True Traveling

　　The future history books might 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 traveler 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 traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling 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.

　　未来的历史书还会记载说，我们的眼睛也弃置不用了。在急急忙忙从一个地方赶往另一个地方的路上，我们什么都没看到。 航空旅行可以使你鸟瞰世界--要是机翼恰好挡住了你的视线，你就看得更少了。当你乘汽车或火车旅行的时候，模糊不清的乡 村景象不停地映在车窗玻璃上。尤其是汽车司机，他们的头脑永远都被"向前，向前"的冲动占据着：他们从来都不要停下来。到 底是由于漂亮车道的诱惑，还是别的什么？至于海上旅行，简直不值一提。有一首老歌的歌词对海上旅行是一个完美的概括：'哦 加入海军去看世界，我看到了什么？我看见了大海。"最典型的四世纪旅行者总是说"我已经去过那儿了"。你提到世界上最遥 远、最引人遇思的地名，比如埃尔多拉多、喀布尔、伊尔库茨克，准有人说"我去过那儿"--意思是："我在去另外一个地方的路 上，以100英里的时速路过那儿。"

　　当你以很高的速度旅行时，"现在"就什么都不是：你主要生 活在未来，因为你多半时间在盼望赶到别的一个地方去。但是当 你真的到达了目的地，你的到达也没有什么意义。你还要继续前行。像这样子旅行，你什么也没有经历；你的现在并不是现实：跟 死亡没有什么两样。另一方面，徒步旅行者却总是生活在现在。对他来说，旅行和到达是同一件事情：他是一步一步走着来到某 地的。他在用自己的眼睛、耳朵和整个身体体验现在。在他旅途的终点，他感到一种愉悦的生理疲惫。他知道他会享受深沉而甜 蜜的睡眠：这是对一切真正旅行者的酬报。