旅行的唯一方法是步行(2)
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."
[注释]
1. bird's－eye view：鸟瞰
2.blur：使……模糊不清
[译文]
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。”
