Dennis, A Journey over the Alpes

ジョン・デニス
「アルプス越え」
『散文・韻文集』より

トリノ、1688年10月25日
リヨンからの旅の日誌をここに送る。出発する前のイギリスで君が、ぜひ、と言っていたとおり、アルプスについて詳しく書いている。サヴォワについてはふれなかった。モンメリアンの岩山についても書いていない。君にとって興味ありそうなことだけを扱っている。

10月19日にぼくたちはリヨンから出発し、きれいな平地を通ってヴォルペリエに着いた。平地は農地だったり牧草地だったりして、その向こうには丘が連なっていた。広くはなくともいい眺めだった。
https://is.gd/V5OA96

10月20日
午前のうちに同じ平地－－ところどころ沼地になっていた－－を通り、ラ・トゥール＝デュ＝パンという町まで行った。食事をとった後、さらにくるみと栗の木のなかを進み、フランスとサヴォワの境界にあるル・ポン＝ド＝ボーヴォワザンに着いた。
https://is.gd/DUMwOr
https://is.gd/8H5pxz

10月21日
午前中にサヴォワに入り、エギュベレット山を越えていった。まわりながら登る道で楽だったが、半分くらい登った時、尋常ではない高さまできていて、垂れ下がる岩の下かつ恐ろしく深い崖の上にいること、そしてその下では川が唸りながらとんでもない勢いで流れていることに気づき、一変した光景を前に愕然とした。下の激流の向こう岸、ぼくたちから30ヤードくらい離れたところには、こちらと同じくらいの高さの山があった。岩だらけの崖が霧のなかに見えてぞっとした。が、時々きれいに花咲く谷のように穏やかに見えるところがあるなど、それはあまりにも矛盾した光景だった。まるで自然の女神が男に対して厳格であると同時に甘い、とでもいうように。そんな光景のなか、ぼくたちは文字どおり破滅の縁（へり）を歩いた。一歩踏みはずせば死ぬ、どころか死体まで破壊されるようなところだった。ぼくは矛盾する感覚に突き動かされていた－－恐ろしくて楽しかった－－怖くておもしろかった－－無限に喜びながら、同時に震えていた。
https://is.gd/bAfUWV

そこからぼくたちは山に挟まれたきれいな谷を通って進んだ。連なる山頂は高く緑で、人を拒むと同時に招くかのようだった。さらに3マイルほど平原を歩いてラ・カーヴというところに着く。1670年に亡くなったサヴォワ侯爵が岩山のあいだに道を通したが、それ以前には絶対に通れなかったそうだ。岩は爆破したらしい、地震と落雷が重なった以上の力の火薬で。その道はほんの1/4マイルほどだが、信じられないほど大変な工事だったようで、費用としても400万リーヴルかかったらしい。次のような仰々しい説明が入口のところにあった。



食事はシャンベリーでした。サヴォワの首都だ。そこからモンメリアンへの道では、母なる自然がまたまったく別の顔をしていた。岩だらけの崖は見るも恐ろしく、四方を囲む山はみなとんでもない高さで、連なる峰に雪が積もっているのか、あるいはで雲が日を浴びているのか、意見がわかれるほどだった。次に見えた山の頂上は黒い雲に隠れていて、さらにその雲の上にもっと高い山の白い頂上が見えた。そんな不思議な光景のもてなしを受けつつ旅をして、夜にモンメリアンに着いた。
https://is.gd/O7FUiU
https://is.gd/7fsK6V

22日、朝に出発。山々は昨日よりさらに高くなったように見えた。この日はエーグベルで食事をした。午後の道は平野だったり、とり囲むアルプスの斜面だったり。この日に新しく加わったお楽しみは、時々怒り狂ったような速さで下を流れる川、それから滝、時々全速力で崖から落ちてくる水の音だ。夜はラ・シャンブルで寝た。
https://is.gd/bq9cOG
https://is.gd/5VQRYM

23日、朝、とても寒く、スニ山の嫌な影響を感じた。まだかなり遠いのに。昼前にサン・ミシェルに着く。午後、山の斜面をさらに進む。そこは松林になっていたり、畑だったりした。実際、垂直のちょっと手前というような、まさかというところに畑があった。その夜はモダーヌで寝た。
https://is.gd/MZk4qZ

10月24日。モダーヌはスニ山から12マイルくらいなので、翌日の朝はさらにひどく寒かった。スニ山ふもとのランスブールまで行って食事をした。
https://is.gd/aBviUU

