第34章 徒步旅行 The Only Way to Travel Is on Foot

L.G·亚历山大/L.G.Alexander

The past ages of man have all been carefully labelled by anthropologists. Descriptions like“Palaeolithic Man”.“Neolithic Man”, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label“Legless Man”. Histories of the time will go something like this,“In the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large building to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth-dwellers of that time because of their extraordinary way of life. In those days, people thought nothing of travelling hundreds of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn't use their legs even when they went on holiday.They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks.”

The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird's-eye view of the world—or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song,“I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.” The typical twentieth-century traveller is the man who always says“I've been there.” You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say“I've been there” —meaning,“I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else.”

When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By travelling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceased to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveller on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him travelling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound, satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.

人类学家已经谨慎地将过去的各个时代贴上了标签。他们用这些词汇，如“旧石器时代”“新石器时代”等简约地概括了整个时代的特征。当人类学家将注意力转向20世纪时，一定会选择这个标签——“无腿时代”。这段历史应该这样记载：“在20世纪，人们已忘记如何使用腿。从很小的时候开始，人类就用小汽车、公交车和火车代替了步行。所有的高层建筑物内都有电梯和自动扶梯，无需步行。由于其独特的生活方式，地球上的居民才会处于这种情形。在这个时代，对于一日步行几百英里，人们几乎不敢想象。并且，更令人惊讶的是，即使是去度假，人们也不会步行。他们在每一座大山山顶上，建造了电缆铁路、滑雪索道，并修建了公路。地球上所有的美景，都被大型停车场占用。”

未来的历史书也可能这样记载：我们也废弃了眼睛的用途。我们匆匆地从一个地方赶往另一个地方，对路上的一切视而不见。坐飞机旅行时，你可能有机会鸟瞰这个世界——可有时机翼刚好遮住了你的视线。当你坐小汽车或火车旅行时，可以瞥一眼窗外一闪而过的模糊的乡村景象。特别是汽车司机，总是强烈地希望不断地前进再前进，从没想过要停下来。是高速公路吸引人，还是别的什么呢？至于海上旅行，更不值一提。有这样一首老歌完美地将其概括出来：“我加入海军去看世界，看到了什么呢？我看到了大海。”20世纪最典型的旅行者总是这样说：“我到过那儿。”当你提到最遥远、最富于吸引力的地方的名字，如多伦多、喀布尔、伊尔库茨克等时，有人便会说道：“我曾去过那儿”——意思是说“我曾以时速100英里去某地时路过那儿。”

当你行驶在高速公路上时，现在就毫无意义了，你完全活在未来。因为，你的大部分时间都在期待着到达某地，当你真正到达，却又毫无意义，你再一次想继续前进。这样，你的旅行将一无所获，现在不再真实——你可能就跟死了一样。反过来，徒步旅行者则一直活在现在。对他们来说，旅行和拜访某地是同一回事，他一步一步地走向某地，用眼睛、耳朵和身体的每一部分去感受现在的每一刻。当他到达目的地时，虽然身体疲惫，却很愉悦。他知道他将会美美地睡上一觉，这是对真正的旅行者的奖励。

1.There were__________and escalators in all large building to prevent people__________walking. This situation was forced__________earth-dwellers of that time because of their extraordinary way of life. In__________days, people thought nothing of travelling hundreds of__________each day.

2.When you__________at high speeds, the present means__________: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your__________looking forward to arriving at some__________place. But actual arrival,__________it is achieved, is meaningless.

1.在这个时代，对于一日步行几百英里，人们几乎不敢想象。

____________________________________

2.当你行驶在高速公路上时，现在就毫无意义了，你完全活在未来。

____________________________________

3.现在不再真实。

____________________________________

1.When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label“Legless Man”.

turn attention to：转移注意力

____________________________________

2.Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop.

in particular：特别；尤其是

____________________________________