Lesson 47

The great escape

大逃亡

What is one of the features of modern camping where nationality isconcerned?

Economy is one powerful motive for camping, since after the initial outlayupon equipment, or through hiring it, the total expense can be far less than thecost of hotels. But, contrary to a popular assumption, it is far from being theonly one, or even the greatest. The man who manoeuvres carelessly into his 20pounds' worth of space at one of Europe's myriad permanent sites may findhimself bumping a Bentley. More likely, Ford Escort will be hub to hub withRenault or Mercedes, but rarely with bicycles made for two.

That the equipment of modern camping becomes yearly more sophisticated isan entertaining paradox for the cynic, a brighter promise for the hopefultraveler who has sworn to get away from it all. It also provides and somestudent sociologist might care to base his thesis upon the phenomenon -- anescape of another kind. The modern traveller is often a man who dislikes theSplendide and the Bellavista, not because he cannot afford, or shuns theirmaterial comforts. but because he is afraid of them. Affluent he may be, but heis by no means sure what to tip the doorman or the chambermaid. Master in hisown house, he has little idea of when to say boo to a maitre d'hotel.

From all such fears camping releases him. Granted, a snobbery of campingitself, based upon equipment and techniques, already exists; but it is of a kindthat, if he meets it, he can readily understand and deal with. There is nosuperior 'they' in the shape of managements and hotel hierarchies to darken hisholiday days.

To such motives, yet another must be added. The contemporary phenomenon ofcar worship is to be explained not least by the sense of independence andfreedom that ownership entails. To this pleasure camping gives an exquisiterefinement.

From one's own front door to home or foreign hills or sands and back again,everything is to hand. Not only are the means of arriving at the holidayparadise entirely within one's own command and keeping, but the means of escapefrom holiday hell (if the beach proves too crowded, the local weather tooinclement) are there, outside -- or, as likely, part of -- the tent.

Idealists have objected to the practice of camping, as to the package tour,that the traveller abroad thereby denies himself the opportunity of getting toknow the people of the country visited. Insularity and self-containment, it isargued, go hand in hand. The opinion does not survive experience of a popularContinental camping place. Holiday hotels tend to cater for one nationality ofvisitors especially, sometimes exclusively. Camping sites, by contrast, arehighly cosmopolitan. Granted, a preponderance of Germans is a characteristicthat seems common to most Mediterranean sites; but as yet there is nooverwhelmingly specialized patronage. Notices forbidding the open-air drying ofclothes, or the use of water points for car washing, or those inviting 'ourcamping friends' to a dance or a boat trip are printed not only in French orItalian or Spanish, but also in English, German and Dutch. At meal times theodour of sauerkraut vies with that of garlic. The Frenchman's breakfast coffeecompetes with the Englishman's bacon and eggs.新概念英语3mp3下载

Whether the remarkable growth of organized camping means the eventual deathof the more independent kind is hard to say. Municipalities naturally want tosecure the campers' site fees and other custom. Police are wary of itinerantswho cannot be traced to a recognized camp boundary or to four walls. But mostprobably it will all depend upon campers themselves: how many heath fires theycause; how much litter they leave; in short, whether or not they wholly alienatelandowners and those who live in the countryside. Only good scouting is likelyto preserve the freedoms so dear to the heart of the eternal Boy Scout.

