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There'sapowerstrugglegoingonacrossEuropethesedays. Afewcitiesarecompetingagainsteachothertoseewhoshallemergeasthegreattwenty-first-centuryEuropeanmetropolis. WillitbeLondon? Paris? Berlin? Zurich? MaybeBrussels, centeroftheyoungunion? Theyallstrivetooutdooneanotherculturally, architecturally, politically, fiscally. ButRome, itshouldbesaid, hasnotbotheredtojointheraceforstatus. Romedoesn'tcompete. Romejustwatchesallthefussingandstriving, completelyunfazed, exudinganairlike: Hey—dowhateveryouwant, butI'mstillRome. Iaminspiredbytheregalself-assuranceofthistown, sogroundedandrounded, soamusedandmonumental, knowingthatsheisheldsecurelyinthepalmofhistory. IwouldliketobelikeRomewhenIamanoldlady.
近来整个欧洲正在进行某种权力斗争。几个城市彼此竞争，看谁将成为21世纪的欧洲最大都会。是伦敦？巴黎？柏林？苏黎世？或是成立不久的欧盟中心布鲁塞尔？每一个都力求在文化、建筑、政治、财政方面胜过对方。然而对于罗马而言，可说尚未费心加入地位之争。罗马不去竞争。罗马只是冷眼旁观这些小题大做，全然无动于衷，表现出一副“随你们做什么吧，我仍是罗马”的姿态。这城市的从容自信令我感动，如此稳固而完美，如此有趣而不朽，知道自己被牢牢地握在历史之掌中。我年老的时候也想和罗马一样。
Itakemyselfonasix-hourwalkthroughtowntoday. Thisiseasytodo, especiallyifyoustopfrequentlytofueluponespressoandpastries. Istartatmyapartmentdoor, thenwanderthroughthecosmopolitanshoppingcenterthatismyneighborhood. (ThoughIwouldn'texactlycallthisaneighborhood, notinthetraditionalsense. Imean, ifitisaneighborhood, thenmyneighborsarethosejust-plain-regular-folkwithnamesliketheValentinos, theGuccisandtheArmanis.) Thishasalwaysbeenanupscaledistrict. Rubens, Tennyson, Stendhal, Balzac, Liszt, Wagner, Thackeray, Byron, Keats—theyallstayedhere.
今天我在城里走了六小时的路。这并不难，尤其如果你不时停下来喝杯浓咖啡，吃些糕点。我从公寓门口出发，而后漫步于邻近街坊的都市商业区。（尽管我不太精确地把它叫作传统意义上的街坊，但此处的街坊邻居，可都是那些名叫华伦天奴、古琦、乔治•阿玛尼的凡夫俗子。这儿始终是高级区，鲁本斯（Rubens）、丁尼生（Tennyson）、司汤达、巴尔扎克、李斯特、瓦格纳（Wagner）、萨克莱、拜伦、济慈——他们都待过这里。
Iliveinwhattheyusedtocall "TheEnglishGhetto," wherealltheposharistocratsrestedontheirEuropeangrandtours. OneLondontouringclubwasactuallycalled "TheSocietyofDilettanti"—imagineadvertisingthatyou'readilettante! Oh, thegloriousshamelessnessofit . . .
我住的地区从前叫“英国区”，即上流贵族在欧洲长 途旅行期间的休憩处。有个伦敦旅游俱乐部竟然叫作“半瓶醋社团 ”（TheSocietyofDilettanti）——真想不到，拿你是半瓶醋做广告宣传！喔，脸皮厚得如此理直气壮……
IwalkovertothePiazzadelPopolo, withitsgrandarch, carvedbyBerniniinhonorofthehistoricvisitofQueenChristinaofSweden (whowasreallyoneofhistory'sneutronbombs. Here'showmySwedishfriendSofiedescribesthegreatqueen: "Shecouldride, shecouldhunt, shewasascholar, shebecameaCatholicanditwasahugescandal. Somesayshewasaman, butatleastshewasprobablyalesbian. Shedressedinpants, shewentonarchaeologicalexcavations, shecollectedartandsherefusedtoleaveanheir"). NexttothearchisachurchwhereyoucanwalkinforfreeandseetwopaintingsbyCaravaggiodepictingthemartyrdomofSaintPeterandtheconversionofSaintPaul (soovercomebygracethathehasfallentothegroundinholyrapture; notevenhishorsecanbelieveit). ThoseCaravaggiopaintingsalwaysmakemefeelweepyandoverwhelmed, butIcheermyselfupbymovingtotheothersideofthechurchandenjoyingafrescowhichfeaturesthehappiest, goofiest, giggliestlittlebabyJesusinallofRome.
我走到人民广场去，壮丽的拱门是贝尔尼尼（Bernini）的雕塑作品，为了纪念瑞典女皇克莉丝汀的历史性访问（她确实是历史上的一名秀异人物。我的瑞典朋友苏菲如此描述这位伟大的女皇“她能骑马打猎，是位学者；她改信天主教，成了一大丑闻。有人说她是男人，但至少她可能是女同志 。她穿长裤，从事遗址发掘工作，收藏艺术 ，拒绝留下继承人。”）拱门旁边有一所教堂，可免费进入参观卡拉瓦乔（Caravaggio）的两幅画作，其描绘着圣彼得殉道以及圣保罗皈依场景（蒙受恩典的圣保罗在神圣狂喜中扑倒在地，连他的马也无法置信）。卡拉瓦乔的画作向来使我感动得想哭。为了让自己快乐起来，于是我走到教堂另一边，去欣赏一幅壁画，画中是全罗马最快乐、最傻头傻脑、笑得最开心的小婴孩耶稣。