by Habeeb Salloum

“You want to sail on an Arab 1）dhow？ Then todays your lucky day！ Talk to him！” Abdallah bin Jassim， a Dubaian historian， pointed to an elderly man sitting beside me.

“He was for years a captain of a 2）pearl-diving dhow—the best 3）skipper in the Arabian Gulf.”Abdullah appeared to be proud of the 4）former dhow skipper.

After introductions， I asked the soft-spoken captain to tell me about his 5）seafaring life and if pearl-diving in dhows was continuing in our times.

“Pearl-diving in dhows？ Of course not！ The youth today are 6）spoiled！ All they look for are the pleasures of life. It wasnt like this when I was young.” Ubayd al-Muhayri the former dhow captain smiled.

“你想乘坐阿拉伯獨(dú)桅帆船嗎？今天你很走運(yùn)！和他談?wù)劙桑　钡习輾v史學(xué)家阿卜杜拉·本·賈西姆指著坐在我旁邊的一位老人對(duì)我說(shuō)道。

“他當(dāng)了很多年采珠帆船的船長(zhǎng)，是阿拉伯海灣最好的船長(zhǎng)?！卑⒉范爬坪躅H為這位帆船船長(zhǎng)感到驕傲。

一番介紹之后，我向這位說(shuō)話溫和的船長(zhǎng)問(wèn)起他的航海生活，以及在我們現(xiàn)在這個(gè)時(shí)代，人們是否仍用獨(dú)桅帆船采集珍珠。

“用獨(dú)桅帆船潛水采集珍珠？當(dāng)然沒(méi)有了！現(xiàn)在的年輕人都被慣壞了，他們要的是享受。我年輕的時(shí)候可不是這樣的?！币郧爱?dāng)過(guò)帆船船長(zhǎng)的奧貝德·阿穆哈利笑道。

When I asked him if he 7）yearned to sail the Arab dhows again， he seemed 8）amused.

“Sail again！ I am 75 years old. Do you know that pearl-diving was a part of hell？”He continued， 9）misty-eyed， “Yet， for me the old days are 10）preferable. In those days， we did not worry about material wealth. We were 11）content to live on dates and coffee.”

A tear came to his eye as he recalled his youthful years， “I was eight years old when my father first took me with him on a dhow. When I turned 15， he took me down some 15 meters to the bottom of the sea and taught me how to find the pearl-carrying 12）oysters in the deep. For a hundred days every year we worked the oyster 13）beds. Until I became a skipper of a dhow， it was a harsh life but I was content.”

Putting his hand over mine， he went on，“It was not like now！ In my younger days， the father was the head of the 14）household. Every member of the family obeyed him until he died.

我問(wèn)他是否渴望再開(kāi)一次阿拉伯獨(dú)桅帆船，他好像被逗樂(lè)了。

“再開(kāi)一次??？我已經(jīng)75歲了。你知道嗎？采珠簡(jiǎn)直就是地獄的一角?！彼劭魸駶?rùn)起來(lái)，繼續(xù)說(shuō)道：“不過(guò)，對(duì)我而言，以前的日子更美好。那時(shí)候，我們不需要為物質(zhì)財(cái)富發(fā)愁，只要有椰棗和咖啡就心滿意足了?！?/p>

回憶起青春歲月，他的眼里泛起了淚光?！拔?歲的時(shí)候，父親第一次帶我坐上獨(dú)桅帆船。15歲的時(shí)候，他帶我潛入水下15米左右的海底，教我如何在水底尋找珍珠貝。每年我們都要在貝床上工作一百天。在我成為獨(dú)桅帆船的船長(zhǎng)之前，生活雖然艱苦，但我很滿足。”

他把手搭在我的手上，接著說(shuō)：“今非昔比??！我年輕的時(shí)候，父親是一家之主，家里所有人都要服從他，直到他去世。

“Today， the young men want to live in 15）luxury and own fast cars. Fathers to them do not mean a thing. Its only the daughters who still think of their parents.”

As I 16）bade Abdallah Jassim and the former captain adieu， I thought of my fantasy to one day sail on an Arab dhow. Ubayd al-Muhayri had somewhat 17）dampened my yearning to sail on these 18）crafts， but not entirely. I had waited too many years to be so easily 19）defeated.

From the adventure stories that I read in my youth， none impressed me more than Alan Villiers注1 book， Sons of Sinbad， in which he describes his journey on an Arab dhow from the Arabian Gulf to the East African coast. Sailing in his footsteps and capturing a bit of the ancient Arab spirit of adventure became one of my burning 20）ambitions. For years， I dreamt that one day I would sail on one of these ships across the Arabian Sea to 21）exotic lands.

The years rolled by and now I found myself in Dubai， the United Arab Emirates economic heart. Along the shores of its Creek， which divides the city into two parts， there were hundreds of dhows loading and unloading goods. However， their sails and gear had been replaced by motors and the other 22）gadgets of our modern age.

