The great escape
原文
Lesson 47
The great escape
What is one of the features of modern camping where nationality is concerned?
Economy is one powerful motive for camping,
since after the initial outlay upon equipment, or through hiring it, the total expense can be far less than the cost of hotels.
But, contrary to a popular assumption, it is far from being the only one, or even the greatest.
The man who manoeuvres carelessly into his 20 pounds' worth of space at one of Europe's myriad permanent sites may find himself bumping a Bentley.
More likely, Ford Escort will be hub to hub with Renault or Mercedes, but rarely with bicycles made for two.
That the equipment of modern camping becomes yearly more sophisticated is an entertaining paradox for the cynic,
a brighter promise for the hopeful traveller who has sworn to get away from it all.
It also provides--and some student sociologist might care to base his thesis upon the phenomenon--an escape of another kind.
The modern traveller is often a man who dislikes the Splendide and the Bellavista,
not because he cannot afford, or shuns their material comforts, but because he is afraid of them.
Affluent he may be, but he is by no means sure what to tip the doorman or the chambermaid.
Master in his own house he has little idea of when to say boo to a manager hotel.
From all such fears camping releases him.
Granted, a snobbery of camping itself, based upon equipment and techniques, already exists;
but it is of a kind that, if he meets it, he can readily understand and deal with.
There is no superior 'they' in the shape of managements and hotel hierarchies to darken his holiday days.
To such motives, yet another must be added.
The contemporary phenomenon of car worship is to be explained not least by the sense of independence and freedom that ownership entails.
To this pleasure camping gives an exquisite refinement.
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 holiday paradise entirely within one's own command and keeping,
but the means of escape from holiday hell (if the beach proves too crowded, the local weather too inclement)
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 to know the people of the country visited.
Insularity and self-containment, it is argued, go hand in hand.
The opinion does not survive experience of a popular Continental camping place.
Holiday hotels tend to cater for one nationality of visitors especially, sometimes exclusively.
Camping sites, by contrast, are highly cosmopolitan.
Granted, a preponderance of Germans is a characteristic that seems common to most Mediterranean sites;
but as yet there is no overwhelmingly specialized patronage.
Notices forbidding the open-air drying of clothes,
or the use of water points for car washing,
or those inviting 'our camping friends' to a dance or a boat trip are printed not only in French or Italian or Spanish, but also in English, German and Dutch.
At meal times the odour of sauerkraut vies with that of garlic.
The Frenchman's breakfast coffee competes with the Englishman's bacon and eggs.
Whether the remarkable growth of organized camping means the eventual death of the more independent kind is hard to say.
Municipalities naturally want to secure the campers' site fees and other custom.
Police are wary of itinerants who cannot be traced to a recognized camp boundary or to four walls.
But most probably it will all depend upon campers themselves: how many heath fires they cause; how much litter they leave;
in short, whether or not they wholly alienate landowners and those who live in the countryside.
Only good scouting is likely to preserve the freedoms so dear to the heart of the eternal Boy Scout.
译文
第47课
“伟大的逃脱”
就国籍而言，现代露营的一个显著特点是什么？
经济因素是人们选择露营的一个重要原因。
因为在购买了设备或租用设备之后，总花费可能远低于住酒店的费用。
但是，与普遍的看法相反，这远非唯一的动机，甚至也不是最主要的动机。
在欧洲众多永久性露营地中，那个小心翼翼地把自己价值20英镑的装备挪进空间的人，可能会发现自己撞上了一辆宾利。
更有可能的是，福特Escort会与雷诺或奔驰并排停放，但很少会与双人自行车并排。
对于那些持悲观态度的人来说，现代露营装备逐年变得越来越先进，这确实是一个颇具讽刺意味的矛盾现象。
对于那些渴望逃离现实、追求自由生活的旅行者来说，这无疑是一个更加光明的希望。
它还提供了一种不同的“逃避方式”；一些研究社会现象的学生或许会想以此作为自己论文的写作基础。
现代旅行者往往不喜欢那些名为'辉煌'或'美景'的豪华酒店，
不是因为他买不起这些物质上的享受，也不是因为他拒绝它们，而是因为他害怕它们。
尽管他很富有，但他仍然不知道该给门卫或客房服务员多少小费才合适。
在自己家里他或许很自在，但在酒店里，他完全不知道该如何与经理打交道。
面对所有这些恐惧，露营反而让他感到解脱（或：露营让他摆脱了恐惧）。
诚然，基于所使用的装备和技术，露营本身就带有一种“优越感”或“傲慢的态度”（即认为露营是一种比其他活动更高级、更优越的休闲方式）。
不过，这种情况属于他能够轻易理解并妥善处理的类型。
没有管理层和酒店等级制度中那些高高在上的'他们'来破坏他的假期心情。
除了这些动机之外，还必须再加上另一个动机。
当代社会中对汽车的崇拜现象，很大程度上可以归因于汽车所有权所带来的独立感和自由感。
正是这种乐趣，让露营活动增添了无与伦比的精致感与高雅氛围。
从自己家中的前门出发，无论是前往国内的山丘、沙漠，还是国外，无论走到哪里，一切所需的东西都唾手可得。
不仅前往这个度假天堂的方式完全由自己掌控（即可以自由选择出行方式），
但是，还是有办法摆脱这种“假期地狱”般的境况的（比如当海滩过于拥挤，或者当地天气过于恶劣时）。
这些逃离'假期地狱'的手段就在帐篷外——或者很可能就是帐篷的一部分。
理想主义者反对露营这种活动，也同样反对跟团旅游（即包价旅游）。
这意味着出国旅行的游客就失去了了解所访问国家人民的机会。
有人认为，孤立主义与自我封闭是密不可分的。
这种观点在人们实际体验了那处热门的欧洲大陆露营地之后就被推翻了。
假日酒店通常主要服务于某一特定国籍的游客，有时甚至只接待该国籍的客人。
相比之下，露营地具有很强的国际性（即各种文化背景的人在这里都能和谐共处）。
诚然，德国人的数量占多数似乎是大多数地中海地区共有的特征；
但到目前为止还没有出现压倒性的特定国籍客人。
禁止户外晾晒衣物的告示，
禁止用水龙头洗车的告示，
那些邀请“我们的露营伙伴”参加舞会或乘船旅行的邀请函，不仅用法语、意大利语和西班牙语印刷，还用英语、德语和荷兰语印刷。
用餐时，酸菜的味道与大蒜的味道交织在一起，令人难以忽视。
法国人的早餐咖啡与英国人的培根和鸡蛋形成了鲜明对比。
很难说，有组织的露营活动的迅速发展是否意味着那些更加独立、自由式的露营方式的最终消亡。
市政当局自然希望确保能收到露营者的场地费和其他消费。
警方对那些无法被追踪到任何已知营地范围或固定住所的流动人员保持警惕。
但很可能一切都取决于露营者自己：他们引发了多少野火；他们留下了多少垃圾；
简而言之，无论这样做是否会完全疏远土地所有者以及农村居民……
只有良好的露营行为规范才可能保住那些永恒童子军心中珍视的自由。