食べたらすぐに馬をそこらに放し、騾馬（らば）に乗って山を登りはじめた。時々下の町や谷をふり返って眺めずにはいられなかった。頂上からあと100ヤードというところまできても、下にはランスブールが見えた。なかなか大変な思いで3マイルも登ってきたのに。びっくりだ。自分の家からハムステッドくらいの距離にある場所が自分の下に見えたらどう思う？ この有名なアルプスの道を正しく表現できたらいいのに。ローマやナポリを言葉で伝えるのはそんなに難しくない。多少なり似たような場所を君も見たことがあるから。でも、視界が届かないような、見ているだけで疲れてしまうような山の場合はそうじゃない。さっき頂上から100ヤードと書いたけど、その頂上とは後で通った高原のことで、その上にはまた別の大きな山がある。これらの山は、イタリアの庭を囲むちょっとした土手として大昔に自然の女神がつくったと言われていて、もしそうならこの女神はちょっとした天才画家みたいなものだ。適当に大胆にぐちゃぐちゃに塗ったところがすごい、という。アルプス全体が何かにとり憑かれた狂乱状態でつくられた作品のようになっているから、逆に人目を惹こうとていねいにつくられたところはつまらない。山や谷、花咲く牧場、さらさら流れる小川はきれいで見ていて楽しいけど、それは理性的な楽しさで、いろいろ考えが次々に浮かんできたりする。そういうのとは違って、アルプスを見てると心が完全に奪われる感じになる。しかもふつうの奪われかたじゃなくて、恐怖とか、何なら絶望とかを同時に感じたりする。だからたぶん、これらの山は天地創造ではなく世界の破滅の産物と考えたほうがいいかもしれない。この世の丸い屋根に巨大な孔（あな）が開いて底なしの深淵に崩れ落ちた時にできた、というように。本当にそうとしか思えない。そういう旧世界の破滅の結果が、奇跡の光景として今の世界に残ってる。これは恐ろしく膨大で、おぞましく死ぬほど衝撃的な世界の残骸なんだ。

（つづく）

*****
John Dennis
A Journey over the Alpes
From Miscellanies in Prose and Verse

Turin, Octob. 25. 88.
I Have here sent you a Journal of my
Journey from Lyons hither, in which
you will find that account of the Alpes,
which you so earnestly desired of me,
before I came out of England. I have
taken no notice of the Towns in Savoy;
nor so much as the Rock of Montmelian,
but have confin'd my self to a Subject
which you seem'd to affect so much.

On the nineteenth of October, we set
out from Lyons, and came that night to
Vorpellier, thro a fair Plain, which was
sometimes Arable, and sometimes Pasture,
and bounded with Rows of Hills
at that just distance, as gave tho['] not a
large, an agreeable Prospect.

Octob. 20. We came by Noon thro
the same Plain, which grew to be sometimes
a Marsh[,] to a Bourg, call'd Tour
Du Pin. From thence, after Dinner,
we continued our way, thro whole
Groves of Walnut and Chestnut Trees
to Pont Beanvoisin, being the Bridge
that separates France and Savoy.

Octob. 21. We entred into Savoy in
the Morning, and past over Mount Aiguebellette.
The ascent was the more easie,
because it wound about the Mountain.
But as soon as we had conquer'd one
half of it, the unusual heighth in which
we found our selves, the impending
Rock that hung over us, the dreadful
Depth of the Precipice, and the Torrent
that roar'd at the bottom, gave us
such a view as was altogether new and
amazing. On the other side of that
Torrent, was a Mountain that equall'd
ours, about the distance of thirty Yards
from us. Its craggy Clifts, which we
half discern'd, thro the misty gloom of the
Clouds that surrounded them, sometimes
gave us a horrid Prospect. And sometimes
its face appear'd Smooth and Beautiful
as the most even and fruitful Vallies. So
different from themselves were the different
parts of it: In the very same place
Nature was seen Severe and Wanton. In
the mean time we walk'd upon the very
brink, in a litteral sense, of Destruction; one
Stumble, and both Life and Carcass had
been at once destroy'd. The sense of all this
produc'd different motions in me, viz. a
delightful Horrour, a terrible Joy, and at
the same time, that I was infinitely pleas'd, I
trembled.

From thence we went thro a pleasant
Valley bounded with Mountains, whose
high but yet verdant Tops seem'd at once
to forbid and invite Men. After we had
ma[rched] for a League thro the Plain, we arriv'd
at the place which they call La Cave;
where the late Duke of Savoy in the Year
Seven[ty], struck out a Passage thro a rocky
Mountain that had always before been impassible:
Performing that by the force of
Gun-powder, which Thunder-bolts [at]
Earthquakes could scarce have effected.
This Passage is a quarter of an English Mile,
made with incredible labour, and the expence
of four Millions of Livers. At the
Entrance into it is the following pompous
Inscription.

At Chambery we din'd, the Capital Town
of Savoy. In our way from thence to Montmelian,
Nature seem'd quite to have chang[']d
her Face. There craggy Rocks look'd horrid
to the Eye, and Hills appear'd on every
side of so stupendous an heighth, that the
Company was divided at a distance, whether
they should believe them to be sunny
clouds, or the Snowy tops of Mountains.
Here appear'd a Hill with its top quite hid
in black Clouds, and beyond that Hill, & above
those Clouds some higher Mountain
show'd its hoary Head. With this strange
entertainment by the way, we came that
Night to Montmelian.

