An Arabian Journey
2019/3/24
看完Levison Wood的《An Arabian Journey》后，心里怪怪的。
在书最后的Acknowledgements里，Lev是这样说的：
I was once given some invaluable advide: ‘To achieve great things, you must surround yourself with great people.’ No expedition, of course, is a one-man show.
Levison Wood是英国作家，摄影家，和探险家。他任职于英国军队，但平生最大爱好就是走路探险。他写了几本书：Walking the Nile, Walking the Himalayas, Walking the Americas，还有就是这本行走阿拉伯的书了。他现在正在马来西亚探险，下面一本书将是有关亚洲的走路探险历程。
从图书馆借来他的书来看，是因为自己也喜欢到不同地方实实在在地走路游历。自己也想走多一些地方，而不只是局限于欧洲，或其它几个成熟的旅游城市。旅游的兴趣已经转移，所以想先读一下其它人怎么走的，积淀一些知识。
“远征”好象是英国人的传统，历代出了好多象Levison Wood这样的探险家。JRR Tolkien说他最不喜欢旅游，但他笔下的人物The Hobbit 里的Bilbo Baggins，the Lord of the Rings里的Frodo，都是基因里带着爱冒风险的英国人，他们的故事就是一出出远征历险史。TE Lawrence是Levison儿时的英雄，他的阿拉伯远征就是要走Lawrence曾走过的路。1959年写出《Arabian Sands》的Wildfred Thesiger也是英国军队出来的作家和探险家，Levison崇拜的对象。
Levison的远征已经跟前辈们不同了，他在远方行走，英国后面有个团队24小时服务于他，他到不同的地方都有导游，他的远征在BBC4台直播，随行还有工作室，有时还住住五星级宾馆。看到这儿，都困惑了。好像我的走路更象走路，更象英国诗人William Wordsworth所写的诗中一句：I wandered lonely as a cloud。Lawrence的中东行更是下足了功夫，苦学精通阿拉伯语。这些都是基本功。
这样的远征，这样的观察能够真实地反映当地的情况吗：如宗教矛盾，中东局势，中东民众的真实心态，民族情绪？我觉得还是有点的。下面是书中的一些闪光点：
(阿拉伯历险家Ibn Battutah 中东非常了不起的探险家，不过他作品的好多章节原封不动地抄袭前辈，他的远征经历有时让人觉得不可信):Travelling – it gives you home in a thousand strange places, then leaves you a stranger in your own land.
(Ibn Battutah) Who lives sees, but who travels, see more.
I was keen to walk, to stretch my legs and feel the sweat pouring down my brow. It makes you feel alive and gives you a sense of achievement, in a way that staring out of a car window can never do. (这也是我在欧洲旅游的真实感受。每次欧洲之行回来后，脚底都结成一层厚厚的老茧。在山上走路的自由心态，那是多少钱都换不到的。)
(英国历险家Wilfred Thesiger, Arabian Sands) For me, exploration was a personal vernture. I did not go to the Arabian desert to collect plants nor to make a map; such things were incidental…I went there to find peace in the hardship of desert travel and the company of desert peoples…To others my journey would have little importance. It would produce nothng except a rather inaccurate map which no one was ever likely to use. It was a personal experience, and the reward had been a drink of clean, nearly tasteless water. I was content with that. （也是我的感受。旅游是一种自我体验，不一定有什么目的，但每次旅游后那深层次的满足就象无香清水一样，沁入心脾，润泽心身。）
Travel is a very personal matter, and what follows is simply my snapshot of one moment in time. (旅游是很个人的事情，游记所记录的只是那个瞬间的事情与感受。确实是这样，我也随便写一些游后记，源于旅游中感动的瞬间，写下它是加深旅游的感受。)
(英国历险家Richard Francis Burton) Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant jouney into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Civilisation, man feels once more happy. (是的，旅游最快乐的地方就是离开日常固定的生活轨迹，过一种不同的生活。我有个同事上班时总爱说：每天上班就象被困的鸟，在格子间里敲打电脑键盘。每次奔向飞机场时，自己就象放风的鸟，什么时差，坐飞机，前面行程的不确定，都不重要，重要的是我能挣脱一会儿。)
(Bedouin Proverb) when you sleep in a house your thoughts are as high as the ceiling, when you sleep outside they are as high as the stars.
(Freya Stark) You will if you are wise and know the art of travel, let youself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may ofter it. (是的，旅游时越来喜欢随遇而安，把自己变成当地的一棵树，一根草，一阵风。Tourist只是想看自己想看的，还是活在自己的世界里，跟他/她去多少地方无关。)
(Arabian)I don’t like Lawrence, or your man Burton either. He sneaked into Mecca without permission. The only one I like is Thesiger. He lived with us Aras and got to know us. He had no agenda other than wanting to learn about our ways, I think. Isn’t that what travel should be all about? (旅游的目的)
I felt as though this was what the real Arabia was all about – this was the real life of the Bedu nomads and therefore of mankind itself. This was the natural state of being for humans. With a belly full of food and a song in the air, what more can man ask for? There was no choice here but to simply exist in perfect harmony with one’s surroundings. There was no struggle, except against one’s self, and a belief in the benevolence of nature.
(希腊历史学家Herodotus) In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.
When I got home, I’d make sure never to take anything for granted. I’d tell those around me how much they meant to me. I’d forgive those who’d hurt me and I’d never lose my temper again. I realized there and then that nothing else matters but kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love. (历经艰辛后的感受，说实在的，很怕看这种游后老一套心得。也常这样想，但好象这些都是写在水上的，一会儿就忘了，一会儿就咬牙切齿了。不过旅游确实让人心胸变得开阔，似乎变得更专注于短暂人生中有意义的事情。)
(Kahlil Gibran) Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. (蓝天白云下也常有梦想，我的旅游都是梦想后的行走，非常享受。)
(Holy Qu’ran) When the sun shall be folded up; and when the stars shall fall; and when the moutains shall be made to pass away…and when the seas shall boil; and when the souls shall be joined again to gheir bodies…and when the books shall be laid open; and when the heavens shall be removed; ad when hell shall burn fiercely; and when paradise shall be brought near: every soul shall know what it hath wrought.
总的来说，这本书还是值得一看的。