英国人如何再次爱上自然

ROGER DEAKIN, a much-loved nature writer, called swimming a “subversive activity”. He embarked on a watery journey across Britain from his home near the river Waveney, which forms the border between Suffolk and Norfolk. His bestselling book published 11 years ago, “Waterlog”, inspired what has become known as the “wild-swimming movement”—and, some argue, rekindled Britain’s love affair with nature and hearty outdoor pursuits.

广受读者欢迎的自然题材作家罗杰.迪金曾今把游泳称作是“具有颠覆性的活动”。因此他曾经从离家不远处的韦弗尼河（萨福克郡和诺福克郡的界线）开始了一次横跨英国的水路旅程。11年前，他写了一本叫《水中日志:横跨英国的游泳旅程》的书随即畅销。这本书推动了逐渐为人所知的“野外游泳运动”。一些人认为，这重新点燃了英国人与自然和充满活力的户外活动间的爱火。

Enthusiasts have set out to popularise what Mr Deakin sketched. Daniel Start, a naturalist, spent five years swimming Britain, grid-referencing and photographing 150 of its “hidden dips”. His publisher, Punk, was in at the beginning of another key trend, the renaissance of camping. Its glossy books, including tips on glamorous camping (now known as “glamping”), have transformed the nylon tents and grubby communal showers of yesteryear.

大自然的钟爱人士早已开始大肆宣扬迪金书中所描绘的图景。其中自然学家丹尼尔.斯达尔特则在五年的时间里，游泳横跨不列颠，途中他运用网格定位技术拍摄了150处“桃源”景象。与此同时，他的出版商庞克在另一关键潮流---野营重新流行之时加入了自然钟爱者这个群体。它出版的印刷精美的书籍绍了如何进行“豪华露营”的秘诀，令尼龙帐篷、污秽的公共浴室彻底改观。

Camping holidays in England increased by 29% in 2009 from a year earlier, on statistics from VisitBritain, an official tourism outfit. Interest in the outdoors generally is more apparent. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, for example, says that visitors to its reserves rose from 1.6m in 2006 to 1.9m in 2008, and more have been flocking in since then.

如今据一官方旅游机构“VisitBritain”的数据显示，2009年的假期露营比2008年增加了29%。人们对户外活动的兴趣明显浓厚了。例如，皇家鸟类保护学会称：“到保护区的游客由2006年的1，600，000增加到2009年的1，900，000而且此后更多的游客都蜂拥而至。

Children are at the heart of it all. A survey released by the National Trust this year found that they are spending 60% less time in the wild than their parents at the same age. The charity, known mainly for stately homes, is working harder to promote the wide open spaces that are also in its care, to counteract what it sees as the increase in “nature-deficit disorder” in children.

在整个事件中，儿童是核心问题。国民托管组织的一次调查发现现在的儿童在自然环境中的活动时间，与其父母在同龄时期的相比，要少60%。因开放豪宅给公众参观而知名的托管组织正努力扩宽其责任内的野外空间，以对抗儿童中日益增多的自然缺失症。

Books teaching young people how to play conkers, build dens and fires, and set up camp are bestsellers. “The Dangerous Book for Boys” in 2006 (“If ever there were a book to make you turn off your television,” burbles the blurb) was followed by “The Daring Book for Girls” (with crucial instructions on administering a Chinese burn) and others. This summer the BBC has broadcast a season of programmes to celebrate what it calls the “great British love affair with the countryside”.

教年轻人怎样打七叶树果游戏，怎样建洞穴，怎样生火，怎样露营的书籍都成了畅销书。2006年“男孩们的危险书籍系列”（内容简介这样写道：“一本真正能让你关掉电视的书”）随着“女孩们的大胆书籍系列”（书里包括中国“刮痧”中关键步骤的操作指南）以及其他相关书籍的出版而问世。今年夏天英国广播公司播出了一系列节目，以此来赞美英国人与自然的伟大恋爱。更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

Why this revival of interest in outdoor pursuits? One reason is the recession. Many Britons—not least the prime minister, David Cameron, and his newly expanded family—have chosen to stay put and take advantage of Britain’s own attractions, including an activity appallingly called “coasteering”: cliff-diving, swimming or just walking along a remote coastline. (Most rivers and coasts are the cleanest they have been since the second world war, thanks mainly to stricter pollution controls on farmers.) Another, say some, is that overzealous health and safety rules have deprived children of important ways of learning about the world, and parents are beginning to want to correct that. A third, suggests Robert Macfarlane, a mountaineer and academic, may be that people’s senses are starved as they become ever more glued to screens, creating a longing for what Henry Thoreau called “Contact! Contact!” with the natural world.

人们对户外活动的热情为何复苏？其中一个原因就是经济衰退。许多英国人，包括大卫.卡梅隆首相和他的众多家人都选择留在国内充分享受自己国家的旅游资源，其中有一项令人胆战心惊的活动，叫做“海岸越野”，包括悬崖跳水、游泳或者沿着偏远的海岸线漫步等活动。（幸而政府对农民的管制，减少了污染，才使得英国的大多数河流和海岸自二战以来最为干净）。一些人则认为第二个原因是由于安全和健康标准的国度保护，剥夺了儿童认识世界的一个重要方式。于是家长们想要开始更正这些观念和条例。据一位登山者兼学者的罗伯特.麦克法兰称，第三个原因也许是人们更加依赖电视的同时，感官需求却无法满足，这就造成了一种对自然的渴望，就像亨利.梭罗呼吁的那样“接触自然，接触自然!

But not all the writers who helped launch this return to nature are wholly keen on where it is leading. Mr Macfarlane sighs at the mention of “glamping”. Richard Mabey, who spent years cataloguing Britain’s flowers, counsels against commodifying what should be private encounters with nature. “How do you see yourself in relation to the natural world? Are you determined to bluster your way into every nook and cranny, or are you a quiet pilgrim to be put in your place?” he asks, urging that we avoid the mistakes of “Victorian hoodlums” too enthralled by nature to respect its fragility.

但不是所有参与推动“回归自然”运动的作家都完全热衷这个活动将来可能发展的方向。在提到“豪华露营，麦克法兰先生不禁叹息。多年致力于给不列颠的花卉分类的理查德.梅比劝告人们人们不要把本应是与自然的私人邂逅商业化了。“您怎样看待自己和自然界的关系？您决定大张旗鼓地涉足自然界的每一个角落和缝隙，还是安静地享受大自然的一切？”麦克法兰这样问道，力图让我们不要犯“太迷恋于自然，而忘记尊重她的脆弱。”这样的维多利亚时代所犯过的错误。