On Trails is a wandering tale that blends hiking, science, and history
On Trails is a wandering tale that blends hiking, science, and history
《步道：探索之路》：一部融合徒步、科学与历史的漫游故事
Hiking is one of life’s great joys. Turning off the screens and stepping out into nature for an extended period of time, perhaps even several days, is rejuvenating. Unfortunately, as someone with two young kids and a bad back, I’m not really able to go backpacking anymore. So I often find myself trying to live vicariously through others who write about their lengthy travails along the Appalachian or the PCT. That’s what I thought I was signing up for when I picked up On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor. But it turned out to be so much more.
徒步是人生的一大乐事。关掉屏幕，走进大自然，进行一段长时间——甚至长达数日的——远足，总能让人焕然一新。遗憾的是，作为一个有两个年幼孩子且背部有伤的人，我已无法再进行背包远足了。因此，我常常试图通过阅读他人关于阿帕拉契亚小径（Appalachian Trail）或太平洋屋脊步道（PCT）的长途跋涉经历，来获得一种“代入式”的体验。当我拿起罗伯特·摩尔（Robert Moor）所著的《步道：探索之路》（On Trails: An Exploration）时，我以为自己读的正是这类书。但结果证明，它远不止于此。
The prologue starts with Moor talking about his decision to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. And chapter one doesn’t stray too far from the expected subject matter either. It focuses primarily on Moor’s trip to Western Brook Pond in Newfoundland and broadly discusses the concept of wilderness.
序言中，摩尔讲述了他决定徒步走完阿帕拉契亚小径的初衷。第一章的内容也没有偏离预期的主题，主要聚焦于摩尔在纽芬兰西部布鲁克池塘（Western Brook Pond）的旅行，并广泛探讨了“荒野”这一概念。
His talents as a writer are apparent from moment one. A storm pins Moor down on a ridge: “For the better part of an hour, awash in mounting waves of tympanic rumble, I had time to reconsider the merits of hiking. Stripped of its Romantic finery, the wild ceased to inspire; only a gauzy scrim separated sublimity and horror.”
摩尔的写作才华从一开始就显露无遗。一场风暴将摩尔困在山脊上，他写道：“在近一个小时的时间里，沉浸在阵阵如鼓点般轰鸣的声浪中，我有时间重新审视徒步的意义。剥去了浪漫主义的华丽外衣，荒野不再令人心生向往；只有一层薄薄的纱幕，将崇高与恐怖隔开。”
This is perhaps the first hint that what you’re in for is not some travelogue or a simple memoir that uses the trail as a narrative device. Chapter two immediately solidifies this, launching a discussion of ant trails and the fine distinctions of various English words for lines of movement.
这或许是一个最初的暗示：你即将阅读的并非某种游记，也不是那种仅将步道作为叙事工具的简单回忆录。第二章立刻印证了这一点，书中开始探讨蚂蚁的行进路线，以及英语中描述“移动线条”的各种词汇之间的细微差别。
On Trails bounces around gleefully from topic to topic: Game trails, fiber optic wires, Moor’s stint as a shepherd. And all throughout, Moor seamlessly navigates shifting tones. One moment, he’s waxing poetic about the power of nature, the next, he’s spinning an anecdote about misplacing an entire flock of sheep with a comic’s sense of pacing, then turning philosophical about the damage done by colonialism.
《步道》一书在不同主题间欢快地跳跃：兽径、光纤电缆、摩尔担任牧羊人的经历。在整个过程中，摩尔在不同的语调间无缝切换。前一刻，他还在为大自然的力量吟诗作赋；下一刻，他便以喜剧演员般的节奏感，讲述自己弄丢整群羊的趣事；紧接着，他又转而探讨殖民主义所造成的破坏，充满了哲学思考。
It’s a testament to Moor’s skill that the book not only manages to be compulsively readable, but never feels disjointed as he swings wildly from exploring a proto-internet envisioned by engineer Vannevar Bush in 1945, to quoting poet Gary Snyder.
摩尔的功力在于，这本书不仅让人爱不释手，而且尽管他在探讨1945年工程师万尼瓦尔·布什（Vannevar Bush）构想的互联网雏形，与引用诗人加里·斯奈德（Gary Snyder）的诗句之间大幅跳跃，却丝毫不会让人感到支离破碎。
On Trails starts with a simple idea: how did the Appalachian Trail, or any hiking trail for that matter, form? And from there it branches off endlessly into a thousand different tributaries, exploring how the very concept of trails can help us understand the world.
《步道》始于一个简单的想法：阿帕拉契亚小径，或者说任何一条徒步小径，究竟是如何形成的？以此为起点，书的内容像千万条支流一样无限延伸，探索“步道”这一概念本身如何帮助我们理解这个世界。
On Trails is available on most ebook stores, but I highly recommend you buy a physical copy at your local independent bookshop or support your local library.
《步道》已在各大电子书商店上架，但我强烈建议您去当地的独立书店购买纸质版，或者支持您当地的图书馆。