During the first day or so of any tour there are moments of bitterness, when the traveller feels more than coldly towards his knapsack, when he is half in a mind to throw it bodily over the hedge and, like Christian on a similar occasion, “give three leaps and go on singing.” And yet it soon acquires a property of easiness. It becomes magnetic; the spirit of the journey enters into it. And no sooner have you passed the straps over your shoulder than the lees of sleep are cleared from you, you pull yourself together with a shake, and fall at once into your stride. And surely, of all possible moods, this, in which a man takes the road, is the best. Of course, if he will keep thinking of his anxieties, if he will open the merchant Abudah’ s chest and walk arm-in-arm with the hag — why, wherever he is, and whether he walks fast or slow, the chances are that he will not be happy. And so much the more shame to himself! There are perhaps thirty men setting forth at that same hour, and I would lay a large wager there is not another dull face among the thirty. It would be a fine thing to follow, in a coat of darkness, one after another of these wayfarers, some summer morning, for the first few miles upon the road. This one, who walks fast, with a keen look in his eyes, is all concentrated on his own mind; he is up at his loom, weaving and weaving, to set the landscape to words. This one peers about, as he goes, among the grasses; he waits by the canal to watch the dragonflies; he leans on the gate of the pasture, and cannot look enough upon the complacent kine. And here comes another, talking, laughing, and gesticulating to himself. His face changes from time to time, as indignation flashes from his eyes or anger clouds his forehead. He is composing articles, delivering orations, and conducting the most impassioned interviews, by the way. A little farther on, and it is as like as not he will begin to sing. And well for him, supposing him to be no great master in that art, if he stumbles across no stolid peasant at a corner; for on such an occasion, I scarcely know which is the more troubled, or whether it is worse to suffer the confusion of your troubadour, or the unfeigned alarm of your clown. A sedentary population, accustomed, besides, to the strange mechanical bearing of the common tramp, can in no wise explain to itself the gaiety of these passersby. I knew one man who was arrested as a runaway lunatic, because although a full-grown person with a red beard, he skipped as he went like a child. And you would be astonished if I were to tell you all the grave and learned heads who have confessed to me that, when on walking tours, they sang — and sang very ill — and had a pair of red ears when, as described above, the inauspicious peasant plumped into their arms from round a corner.

我們一定不要像有些人那樣,認為徒步旅行隻是觀賞鄉村風景的一種更好或更壞的方式。其實觀賞山水風景有很多選擇,而且都很不錯,但沒有哪種能比得上坐火車觀賞那樣生動有趣,盡管一些附庸風雅之人並不讚同。但是,徒步觀光的確不是一個十分可行的方法。一個真正有兄弟情懷的人乘船出行時,並不奢求沿途有特殊的景觀,而是懷著某種愉悅之情——從早晨充滿希望、精神抖擻地出航,到夜晚平安、滿足地歸航。他說不清是挎上還是卸下背包哪一種更快樂。起程時的興奮讓他一心想著終點。不管他做什麽,得到的都不僅僅是事物本身,一定也會在未來得到更豐厚的賞賜。因此,快樂帶來另一種快樂,源源不斷。

關於這一點,隻有少數人能夠明白,大多數人不是長期待在一個地方不動,就是頃刻數裏。他們不會將兩者折中,而是終日勞碌奔忙。而且,最重要的是趕路之人不能領悟旅遊的樂趣。這種人,自己對著酒罐痛飲時,見到別人用小杯子喝酒就會心生反感。他不會相信,啜酒才能品出酒的醇香;也不會相信,拚命趕路隻會讓自己變得麻木、冷酷無情;晚上回到客棧感覺筋疲力盡、頭腦昏沉。他不像悠閑的漫步者那樣覺得夜晚溫和迷人。上床大睡與雙份睡前飲料是他僅有的生理需要。如果他是個吸煙的人,甚至連煙鬥也會變得索然無味,沒有**力。在追求快樂的過程中,這種人注定要事倍功半,並且最終與快樂無緣。總之,他如同諺語中所說的那種人——走得越遠越糟糕。

