Venice, the town in which 157 canals, 28 miles in length, serve the purpose of streets, was originally a place of shelter for those who no longer considered themselves safe on the mainland and who preferred the discomforts of the mud banks thrown up by the Po. and several smaller rivers to the dangers that followed in the wake of the Great Migrations. Once there. these fugitives discovered that they had a gold mine in the salt which lay there so to speak, for the picking. Their salt monopoly started them on the road to riches. Their straw-covered huts became marble palaces. Their fishing boats assumed the size of warships. For almost three entire centuries they were the leading colonial power of the entire civilized world and high-hatted Pope, Emperor and Sultan with a most haughty and at the same time a most elegant air.

When news of the safe return of Columbus and the discovery (the supposed discovery, of course) of the road to India reached the Rialto, their business quarter, there was a panic. All stocks and bonds, dropped fifty points. For once the brokers were prophets, for Venice never recovered from this blow. Her well-protected trade-routes became a useless investment. Lisbon and Seville succeeded her as the international store-house towards which all of Europe turned for its spices and other Asiatic and American products. Venice, gorged with gold, became the Paris of the eighteenth century. All the rich young men who cared for a genteel education and some rather less genteel entertainment went to Venice. When the carnival began to last the greater part of the year, the end had come. Napoleon conquered the city with a corporal’s squad. The canals are still there for you to admire. Another twenty years and the motor-boat will have destroyed them.

威尼斯共有157条运河，总长度28英里，在这座城市充当着街道的角色。起初，人们认为陆地上不再安全，或是不愿意冒险迁移，他们情愿呆在由波河和其他几条小河堆积而成的泥泞的河坝上，这儿就成了他们的一处避难所。后来，这些流亡者们一度发现威尼斯蕴藏着珍贵的食盐资源，可谓是亟待开采。因此食盐专卖权从此使他们走上了富裕之路。他们的茅草棚变成了大理石宫殿，渔船的大小可以和战舰媲美。近三个世纪里，他们始终是整个文明社会的最为重要的殖民力量。他们可以傲慢无比而又优雅无比地面对戴着高帽的教皇，皇帝以及苏丹。

当哥伦布发现通往印度的通道并安全返回的消息抵达里阿尔托这个当时这些人们的贸易地时，恐慌开始了。所有的股票和证券狂跌50点。这些股票商和证券商们预言威尼斯将永远无法摆脱这种困境。那些一度被精心呵护的贸易路线都成了毫无用处的投资。从此里斯本和塞维利亚取代它继而成为了国际化的大仓库，所有欧洲国家都转去那儿购买香料以及其他亚洲和美洲的产品。而黄金堆积的威尼斯，则成为了18世纪的巴黎。那些富有的年轻人都到这儿来寻求文雅的教育或是不那么文雅的娱乐生活。当这狂欢持续了一年中大部分的时间之后，末日也已经来临。拿破仑带领一支忠心的部队占领了这座城市。时至今日，这些运河还有待你去观瞻。但20年后，摩托艇就会把他们毁了。