重访乌兹别克斯坦“丝绸之路”

In the courtyard of the Samarkand Bukhara Silk Carpets Workshop on the outskirts of Samarkand─the second-largest city in Uzbekistan─bundles of deep red silk, colored by madder root, lie drying in the late summer sun. The contents of black caldrons bubble over fires and the smell of simmering shurpa (or shorpa)─a chickpea, lamb and vegetable soup─fills the air.

在乌兹别克斯坦第二大城市撒马尔罕(Samarkand)郊区的撒马尔罕布哈拉真丝地毯作坊(Samarkand Bukhara Silk Carpets Workshop)的院子中，一捆捆用茜草根染色的深红色丝绸被平放在夏末的阳光下晒干。黑色大锅中的食物在火上咕嘟咕嘟地冒着泡，空气中弥漫着炖杂烩汤（以鹰嘴豆、羊肉和蔬菜为原料）的香味。

Inside the workshop, carpets slowly grow on large, ocher-colored looms. The manager, Abdullah Badghisi, points to one: Indigo blue and asparagus green hues are woven to spell out, in Persian, lines by the Uzbek poet Ali-Shir Nava'i. This particular carpet is destined for a Middle Eastern emir. Two young women work intensely on a splendid red-and-black copy of a central Turkmen, mid-19th-century rug. It is a Salor Ensi (or Engsi), a doormat made up of geometric patterns, for a client in the U.S. A chili hangs from the loom to ward off evil spirits.

在作坊内，一张张地毯在赭色的织机上缓缓织出。作坊的经理阿卜杜拉·巴德吉斯(Abdullah Badghisi)指给我看其中一张地毯，这张别致的地毯以靛蓝和芦笋绿的颜色交织拼出乌兹别克斯坦诗人艾利希尔·纳瓦依(Ali-Shir Nava'i)的波斯文诗句，是为中东的一位埃米尔定做的。两名年轻女子正聚精会神地织着一张19世纪中期土库曼中部地毯的仿品，这张黑红两色的由几何图案构成的地毯是为一位美国客户定制的门垫。织机上还挂着一个辣椒以驱挡妖邪。

'This one,' says Mr. Badghisi, pointing to a green carpet with a geometric design, 'is similar to one Hillary Clinton had made here.' The attention to detail is painstaking, with carpets taking up to two years to make and costing as much as $30,000 ( 24,000).

巴德吉斯指着一张几何图案的绿色地毯说道：“这一张与希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)在我们这儿定制的一张地毯相似。对细节的关注极其费神，有些地毯要花两年时间才能织成，花费高达30,000美元。

Carpet making is one of this Central Asian country's most ancient industries. However, there is one that is older still: silk. And it is at the Silk Road sites of Samarkand and Bukhara that one can find items to buy, or commission, that are unique. As part of the Silk Route, the traditions of ikat (a type of silk dyeing similar to tie-dye) and suzanis (embroidered decorative textiles traditionally given to women on their wedding day) flourished and are still thriving today.

织毯业是这个中亚国家最古老的产业之一，不过还有一个产业更为古老──丝绸业。在昔日位处丝绸之路的撒马尔罕与布哈拉(Bukhara)，人们可以找到可直接购买成品或委托定制的独特的丝绸制品。作为丝绸之路传统的一部分，制作伊卡特(ikat，一种采用与扎染类似的方法染色的丝绸)与刺绣(suzani，传统上在女性婚礼当天送给她的装饰性刺绣品)的传统非常兴盛，时至今日依然非常繁荣。

Reaching the country to enjoy all this artisanship is, however, not always straightforward. Visas can take up to two months to organize, and it is far easier, if you aren't traveling independently and with time on your hands, to go through a tour company that can help cut the visa application process to a couple of weeks, as well as manage your itinerary. Once there, one is well-rewarded with near-empty sites, open-armed hospitality and, as far as this trip was concerned, no hassle anywhere.

然而，来到这儿欣赏这些工艺并非总是畅通无阻。安排签证可能需要两个月时间，如果你不是独自旅行，而且时间也可自由调配，通过旅行社走要容易得多，它们可以帮助你将签证的申请过程缩短至两个星期，还可以帮你安排行程。一旦到了这儿之后，你就可以好好享受近乎空无一人的历史遗迹、热情的招待，而且就我的这次旅行而言，我没有在任何地方遇到过麻烦。

With Uzbekistan's proximity to the great carpet-producing countries of Turkmenistan, Iran and Afghanistan, a trip here also provides opportunities to buy something from these harder-to-get-to countries at lower prices than in Europe.

乌兹别克斯坦邻近土库曼斯坦、伊朗和阿富汗等地毯制造大国，因此在这儿旅行还有机会以比欧洲低的价格买到来自这些难以进入的国家的东西。

Out of the 300 or so carpets the Samarkand workshop (12 Hujom St.; www.silkcarpet.net) produces by hand each year, around 40% are private commissions. These range from ancient Persian designs to hand-drawn images sentimental to the person commissioning the carpet. One Japanese client, intent on creating one of the finest carpets in the world, has commissioned a 90-centimeter-by-55-centimeter piece at a cost of $85,000, which will take seven years to complete. It is so fine it can only be worked on an hour a day, so as not to ruin the eyesight of the weaver.

撒马尔罕地毯作坊（Hujom街12号，www.silkcarpet.net）每年大约手工织造300张地毯，其中40%左右为私人定制。它们之中既有古老的波斯风格，也有寄托了地毯委托人感情的手绘图案。一位日本客户打算织出全世界最精美的地毯之一，于是他委托该厂织造一张90厘米长、55厘米宽的地毯，花费达85,000美元，将需要七年时间才能完工。这张地毯非常之精细，织工每天只能织一个小时以免毁掉视力。

Over glasses of tarhun─a tarragon-based drink─Mr. Badghisi tells me that the factory was started in 1992 by his father as a way of reviving the dying art of carpet making in the country.

