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The only way to travel is on foot
The past ages of man have all been carefully labelled by anthropologists(人類學家). 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(滑雪索道) 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 lookiong 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. (全文完)
下面給大家這篇文章的中譯文:
旅行的唯一方法是步行
人類學家小心翼翼地將人類以往的每一個時代都貼上標簽。 例如，“舊石器時代人”、“新石器時代人”等說法就簡潔地概括了 一個個完整的時代。當人類學家把他們的目光投向20世紀的時 候，他們肯定會選擇“無腿人”這個標簽。這段時期的歷史大致會 這樣記載：“在20世紀，人類忘記了如何使用他們的腿。男子和 女子從很小的時候起就坐在小汽車、公共汽車和火車里來來去 去。所有的高層建筑里都裝有電梯和自動扶梯，以避免人們步行。 這種狀況強加在這個時期地球居民的身上，是由于他們非同尋常 的生活方式。那時，人們沒有想到每天旅行幾百英里這類事情。 但是，令人驚奇的是，他們即使去度假也不用他們的腿。他們建 造纜索鐵路，滑雪索道和道路通向每座大山的頂峰。地球上所有 的風景區都被大型停車場糟蹋了。”
未來的歷史書還會記載說，我們的眼睛也棄置不用了。在急 急忙忙從一個地方趕往另一個地方的路上，我們什么都沒看到。 航空旅行可以使你鳥瞰世界——要是機翼恰好擋住了你的視線， 你就看得更少了。當你乘汽車或火車旅行的時候，模糊不清的鄉 村景象不停地映在車窗玻璃上。尤其是汽車司機，他們的頭腦永 遠都被“向前，向前”的沖動占據著：他們從來都不要停下來。到 底是由于漂亮車道的誘惑，還是別的什么？至于海上旅行，簡直 不值一提。有一首老歌的歌詞對海上旅行是一個完美的概括：‘哦 加入海軍去看世界，我看到了什么？我看見了大海。”最典型的 四世紀旅行者總是說“我已經去過那兒了”。你提到世界上最遙 遠、最引人遇思的地名，比如埃爾多拉多、喀布爾、伊爾庫茨克， 準有人說“我去過那兒”——意思是：“我在去另外一個地方的路 上，以100英里的時速路過那兒。”
當你以很高的速度旅行時，“現在”就什么都不是：你主要生 活在未來，因為你多半時間在盼望趕到別的一個地方去。但是當 你真的到達了目的地，你的到達也沒有什么意義。你還要繼續前 行。像這樣子旅行，你什么也沒有經歷；你的現在并不是現實：跟 死亡沒有什么兩樣。另一方面，徒步旅行者卻總是生活在現在。 對他來說，旅行和到達是同一件事情：他是一步一步走著來到某 地的。他在用自己的眼睛、耳朵和整個身體體驗現在。在他旅途 的終點，他感到一種愉悅的生理疲憊。他知道他會享受深沉而甜 蜜的睡眠：這是對一切真正旅行者的酬報。
注評：
anthropologist：人類學家
palaeolithic：舊石器時代的
neolithic：新石器時代的
escalator：自動扶梯
bird's－eye view：鳥瞰
blur：使……模糊不清
smear；把（字）涂成模糊不清的樣子
evocative：喚起的，召喚的
suspend：使……暫時停止