NIGEL BUXTON The Great Escape from The Weekend Telegraph

New words and expressions 生词与短语

assumption

n. 假定

manoeuvre

v. (驱车)移动

myriad

adj. 无数的

paradox

n. 自相矛盾的呈

cynic

n. 愤世嫉俗者

sociologist

n. 社会学家

shun

v. 避开

affluent

adj. 富有的

chambermaid

n. 女招待员

boo

b. 呸的一声

maitre d'hotel

n. [法语]总管

snobbery

n. 势利

hierarchy

n. 等级制度

entail

v. 便成为必要

inclement

adj. 险恶的

package tour

由旅行社安排一切的一揽子诱游

insularity

n. 偏狭

cater

v. 迎合

exclusively

adv. 排他地

cosmopolitan

adj. 世界的

preponderance

n. 优势

overwhelmingly

adv. 以压倒优势地，清一色地

patronage

n. 恩惠，惠顾

sauerkraut

n. 泡菜

vie

v. 竞争

municipality

n. 市政当局

itinerant

n. 巡回者

heath

v. 荒地

alienate

v. 便疏远

eternal

adj. 永久的

本文参考译文

图省钱是露营的一个主要动机，因为除了开始时购置或是租借一套露营装备外，总费用算起来要比住旅馆开支少得多。但是，和一般的看法相反，这决非是仅有的，甚至不是最主要的动机。如果一位游客漫不经心地驾车驶入欧洲无数常年营地之一，花20镑租用一个空位，那么他可能会碰见一辆本特利汽车，更可能会望见一辆福特.康索尔或一辆雷诺或一辆梅塞迪斯并排停放着，不过双人自行车则不容易看到。

现代露营装备一年比一年讲究，这对那些厌世嫉俗者来说是一件有趣的自相矛盾的事情。而对于发誓用露营来摆脱烦恼的人来说，却带来了更光明的前景。学社会学的大学生来露营是另一种形式的摆脱现实，他们的目的很可能是根据观察到的露营现象去写论文。现代露营旅游的人往往讨厌在“斯普兰迪德”和“贝拉维斯塔”这样的大酒店，这并不是因为他们付不起钱，也不是为了躲避物质享受，而是因为他们害怕酒店。他们可能很富有，但给看门人和房间女服务多少小费，心中却根本没有数;他们在家可能是主人，但不知道什么时候才能对酒店的经理表示不满。

露营使人们免除了这些忧虑。诚然，露营地本身也存在以露营装备和方式取人的势利现象，但如果有这种情况，露营者也容易理解，知道如何对付，但在露营地里根本不会有管人的“人上人”和酒店里的等级制度来使露营者的假日过得阴郁低沉。

除以上动机外，还应加上一个。当前崇拜汽车现象可以用与所有权相伴的独立和自由意识来解释。因此开车去露营会给这种快乐意识增加一种优雅意境。

从自己的家门出发到国内国外的山区或沙滩上露营然后返回，一切都很便利。完全在自己掌握之中的私人汽车不仅是到达假日天堂的工具，而且也是逃离假日地狱(如海滩太挤，当地天气恶劣)方便工具，因为汽车就停在帐篷外面，或者汽车本身可能就是露营帐篷的一个组成部分。

理想主义者像反对旅行社安排一切的一揽子旅游一样反对露营的作法，说这种封闭的作法使到国外旅游者失去了了解所去国家人民的机会。他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。但这种说法在受人欢迎的欧洲露营地是站不住脚的。假日旅馆有只接待来自一个国家的旅游者的倾向，有时会达到排他的程度。而露营驻地则相反，是高度世界性的。在大多数地中海露营地里，德国人占优势似乎是个普遍现象，确实如此，但并没有特别的优待。禁止露天晒衣服、禁止用水龙头冲洗汽车的布告和邀请露营朋友参加舞会、乘船观光的招贴不仅印志法语、意大利语、西班牙语，而且也印成英语、德语、荷兰语。用饭的时候，德国泡菜味和大蒜味争相散发，法国人的早点咖啡和英国人的咸肉煎蛋竞相比美。

有组织的露营活动的明显发展是否意味着较独立的自我封闭式露营的最终消失，还很难说。市政当局当然希望获得露营者的场地费和其他光临的好处，警察则对那些查不出有固定营地或住处的游荡者保持警惕。但最重要的或许是露营者自己，即他们引起了多少场野火，留下了多少垃圾。总之，他们是否弄得土地的主人和乡间的居民同他们反目。只有优良的童子军活动才能保持不朽的童子军所衷心热爱的各项自由。