經典美文英漢互譯-Travel on Foot 徒步旅行

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The past ages of man have all been carefully labelled by anthropologists. 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 and roads to the top of every huge mountain.All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks."
    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.
    人類的過去都被人類學家所標記。例如,“舊石器時代人”?!毙率鲿r代的人等,整齊地總結了整個時期。當他們轉向第二十世紀,他們肯定會選擇“無腿人”的標簽。歷史的時候會去這樣的東西:“在第二十世紀,人們忘記了如何使用他們的腿。男人和女人從一個很早的年齡就搬了車,公共汽車和火車。在所有有大型建筑電梯和自動扶梯,以防止人們步行。由于他們的非凡的生活方式,這種情況在當時的地球居民中被強制。在那些日子里,人們認為旅行幾百英里每一天沒什么。但令人驚訝的是,他們不使用他們的腿,甚至當他們去度假。他們建造纜索鐵路,滑雪索道和道路,每一座大山頂。地球上所有的風景區(qū)都由大型停車場存在了?!?BR>    當你以很高的速度旅行,現(xiàn)在就什么都不是:你主要生活在未來,因為你多半時間前到達的某個地方。但實際到達,當它實現(xiàn),是沒有意義的。你想繼續(xù)前進。通過這樣的旅行,你暫停了所有的經驗,現(xiàn)在不再是一個現(xiàn)實:你可能就是死了。