The Art of Travel(《旅行的藝術》)是小編最近閱讀到的絕佳的英文文學作品，其作者是去年11月號CR選摘的The Architecture of Happiness(《幸福的建築》)一書的作者——“英倫才子”Alain de Botton(阿蘭·德波頓)。這本書之所以能引起我的強烈共鳴，全因我也是個心懷“遊遍世界”夢想的旅行愛好者，也經曆著下文提到的“對旅行的期待幻滅”等種種煩心的問題。令我記憶憂新的是2007年夏天江南遊的七天裏，我每晚都躺在旅店陌生的床上細數這一天裏的種種失落，感歎著——一切怎麼都和書裏、電視裏、宣傳冊上描述的不同，左看右看，那些都不過是一座座和廣州長得太過相似的現代化城市……我知道我需要一些指點，去更好地展開往後的每一段旅途，直到遇上這本書，我對旅行才有了更深的感悟。
好書當然要細細品味，盡管文字難度不低，但絕對值得“啃”！小編將會在CR上分兩期(本期以及8月號)刊登這本書的部分精彩內容，歡迎大家關注哦！
——Lavender
Chapter One： Departure
I On Anticipation
If our lives are dominated by a search for happiness， then perhaps few activities reveal as much about the dynamics of this quest—in all its 1)ardour and paradoxes—than our travels. They express， however inarticulately， an understanding of what life might be about， outside the constraints of work and the struggle for survival. Yet rarely are they considered to present philosophical problems—that is， issues requiring thought beyond the practical. We are2)inundated with advice on where to travel to； we hear little of why and how we should go—though the art of travel seems naturally to sustain a number of questions neither so simple nor so trivial， and whose study might in modest ways contribute to an understanding of what the Greek philosophers beautifully termed “eudaimonia”， or “human flourishing”.
One question revolves around the relationship between the anticipation of travel and its reality. I came upon a copy of 3)J.-K. Huysmans’s novel A Rebours， published in 1884， whose 4)effete and5)misanthropic hero， the 6)aristocratic 7)Duc des Esseintes， anticipated a journey to London and offered in the process an extravagantly pessimistic analysis of the difference between what we imagine of a place and what can occur when we reach it.
Huysmans recounts that the Duc des Esseintes lived alone in a vast villa on the outskirts of Paris. He rarely went anywhere to avoid what he took to be the ugliness and stupidity of others. One afternoon in his youth， he had ventured into a nearby village for a few hours and had felt his detestation of people grow fierce. Since then he had chosen to spend his days alone in bed in his study， reading the classics of literature， and moulding 8)acerbic thoughts about humanity. However， early one morning， the Duc surprised himself by an intense wish to travel to London. The desire came upon him as he sat by the fire reading a volume of Dickens. The book evoked visions of English life， which he 9)contemplated at length and grew increasingly keen to see. Unable to withhold his excitement， he ordered his servants to pack his bags， dressed himself in a grey 10)tweed suit， a pair of laced ankle boots， a little 11)bowler hat and a 12)flax-blue 13)Inverness cape and took the next train to Paris. Because he had time to spare before the departure of the London train， he went to G alignani’s English Bookshop on the 14)Rue de Rivoli and there bought a volume of 15)Baedeker’s Guide to London. He was thrown into delicious 16)reveries by its 17)terse descriptions of London’s attractions. He moved on to a wine bar nearby frequented by a largely English 18)clientele. The atmosphere was out of Dickens.
Hungry， Des Esseintes went next to an English 19)tavern in the Rue d’Amsterdam， near the 20)Gare Saint Lazare. It was dark and smoky there， with a line of 21)beer pulls along a counter， which was spread with hams as brown as violins and lobsters the colour of 22)red lead. Seated at small wooden tables were 23)robust Englishwomen with boyish faces， teeth as big as 24)palette knives， cheeks as red as apples and long hands and feet. Des Esseintes found a table and ordered some 25)oxtail soup， a smoked 26)haddock， a 27)helping of roast beef and potatoes， a couple of 28)pints of 29)ale and a chunk of Stilton.