那麽,要好好地享受旅行,徒步旅行者需要力求獨自前往。如果你成群結隊或結伴而行,那就不再是徒步旅行,隻是徒有其表罷了,更像是大自然中的一次野炊。徒步旅行應單獨前往,因為它的本質是自由,這樣你就能隨時停下或繼續前進,按著自己的心情選擇這條路或那條路;你必須有自己的步調,既不需要跟緊步履匆匆之人,也無須在女孩身上浪費時間。然後,你一定要敞開胸懷,讓所見之物為你的思想添彩。你應該像一支任一種風都能吹響的笛子。哈茲裏特曾說:“我不能體會行走與談論同步的樂趣。當我身在鄉村時,我向往簡單純粹的生活,就像村民們一樣。”這正是獨自旅行的內涵。在你的身邊,不該有嘈雜之聲打破清晨沉思的寂靜。一個沒有停止思考的人,是不會全身心地沉醉於來自戶外的美好景致之中的。這種沉醉起始於思維的眩暈和停滯,最終進入一種超凡的平和境界。

任何形式的出遊,第一天總會有些苦澀的瞬間。旅行者對他的背包態度冷淡,幾乎想要把它拋到籬笆之外時,會像基督徒在類似情形下的做法一樣——“跳三跳,繼續歌唱。”並且,很快你就能獲得出遊的舒適心境。它會變得有吸引力,出遊的精神也會投入其中。於是,背包一背上肩,你殘留的睡意就會頃刻全無,你立刻精神抖擻,大踏步地開始新的旅行。無疑,在所有的心緒中,選擇道路時的那種心情是最好的。當然,如果他要繼續考慮那些煩心事,如果他向阿布達的箱子敞開胸懷,與女巫同行的話,那麽無論他身在哪裏,無論疾走還是漫步,他都不會快樂。而且,這會給自己的人生帶來多少遺憾啊!如果現在有30個人同時出發的話,我敢跟你打賭,在這30個人中,你不會找到一個臉色憂鬱之人。這是一件很值得去做的事情。試想,一個夏日的清晨,這些旅者帶著夜色,一個接一個地上路了。

他們當中有一個步調很快的人,他的目光中帶著渴望,全神貫注於自己的思緒中,原來他正在自發機杼,字斟句酌,將山水秀景再現於文字。還有一個人,邊走邊凝視著草間;他在小河邊停下,去看看那裏飛舞的蜻蜓;他傾斜著身子依靠在茅屋門前,看不夠那悠閑自得的黃羊群。另外有一個人,他說著、笑著,對自己比畫地一路走來。隨著眼中閃現的怒火和額上的陰雲,他的臉色在不時地變化著。原來,他正在路邊構思文稿,發表演說,進行著最激烈的會談。再過一會兒,他極可能會引吭高歌。對他而言,假如在這方麵不是很擅長,剛好又在拐角處碰上一個並不木訥的農民,我想不出還有什麽比這更糟糕的情形,我實在不知道這位行吟詩人和那位農民誰更難受。久居室內的人通常不習慣去陌生的地方,也不能理解這些遊客的樂趣所在。我認識一個人,他曾被指控為瘋漢,因為盡管他已是一個長著紅胡子的成年人,但是走起路來仍像孩子一樣蹦蹦跳跳。如果我告訴你,很多學識淵博的學者都向我坦白:他們徒步出遊的時候都會唱歌,而且唱得很難聽。當他們遇到上麵的情況——與一個不幸的農民相遇時,都會羞愧難當,你一定會很吃驚的。

心靈小語

徒步旅行,讓我們欣賞更多更美更細致的風景。背上行囊,帶上一顆向往遠方的心,出發吧!

記憶填空

1. It is this that so few can understand; they will__ be always lounging or always at five miles an hour; they do not play off the one against the __, prepare all day for the evening, and all evening__ the next day.

2. And yet it soon acquires a property of easiness. It__ magnetic; the spirit of the__ enters into it.

3. His face__ from time to time, as indignation flashes from his eyes or__ clouds his forehead.

佳句翻譯

1. 因此,快樂帶來快樂,源源不斷。

譯__________________

2. 總之,他如同諺語中所說的那種人——走得越遠越糟糕。

譯__________________

3. 這種沉醉起始於思維的眩暈和停滯,最終進入一種超凡的平和境界。

譯__________________

短語應用

1. In spite of canting dilettantes...

in spite of:不顧,不管

造__________________

2. In short, who goes farther and fares worse.

in short:總之,簡言之

造__________________

找到另一座山

The Last Hill

弗朗西斯?拉塞爾 / Francis Russell

弗朗西斯?拉塞爾(1910—1989),美國史學家、傳記作者、文學史家,所著《美國民族的成長》頗負盛名。