国家地理:为什么旅行是一项基本的人类活动(4)

It's not the place that is special but what we bring to it and, crucially, how we interact with it.

特别的不是地点，而是我们观看它的角度，以及重要的是，我们与它互动的方式。

Travel is not about the destination, or the journey.

旅行非关目的地或行程。

It is about stumbling across "a new way of looking at things," as writer Henry Miller¹ observed.

而是如同作家亨利·米勒所说，旅行是关乎意外发现“观看事物的新方法。”

We need not travel far to gain a fresh perspective.

而要获得新视角，其实毋须远行。

No one knew this better than Henry David Thoreau, who lived nearly all of his too-short life in Concord², Massachusetts.

没有人比亨利·戴维·梭罗更明白这一点，他短暂的一生几乎都住在麻萨诸塞州康科德镇。

There he observed Walden Pond from every conceivable vantage point: from a hilltop, on its shores, underwater.

从想象得到的各个观看位置--山顶、湖滨、水下--观察瓦尔登湖。

Sometimes he'd even bend over and peer through his legs, marveling at the inverted³ world.

有时他甚至弯下腰，从双腿间往后看，赞叹眼前的颠倒世界。

"From the right point of view, every storm and every drop in it is a rainbow," he wrote.

他写道：“只要观看角度得宜，就能在每场风暴和当中的每滴雨水中看到彩虹。”

Thoreau never tired of gazing at his beloved pond, nor have we outgrown⁴ the quiet beauty of our frumpy, analog⁵ world.

梭罗从未对凝视他心爱的湖感到厌倦，我们也仍能欣赏这个世界回归老派步调后的沉静之美。

If anything, the pandemic has rekindled⁶ our affection for it.

如果真要说，疫情甚至让我们重新爱上了这个真实世界。

We've seen what an atomized, digital existence looks like, and we (most of us anyway) don't care for it.

我们已经见识过孤立的数字化生活，而我们（至少大多数人）都觉得不怎么样。

The bleachers at Chicago's Wrigley Field; the orchestra section at New York City's Lincoln Center; the alleyways of Tokyo.

芝加哥瑞格利球场的观众席、纽约市林肯中心的交响乐乐池、东京的街头巷弄。

We miss these places. We are creatures of place, and always will be.

我们想念这些地方。我们的生命与地方相连，这点绝对不会改变。

After the attacks of September 11, many predicted the end of air travel, or at least a dramatic reduction.

911恐怖袭击后，不少人预测航空旅游将走到尽头，或至少大幅萎缩。

Yet the airlines rebounded⁷ steadily⁸ and by 2017 flew a record four billion passengers.

然而航空业却稳定复苏，到了2017年更创下高达40亿人次的载客纪录。

Briefly⁹ deprived of the miracle of flight, we appreciated it more and today tolerate the inconvenience of body scans and pat-downs

我们在短暂地被剥夺飞行这份赠礼后变得更加珍惜，如今愿意忍受X光安检和搜身所带来的不便，

for the privilege of transporting our flesh-and-bone selves to far-flung locations, where we break bread with other incarnate¹⁰ beings.

就是为了享有飞到遥远国度与他人共进一餐的特权。

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

3 inverted   

adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
• Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 outgrown   

长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过

参考例句：

• She's already outgrown her school uniform. 她已经长得连校服都不能穿了。
• The boy has outgrown his clothes. 这男孩已长得穿不下他的衣服了。

5 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

6 rekindled   

v.使再燃( rekindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• As soon as they met again his dormant love for her was rekindled. 他们一见面，他对她的旧情如乾柴烈火般又重新燃起。 来自辞典例句
• Ive found rekindled my interest in re-reading the books. 我发觉这提起了我再次阅读这些书的兴趣。 来自互联网

7 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

8 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 incarnate   

adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的

参考例句：

• She was happiness incarnate.她是幸福的化身。
• That enemy officer is a devil incarnate.那个敌军军官简直是魔鬼的化身。