巴德吉斯一边喝着塔尔红(tarhun，一种用龙嵩酿制的酒)，一边告诉我他父亲在1992年开设了这家作坊，以这种方法来振兴该国地毯制造业这种濒临灭绝的工艺。

'Handmade things are like paintings, a piece of culture, art and history,' he says. 'We wanted to continue the tradition, as in the Soviet time they forgot how to make carpets. It is music for the eyes.'

他说：“手工制品就像绘画，是一件蕴含文化、艺术与历史的东西。我们想延续这种传统，因为在苏联时期他们忘记了如何织造地毯。它就像献给眼睛的音乐。

From the workshop, it is a short drive to Registan Square─one of the great sites of Samarkand─yet it is deserted on a Friday lunchtime in summer, such is its relative position off the global tourist trail. The scale is awe-inspiring and the blue of the Sher-Dor Madrasah is still resplendent after nearly 400 years. Here, in the shops nestled inside the base of the domes, it is tempting to buy a Holbein-blue, double-sided silk rug─a snip at $400. Yet, as with many shops in Uzbekistan, you can only pay with cash.

从这家作坊出来，开车走上一小段路便来到了列吉斯坦广场(Registan Square)──撒马尔罕最重要的历史遗迹之一。不过，当时正逢夏季，且是周五的午饭时间，广场上空寂无人，正如它在全球旅游市场的位置也相对冷僻一般。宏伟的广场令人心生敬畏，谢勒多尔神学院(Sher-Dor Madrasah)的蓝色色调在历经近400年沧桑后依然灿烂夺目。在位于广场上那些圆顶建筑底层的商店中，你肯定会忍不住想买一张荷尔拜因蓝的双面真丝地毯，而且它价格实惠，只要400美元。不过，与乌兹别克斯坦的许多商店一样，你只能使用现金付款。

Six hours further along the desert roads and you reach the walled city of Bukhara, where a gentle walk takes you through the renovated sandstone Lyabi Hauz complex─an area around a central pond where couples sit coyly, side by side in the shadow of the Kukeldash Madrasah. After a visit to the sprawling and richly stocked food market, and a simple picnic of warm fatir flatbread, dried apricots and cashew nuts under the shade of a mulberry tree, it is time to seek out some carpets.

沿着沙漠公路再行驶六个小时，便来到布哈拉这个城 包围着的城市。缓步走在环绕一个中心水池而建的砂岩建筑群Lyabi Hauz，可以看到一对对男女羞怯地并排坐在库克尔达什神学院(Kukeldash Madrasah)边上的阴凉地里。逛完种类庞杂且存货丰富的食品市场，再坐在桑树的树荫底下简单地吃点温热的扁面包、杏干和腰果之后，就到了搜寻地毯的时候了。

At the Bukhara Silk Carpet factory on Khoja Nurobod Street, a group of French customers are being shown large silken offerings from Iran and Turkmenistan. One settles on a green-and-pink hall rug for around $600, having bargained down from $900. From here, we enter the trading domes─the Toki Sarrafon─where brightly colored ikat panels hang from the wall, for around $60 a piece. Robes are on sale for $150, and while it would need some flamboyance to pull them off sartorially, here they show their potential as the perfect wall hanging.

在位于Khoja Nurobod街的布哈拉真丝地毯厂，一群法国顾客正鉴赏着一些来自伊朗和土库曼斯坦的丝质大地毯。其中一人选中了一张绿色与粉色夹杂的门厅地毯，把价格从900美元砍到了600美元左右。从此处我们便进入了集市──Toki Sarrafon，一幅幅颜色艳丽的伊卡特挂在 上，一幅的价格大约是60美元。长裙正打折出售，一条150美元，把它们当作衣服穿上会有些夸张绚丽，不过此处它们倒表现出了作为完美的 饰的潜力。

There are further temptations at Flying Carpets ( +99890 718 71 96), where a huge, 60-year-old Bukhara carpet, made from camel hair and a simple design of graphics and floral motifs, is a bargain at $200. A silk version is a pricier $900.

到了Flying Carpets（+99890 718 71 96），诱惑又更多了，一张由骆驼毛织成的有60年历史的布哈拉大地毯只要200美元，非常划算，它设计简约、带几何图案和花卉主题。丝绸材质的则要900美元。

The day ends with a visit to the home of Azamat Arabov, who makes suzanis that are distributed to many of the bazaars and carpet shops around the city. A hand-embroidered jacket is enough to lift the drabbest of outfits, and an exquisite antique piece of cloth, found by Mr. Arabov, is tempting at $700. But in the end, it is the simple yet beautiful pillow cases that are the most appealing─for a princely sum of $18 apiece. Mr. Arabov turns over the antique piece delicately in his hands and muses why he left his job as an artist to start his business. 'Everything you start you have to love,' he says, 'and each piece is a different philosophy.'

游览了一整天，最后我们来到了阿扎马特·阿拉波夫(Azamat Arabov)的家拜访，他制作的刺绣品供应给布哈拉的众多集市与地毯商店。一件手工刺绣的短上衣足以让一身色彩沉闷的衣着一下有了生气。阿拉波夫发现的一块精美的古董布料的价格非常诱人，只要700美元。不过，最后看来，还是那些简单却不失精美的开口式枕套最有吸引力，只要18美元一件。阿拉波夫手里捧着那块古董布料翻过来又翻过去，一边字斟句酌地说着自己为什么会舍弃艺术家的工作而做起了生意。他说：“每件你着手去做的东西你都得喜欢，每件东西都有一种不同的理念。