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Books and Arts
文學與藝術
Bathhouse culture -- Body and soul
公共浴場文化——身體與靈魂
Covid-19 has accelerated the decline of hammams, yet the steam still rises
新冠加速了公共浴池的衰落，但蒸汽仍在升騰
Yeni hammam in Antakya, Turkey’s southernmost city, is hard to find.
Yeni hammam位于土耳其最南端城市安塔基亞，很難被找到。
Would-be bathers must search the maze-like streets for the tell-tale arched entrance.
想要洗浴的人必須在迷宮般的街道上尋找泄露了內情的拱形入口。
Locals can help; after all, the hammam has been there for over 300 years.
當地人可以幫你找到它；畢竟，這個公共浴場已經存在了300多年。
The name means “new bath”, and Yeni Hammam is indeed much newer than other bathhouses in Antakya, some of which date back to the Mamluks.
這個名字的意思是“新浴室”，而Yeni Hammam確實比安塔基亞的其他公共浴場要新得多，其中一些浴池可以追溯到馬穆魯克時代。
Inside, the architecture is lofty and monumental.
建筑內部高聳又宏偉。
Customers strip off in the entrance hall, before beginning the ritual of steam, scrub and oil massage, progressing through three marble chambers of gradually increasing humidity.
顧客在入口大廳脫去衣物，然后開始例行汗蒸、擦洗和精油按摩，完成這一過程會穿過三個濕度逐漸增加的大理石房間。
Light from star-shaped chinks in the domed ceilings filters through the vapour.
半球形天花板上的星形縫隙中透出的光線穿透水汽。
Old hands use the shafts cast on the walls to tell the time of day.
老手會用投射在墻上的光線來判斷時間。
Like many cities, Antakya (Antioch in antiquity) once boasted many more hammams, and before that, lavishly mosaicked Roman baths.
和許多城市一樣，安塔基亞（古代的安提阿）曾經擁有許多公共浴場，在那之前，還有奢華的馬賽克羅馬浴場。
Over 2,000 years communal bathing never went out of fashion.
2000多年來，公共洗浴從未過時。
Now, though, the tradition is under threat.
然而現在，這一傳統正受到威脅。
Yeni is one of only four functioning hammams in Antakya—and in March 2020 it shut for the first time in living memory.
Yeni是安塔基亞僅有的四個仍在經營的浴場之一，2020年3月，它在人們記憶中首次關門。
Across north Africa and the Levant, from Morocco to Istanbul, Covid-19 closed historic bathhouses. Not all have reopened.
從北非到黎凡特，從摩洛哥到伊斯坦布爾，新冠迫使這些歷史悠久的浴場關門。不是所有的浴場后來都重新開放了。
To survive, they must draw deep on a venerable past.
為了生存，他們必須深深汲取古老歷史中的經驗。
Historically, hammams fulfilled a practical function as communal washing facilities.
從歷史上看，公共浴場作為公共洗浴設施發揮了其實用功能。
They were a fixture of the Islamic urban landscape, built close to mosques and with similar architecture—a place to purify the body before focusing on the soul.
它們是伊斯蘭城市景觀的一部分，建在清真寺附近，與其有著相似的建筑風格——一個在專注于靈魂之前凈化身體的地方。
Strictly segregated by gender, under Ottoman rule hammams became hubs for business, socialising and gossip.
在奧斯曼帝國的統治下，浴場嚴格按照性別分開，于是浴場成了商業、社交和八卦的中心。
They were vital for women in times when they could not meet freely in public.
在女性無法在公共場合自由會面的時代，這些對話對她們至關重要。
As Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a British traveller, rhapsodised in the early 18th century, “'tis the women’s coffee-house, where all the news of the town is told and scandal invented”.
正如英國旅行家瑪麗·沃特利·蒙塔古女士在18世紀早期所贊頌的那樣，“這是屬于女性的咖啡館，鎮上所有的新聞都在這里被講述，所有的丑聞都在這里被編造出來?！?/p>
Mariem, a Tunisian student, affirms that, before the pandemic, she and her pals would visit the hammam about once a month for dedicated girl time: wrapped in foutas (linen towels), they ate oranges and laughed in the steam.
Mariem是一名突尼斯學生，她肯定地說，在疫情之前，她和她的朋友們每個月都會去一次公共浴場，享受專屬于女孩的時光：她們裹著亞麻毛巾，吃著橘子，在蒸汽中開懷大笑。
For most clients, the trip is now a treat not a necessity.
對于大多數顧客來說，這種體驗如今是一種享受，而不是必需。
Bathing in the Hammam Nur al-Din, one of the oldest in Damascus, is a retro thrill, says Bashar, one of its erstwhile patrons.
在Hammam Nur al-Din浴場（大馬士革最古老的浴場之一）洗浴有一種復古的興奮，它的一位老主顧巴沙爾說道。
Besides the steam and the massage, “I connect with my roots.”
除了汗蒸和按摩，“我在感受與祖先的連結?！?/p>
His forebears “all washed on these same stones, under these same domes”.
他的祖先“都曾在同樣的穹頂下，坐在同樣的石頭上洗浴”。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
