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。

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