On the 22. we set forward in the morning.
The Mountains appear'd to grow still
more Lofty. We din'd that day at Aiguebelle.
In the Afternoon we proceeded on our
way, sometimes thro the Plain, and sometimes
on the side of the Alps; with which we
were hemm'd in on all sides. We then began
that day to have the additional diversion,
of a Torrent that ran sometimes with fury
beneath us, and of the noise of the Cascades,
or the down fall of Waters, which
sometimes came tumbling a main from the
Precipices. We lay that night at La
Chambre.

On the 23. The morning was very cold,
which made us have dismal apprehensions of
Mount Cenis, since we felt its influence so
severely at so great a distance. We arriv'd
by Noon at St. Michel. In the Afternoon
we continued our Journey mostly upon the
sides of the Mountains, which were sometimes
all cover'd with Pines; and sometimes
cultivated, ev'n in places where one would
swear the thing were impossible, for they
were only not perpendicular. We lay that
Night at Modane.

Oct. 24. Modane is within a dozen Miles
of Mount Cenis, and therefore the next
morning we felt the Cold more severely.
We went to Dinner at Laneburgh, situate
at the foot of Mount Cenis.

As soon as we had din'd, we sent our
Horses about, and getting up upon Mules
began to ascend the Mountain. I could
not forbear looking back now and then to
contemplate the Town and the Vale beneath
me. When I was arriv'd within a
hundred Yards of the Top, I could still
discern Laneburgh at the Bottom, distant
Three tedious Miles from me. What an
amazing distance? Think what an impression
a place must make upon you, which you
should see as far under you as 'tis from
your House to Hampstead. And here I
wish I had force to do right to this renown'd
Passage of the Alpes. 'Tis an easie
thing to describe Rome or Naples to you,
because you have seen something your self
that holds at least some resemblance with
them; but impossible to set a Mountain
before your eyes, that is inaccessible almost
to the sight, and wearies the very
Eye to Climb it. For when I tell you that
we were arriv'd within a hundred yards
of the Top: I mean only the Plain, thro
which we afterwards pass'd, but there is
another vast Mountain still upon that.
If these Hills were first made with the
World, as has been a long time thought,
and Nature design'd them only as a Mound
to inclose her Garden Italy: Then we
may well say of her what some affirm of
great Wits, that her, careless irregular
and boldest Strokes are most admirable.
For the Alpes are works which she seems
to have design'd, and executed too in Fury.
Yet she moves us less, where she studies
to please us more. I am delighted, 'tis true
at the prospect of Hills and Valleys, of
flowry Meads, and murmuring Streams,
yet it is a delight that is consistent with
Reason, a delight that creates or improves
Meditation. But transporting
Pleasures follow'd the sight of the Alpes,
and what unusual transports think you were
those, that were mingled with horrours,
and sometimes almost with despair? But
if these Mountains were not a Creation,
but form'd by universal Destruction, when
the Arch with a mighty flaw dissolv'd and
fell into the vast Abyss (which surely is the
best opinion) then are these Ruines of
the old World the greatest wonders of the
New. For they are not only vast, but
horrid, hideous, ghastly Ruins.－－ここまで－－ After we
had gallop'd a League over the Plain, and
came at last to descend, to descend
thro the very Bowels as it were of the
Mountain, for we seem'd to be enclos'd
on all sides: What an astonishing Prospect
was there? Ruins upon Ruins in monstrous
Heaps, and Heaven and Earth confounded.
The uncouth Rocks that were
above us, Rocks that were void of all
form, but what they had receiv'd from
Ruine; the frightful view of the Precipices,
and the foaming Waters that threw
themselves headlong down them, made all
such a Consort up for the Eye, as that
sort of Musick does for the Ear, in
which Horrour can be joyn'd with Harmony.
I am afraid you will think that I have
said too much. Yet if you had but seen
what I have done, you would surely think
that I have said too little. However
Hyperboles might easily here be forgiven.
The Alpes appear to be Nature's extravagancies,
and who should blush to be
guilty of Extravagancies, in words that
make mention of her's. But 'tis time to
proceed. We descended in Chairs, the
descent was four English Miles. We past
thro Novalese, situate at the Foot of
Mount Cenis on the side of Italy, and lay
that Night at Suse. We din'd the next
day at Villane, and thro a pleasant Valley
came that Night to this place.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A35672.0001.001
- Dennis, Miscellanies (1693, Wing D1304) および
Familiar Letters (1718) ECCO T64796を見ながら修正
- 改行位置は実際のページどおり
（行をまたぐハイフンは削除、前行に語全体を記載）

*****
散文。「恐ろしいと同時に心奪われる」という
「崇高」（sublime）の概念の発端とされる文章。

これ系の崇高とロンギノス系の崇高の融合・混淆・混乱が
18世紀からいわゆる「ロマン派」までのイギリス詩の重要な特徴。

*****
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