Chapter 44 Pangbei ① old city

Pangbei ① old city ① Today's translated name is: Pompeii. The old city of Pompei is south of Naipoli, on the southwest corner of the Italian peninsula.Mount Vesuvius is just to the east of it, like a screen.In AD 79, Vesuvius breathed fire for the first time.The erupted lava is nothing; but the cracked dust.It was pressed down like a mountain, and in the end, a prosperous Pangbei city was buried alive under the ground, impermeable to the wind.It was midnight.Fortunately, seeing the omen is not good, most people rolled up and left early; there are not many left, and they are poor boys and fools.The city is buried, and after a long time, no one forgets it.Only two letters survive from a man named Briny the Younger at that time, which describe the fall of Pangbei; but no one can point to the ruins of the old city.It was not until 1748 that the Coliseum and several other houses were unearthed, and there was no clue; the systematic excavation was as late as 1860.By now most of the city is out; the work continues.

The culture of Pangbei is very high, which can be seen from the roads, buildings, murals, sculptures, utensils, etc.Most of the latter three are on display in the Naples National Museum; those who go to Pangbei should go there first.But this kind of culture is generally imported from Greece, and the Romans themselves have very little.At that time, the Roman generals had fought many victories, and when they had nothing to do, they became refined and collected Greek works of art to decorate their houses.Some of these things were looted during the war, and some were bought.There is an old saying: "If there is something good at the top, there must be something very bad at the bottom." This kind of art hobby has gradually become a trend.At that time the Romans had plenty of money; the Greeks were poor, and were happy to have such good customers. "Gathering things where you like", Pangbei is only a third-class city, and the fine arts displayed by wealthy families are already like a modest museum, and other big cities can be imagined.

The coastal area of ​​Pangbei was in communication with Greece at that time, and it was also a commercial city, and the people were very wealthy.Their life is very extravagant, which fits the phrase "feeling full of warmth and thinking of lust".The torrential wind seems to be very strong.They worship the penis and believe that it can give people good luck, not like people in later generations who think about uncleanness.Walking on the street, it is often seen that there are black penis placed on the wall; utensils are often decorated with this.There is a large house in which two single men surnamed Wei Ti lived, and it is the best preserved; there is a small room inside with spring paintings on the walls. It is said that they often called women from outside to come here.There used to be a fountain in the courtyard, and the water from the spring came out of the phallic statue of the small stone statue; this statue is also hidden in the hut now.There is also a mural under the corridor, which shows a scale; on the left plate is a money bag, and a man puts his penis on the right plate, and the left plate is raised.It can be seen that the Pangbei people focus on that rather than this.There is another brothel, with a hallway in the middle of the entrance, and five huts on both sides, each with an earthen bed, and there is not much space outside the bed.There are spring paintings on the wall in the hallway; people's names are sometimes engraved on the inner wall of the hut. It is said that this is the sponsor of the tourist's title, so that his friends can see it and choose him as a friend.

The wine and sex have always been continuous, and the Pangbei people are also extremely indulgent when it comes to wine.As long as there are hotels everywhere, you will know how many wine cellars are in people's homes.The hotels in Pangbei are a bit like those in Shaoxing, Hangzhou. The wine shop and the counter are at the entrance, and there are not many places inside; the visitors are probably drinking "counter wine".Now you can still see many dilapidated wine cups and large and small wine cups; there are also many wine cups piled up in the cellars.These wine bowls are made of loess, with long necks, thin bellies and pointed bottoms. They look dexterous, but they are not stable. I don't know how they were placed at that time.

As mentioned above, Wei Ti's residence is very particular.The house is tall and has many rooms; an empty yard surrounded by deep corridors.There are stone masks hanging under the corridor; there are also many statues in the courtyard, with fountains and fish ponds in the middle.There is also a garden behind the house.Families of middle and upper classes in Pangbei probably have fountains, fish ponds and gardens, depending on the size of the house; fountains and fish ponds are often separated.The water was brought down from the mountain with lead pipes, and it seemed to be done well.There are quite a lot of murals in Wei Ti's house. The walls are painted in red and are very smooth, almost like marble.The painting is also exquisite and wonderful.In the dining room, there are paintings of various crafts, as if in Song Dynasty's "Maoqian Picture".But the craftsmen are all little cupids with wings, so it's not all realistic.Draw a black belt on the red wall, and paint on this path with bright blue and yellow colors, which will look best when reflected; a little powder in the blue is used to paint clothes and Cupid's wings, etc. , really fluttering.This kind of painting clearly imitates Greek wall carvings, so the structure is even and not chaotic.There are the most paintings in the dining room; the black tape is at the lower end of the wall, and above it are juxtaposed one by one, but not very big.It is unknown how the dining room will be arranged.This is what I saw in other two families: a small rectangular lime table in the middle, red, this is the table.Around it are horseshoe-shaped seats, also of limestone, of the same colour.The circle near the platform is lower and wider, for sitting, and the narrow and short fourth and fifth floors behind it are inclined upwards, as if used for backrests, and the top floor is wider again.But those two families are small in scale, and Wei Ti's family is of course bigger.As for paving the ground with embedded stones, I care about it.Most of the silverware, bronzeware, glassware, murals and statues in these houses are preserved in Naipoli; there are also lime-coated corpses and charcoaled bread and grains, all of which are from the time of the city's fall.

The Pangbi people will enjoy themselves, and their baths are well built.There are hot and cold baths and steam baths; there are wardrobes in the venue, one for each bather, so they can take a bath comfortably.The field is wide and tall, and the walls and domes are full of paintings.There is a big round window in the middle of the roof, through which the light and the rain come; but they don't care about the rain, since it's wet inside anyway.There is a restaurant opposite the bathing place. After taking a bath, you can go here to eat and drink. It's really "beautiful".Pangbei City is not that big, but it has three theater gardens.The grand theater is the most, with a capacity of 20,000 people. It is not commonly used, and it is still in good condition.The two commonly used are smaller and have fallen into disrepair; one is said to have a roof and is used at night, and the other has no roof and is used during the day.There are several markets in the city, where the public buys and sells and entertains; courts and temples are among them;

Now there are only a few rectangular wastelands and some broken altars and pillars. In addition to hotels, there are also many relics of other shops in the market.I once passed a pharmacy, where glass bottles were still scattered on the shelves; and a bakery, where five small brick ovens for baking cakes were still in good condition.There are common water tanks along the street; the water in the tank is for the horses to drink, and there is another pipe above it, so that pedestrians can drink it.When drinking, you must press the edge of the tank with one hand, turn over and look up.This posture may look good, but it is not comfortable.After a long time, the place where people laid hands on the edge of the trough was sunken and polished smooth.The streets are paved with large stones, which are flat and wide; there are often three or two oval flat stones in the middle, which are used for getting on and off carriages.The chariot had two wheels, and it happened to pass through the stone space.The street is straight, which is different from the curved shape of later generations.Although you can see as far as the end, but against the rows of dilapidated houses with similar heights and distances on both sides, it seems endless.Greatness can be seen from uniformity, which hits the strengths of the ancient Romans.

(Originally published in "Middle School Students" No. 28 on October 1, 1932)