiǎn)得多。不過(guò)只要堅(jiān)持爬上去，你就看到突然而至的一片開闊的天空，清新的空氣撲面而來(lái)——我們爬到了頂層。頭頂是天空，腳下是城市——玩具般的小城。小城里面到處是螞蟻般忙碌的人，來(lái)去匆匆地想著自己的事情。城邊的亂石堆之外則是空曠廣袤的田野。

那是我第一次看到這個(gè)大千世界。

從那以后，只要有機(jī)會(huì)，我就會(huì)爬到塔頂，獨(dú)自享受著這份快樂(lè)。盡管上塔頂是件苦差事，但爬樓梯不過(guò)費(fèi)些體力，卻回報(bào)豐厚。

況且我知道我的回報(bào)會(huì)是什么。綠地和藍(lán)天將被我盡收眼底，我可以聽好朋友講故事。他是塔樓的看護(hù)人，住在一個(gè)隱蔽角落處搭建的小屋子里。他看護(hù)著時(shí)鐘，是這些鐘的父親。他還負(fù)責(zé)火災(zāi)警報(bào)。在空閑時(shí)間，他就會(huì)吸著煙斗，想著自己那些舒心的往事。大約50年前，他進(jìn)過(guò)學(xué)堂，卻沒讀什么書。在塔頂生活了這么多年，被廣大的世界包圍著，他卻汲取了其中的智慧。

他精通歷史。在他看來(lái)，歷史是有生命的。他指著河流的一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)彎處說(shuō)：“那里，在那里，孩子，你看見那些樹了嗎？就是在那兒，奧蘭治親王挖掉堤壩，淹沒自己的土地，拯救了萊頓城。”有時(shí)，他也給我講老默茲河的傳說(shuō)，一直講到這條寬廣的河流不再是便利的港口，而是神奇的交通要道，運(yùn)送德·勒伊特和特羅姆普

wonderful highroad, carrying the ships of De Ruyter and Tromp upon that famous last voyage, when they gave their lives that the sea might be free to all.

Then there were the little villages, clustering around the protecting church which once, many years ago, had been the home of their Patron Saints. In the distance we could see the leaning tower of Delft.Within sight of its high arches, William the Silent had been murdered and there Grotius had learned to construe his first Latin sentences. And still further away, the long low body of the church of Gouda, the early home of the man whose wit had proved mightier than the armies of many an emperor, the charity-boy whom the world came to know as Erasmus.

Finally the silver line of the endless sea and as a contrast, immediately below us, the patchwork of roofs and chimneys and houses and gardens and hospitals and schools and railways, which we called our home. But the tower showed us the old home in a new light. The confused commotion of the streets and the market-place, of the factories and the workshop, became the well-ordered expression of human energy and purpose.Best of all, the wide view of the glorious past, which surrounded us on all sides, gave us new courage to face the problems of the future when we had gone back to our daily tasks.

History is the mighty Tower of Experience, which Time has built amidst the endless fields of bygone ages. It is no easy task to reach the top of this ancient structure and get the benefit of the full view. There is no elevator, but young feet are strong and it can be done.

Here I give you the key that will open the door.

When you return, you too will understand the reason for my enthusiasm.

Hendrik Willem Van Loon.

的戰(zhàn)艦踏上著名的最后征程。這一次，他們?yōu)榱俗屘煜氯斯蚕砗Ｑ螅I(xiàn)出了自己的生命。

然后就看到一些小村落，環(huán)繞著保佑它們的教堂。許多年前，教堂曾是圣人保護(hù)者的家。在遠(yuǎn)處，我們可以看到代爾夫特斜塔。站在斜塔的高拱處，可以看到沉默者威廉遭暗殺的地方。也是在那里，格勞修斯學(xué)會(huì)了造第一個(gè)拉丁句。再遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)，是綿長(zhǎng)低矮的高德教堂，那是著名的伊拉斯謨?cè)缒甑募摇．?dāng)時(shí)，他只是孤兒院里寄養(yǎng)的孩子，可歷史證明，他智慧的力量勝過(guò)任何一位國(guó)王的千軍萬(wàn)馬。

遙望遠(yuǎn)處是漫無(wú)邊際的大海邊銀色的海岸線。與之形成對(duì)比的是，就在我們腳下的屋頂、煙囪、房舍、花園、醫(yī)院、學(xué)校和鐵路，它們拼湊在一起，成了我們所謂的家。但是塔樓讓我們用新的眼光來(lái)審視這個(gè)老家。街道、集市、工廠和車間的喧鬧，昭示著人類的能力和目標(biāo)。對(duì)厚重歷史的客觀審視，是最珍貴的解讀，它貫穿于我們生活的方方面面，會(huì)給我們新的勇氣，去面對(duì)今后的人生。

歷史是氣勢(shì)磅礴的經(jīng)驗(yàn)之塔，是時(shí)間在逝去的歲月里，在無(wú)邊的田野間建造起來(lái)的。要登上這座古老建筑的頂部，大飽一覽全景的眼福，并非易事。塔樓沒有電梯，不過(guò)年輕人腿腳強(qiáng)勁有力，可以辦到。

現(xiàn)在，我給你們這把開啟大門的鑰匙。

當(dāng)你們回來(lái)的時(shí)候，就會(huì)徹底了解我為何如此熱心了。

亨德里克·威廉·房龍