“但是到了今天，年輕人追求奢華富貴的生活，想擁有自己的跑車(chē)。父親在他們眼里什么也不是。如今，只有做女兒的還會(huì)想到父母?！?/p>

我告別了阿卜杜拉·賈西姆和這位老船長(zhǎng)，想起了我盼望有朝一日能乘坐阿拉伯獨(dú)桅帆船的夢(mèng)想。奧貝德·阿穆哈利的話多多少少?zèng)_淡了我坐船的興致，但還不至于完全熄滅。我已經(jīng)等了好多年，所以不會(huì)輕易被嚇到。

在我年輕時(shí)讀過(guò)的冒險(xiǎn)故事里，沒(méi)有哪一本書(shū)像艾倫·維利爾斯的《辛巴達(dá)之子》那樣讓我印象深刻。他在書(shū)中描述了他駕駛阿拉伯獨(dú)桅帆船從阿拉伯海灣航行到非洲東海岸的旅程。追隨著他的腳步航行，體驗(yàn)一把古代阿拉伯的冒險(xiǎn)精神，就成為了我熊熊燃燒的雄心壯志。多年來(lái)我一直夢(mèng)想著，有一天能乘坐獨(dú)桅帆船橫跨阿拉伯海，到達(dá)異域他鄉(xiāng)的土地。

此去經(jīng)年，我現(xiàn)在來(lái)到了迪拜——阿聯(lián)酋的經(jīng)濟(jì)中心。迪拜灣把整個(gè)城市一分為二，此處沿岸有數(shù)百艘單桅帆船在裝卸貨物，只不過(guò)它們的風(fēng)帆和齒輪都已經(jīng)換成了馬達(dá)和其他現(xiàn)代配件。

Alas！ The days were gone when the sight of huge 23）fleets of dhows， with their sails 24）bending to the wind， covered the 25）horizon of the Arabian Gulf. Today， one can see these ships only sailing for sport or for the pleasure of tourists.

Like most of the visitors who yearn to sail in these once-cherished crafts， I knew time had passed me by. Yet， I still wanted to taste the pleasure of travelling the seas on a dhow even if it had to be tourist style.

That evening， my yearnings were to be 26）fulfilled. As we 27）boarded our tourist craft， I looked around.

The dhow of the 28）bygone years had been transformed into a tourist ship of excellence. Everything was neat and tidy from the white tablecloths to the clean 29）uniforms of the crew. It was 30）apparent that the old had been 31）overpowered by the new.

The waves of Dubai Creek gently 32）lapped and 33）swayed the ship， as， with Arabic music in the background， we enjoyed the tasty Arab food.

As the cool 34）breezes 35）soothed our bodies， we smoothly moved along the Creek past dhows loading and unloading goods， as they have done for centuries. The sound of the motors and the gentle wind calmed our senses as we sailed in the shadows of 36）sky-scraping structures.

The passengers on the dhow， the majority European 37）expatriates and tourists， seemed happy and content. None， I dare say， cared about the history of ships. Pleasure， not dhows and their history， was on their minds.

Satisfied， I sat back and 38）fantasized about the past while watching an 39）oriental dancer 40）entrancing the passengers. The 41）heritage and 42）atmosphere of the dhow took me back to the era of The Arabian Nights and Sindbad the Sailor注2.

In two hours—to me it seemed minutes—as we neared the end of our journey， Akbar， our Indian waiter， bidding me adieu， smilingly enquired， “Did you enjoy the tour？”

“Of course！ But it was not like one of Sindbads journeys，” I 43）grinned. He looked at me strangely. Apparently he had no idea what I meant. To him， Sindbad and his tales were of no interest. He had come from India to work and make his fortune， then return home and enjoy the 44）offerings of the 21st century. Unlike me， he was living in reality.

啊！成群結(jié)隊(duì)的單桅帆船，揚(yáng)著迎風(fēng)鼓起的帆，遮住了阿拉伯海灣的海平線——這樣的壯景已經(jīng)一去不復(fù)返了。今天，人們只能看到這些帆船被用于體育運(yùn)動(dòng)或是游客觀光。

我和大多數(shù)渴望乘坐這些曾經(jīng)很珍貴的帆船的游客一樣，都知道屬于它的黃金時(shí)代已經(jīng)過(guò)去了。不過(guò)，我還是想嘗嘗乘坐獨(dú)桅帆船航行的樂(lè)趣，即便是作為游客也好。

那天晚上，我的渴望就要得到滿足了。在我們登上裝飾一新的游船之時(shí)，我環(huán)顧四周。

舊日的單桅帆船已被改造成一艘精致的游船。從白色的桌布，到船員干凈的制服，一切都整潔利索。顯然，舊貌難掩新容。

迪拜灣的波浪輕輕拍打搖晃著船身，我們伴著阿拉伯音樂(lè)，享用起了美味的阿拉伯美食。

在習(xí)習(xí)涼風(fēng)的撫慰之中，我們沿著迪拜灣徐徐前行，越過(guò)那些數(shù)百年如一日、正在這里裝卸貨物的單桅帆船。我們?cè)谀μ齑髽堑陌涤爸写┬?，?tīng)著馬達(dá)的聲音，吹著溫柔的風(fēng)，恬靜而陶醉。

獨(dú)桅帆船上的乘客——多數(shù)是歐洲僑民和游客——都顯得愉快而滿足。我敢說(shuō)，此時(shí)此刻，沒(méi)有人關(guān)心船的歷史；他們心中有的只是愜意，而不是獨(dú)桅三角帆船及其歷史。

我心滿意足地靠背坐著，欣賞著一名東方舞女令人目眩神迷的表演，想象著從前的景象。獨(dú)桅帆船的底蘊(yùn)和氛圍把我?guī)Щ亓恕兑磺Я阋灰埂泛秃胶＜倚涟瓦_(dá)的年代。

兩個(gè)小時(shí)后——對(duì)我而言似乎只過(guò)了幾分鐘——我們的旅程接近尾聲。我們的服務(wù)員——印度人阿克巴向我告別，他笑著問(wèn)我：“你喜歡這趟旅程嗎？”

“當(dāng)然喜歡！不過(guò)和辛巴達(dá)的那些旅程不同，”我笑道。他用奇怪的眼光看著我。顯然，他不知道我在說(shuō)什么。對(duì)他而言，辛巴達(dá)和他的故事無(wú)關(guān)緊要。他只是從印度來(lái)到這里工作，發(fā)家致富，然后就要回家，去享受21世紀(jì)所能提供的各種享受。與我不同，他生活在現(xiàn)實(shí)之中。