In a little place called Le Monastier, in a pleasant highland valley fifteen miles from Le Puy, I spent about a month of fine days. Monastier is notable for the making of lace, for drunkenness, for freedom of language, and for unparalleled political dissension. There are adherents of each of the four French parties—Legitimists, Orleanists, Imperialists, and Republicans—in this little mountain-town; and they all hate, loathe, decry, and calumniate each other. Except for business purposes, or to give each other the lie in a tavern brawl, they have laid aside even the civility of speech. 'Tis a mere mountain Poland . In the midst of this Babylon I found myself a rallying-point; every one was anxious to be kind and helpful to the stranger. This was not merely from the natural hospitality of mountain people, nor even from the surprise with which I was regarded as a man living of his own free will in Le Monastier, when he might just as well have lived anywhere else in this big world; it arose a good deal from my projected excursion southward through the Cévennes. A traveller of my sort was a thing hitherto unheard of in that district. I was looked upon with contempt, like a man who should project a journey to the moon, but yet with a respectful interest, like one setting forth for the inclement Pole. All were ready to help in my preparations; a crowd of sympathizers supported me at the critical moment of a bargain; not a step was taken but was heralded by glasses round and celebrated by a dinner or a breakfast.

在一个叫做勒莫纳斯捷的小地方，这个距勒皮十五英里处宜人的高地峡谷，我愉快地呆了一个月左右。勒莫纳斯捷以蕾丝制造、酗酒成风、言辞无忌和激烈的政治分歧而闻名。在那个小小的山城里，法国的四个党派——正统派、奥尔良派、帝制派和共和派——都有追随者；他们彼此之间仇视憎恨、诋毁谩骂。除非是在做生意的场合，或是为了在酒馆的争执中揭穿对方、抬高自己，他们通常连说话的礼仪也不顾。这里简直就是山地的波兰。我发现自己竟然成了这个繁杂之地的焦点人物。人们都急于向我这个异乡人示好，为我提供帮助。这不仅仅是由于山区人们好客的天性，甚至也不是因为他们惊奇于看到我原本可以住在世上任何地方，却偏偏自愿来到了勒莫纳斯捷；大半原因是由于我向南翻越塞文山脉的旅行计划。这个地区还没人听说过我这样的旅行者。人们用带着蔑视的眼光看我，就像看一个要去月球旅行的人；他们的眼光中还带着一丝敬意的好奇，好像我要前往寒冷的极地。在我准备行程期间，人人都乐于帮忙。一到讨价还价的关键时刻，就有一群热心人替我帮腔；而每完成一项准备工作，伴随而来的总是举杯欢呼，或者共进早餐或晚餐以示庆祝。

It was already hard upon October before I was ready to set forth, and at the high altitudes over which my road lay there was no Indian summer to be looked for. I was determined, if not to camp out, at least to have the means of camping out in my possession; for there is nothing more harassing to an easy mind than the necessity of reaching shelter by dusk, and the hospitality of a village inn is not always to be reckoned sure by those who trudge on foot. A tent, above all for a solitary traveller, is troublesome to pitch, and troublesome to strike again; and even on the march it forms a conspicuous feature in your baggage. A sleeping-sack, on the other hand, is always ready—you have only to get into it; it serves a double purpose—a bed by night, a portmanteau by day; and it does not advertise your intention of camping out to every curious passer-by. This is a huge point. If a camp is not secret, it is but a troubled resting-place; you become a public character; the convivial rustic visits your bedside after an early supper; and you must sleep with one eye open, and be up before the day. I decided on a sleeping-sack; and after repeated visits to Le Puy, and a deal of high living for myself and my advisers, a sleeping-sack was designed, constructed, and triumphantly brought home.

我准备好启程的时候已经快十月份了。旅途经过的都是高纬度地区，那里不可能指望碰上什么风和日丽的小阳春。我决定，即使不在野外露营，也要在行李中备好野营用具，因为没有什么比在天黑前必须赶到住处更能破坏旅行者无忧无虑的心境了。而对于徒步旅行的人来说，一间舒适的乡村旅馆并不总能指望得上。帐篷，尤其是对于没有同伴的旅行者来说，既不好搭，也不好拆。而且在路上，它又是一件过于显眼的行李。而睡袋则总是非常方便——你只需钻进它就好了；它有双重用途——晚上当床，白天则是旅行皮包；而且它不会向每个好奇的路人张扬你露营的意图。这是很重要的一点。一旦你的露营地为人所知，你的歇息之地将喧闹不安。你成了一个公众人物；早早吃过晚饭后，快活的乡下人会去你的床榻边探访；你必须在睡觉时保持警醒，还得天不亮就起床。因此我决定带一个睡袋。在我去了勒皮城好几次，又和顾问们享受了好几顿珍馐美味之后，终于设计出一个睡袋并制作成型，喜洋洋地带回了家。

This child of my invention was nearly six feet square, exclusive of two triangular flaps to serve as a pillow by night and as the top and bottom of the sack by day. I call it "the sack", but it was never a sack by more than courtesy: only a sort of long roll or sausage, green waterproof cart-cloth without and blue sheep's fur within. It was commodious as a valise, warm and dry for a bed. There was luxurious turning room for one; and at a pinch the thing might serve for two. I could bury myself in it up to the neck; for my head I trusted to a fur cap, with a hood to fold down over my ears and a band to pass under my nose like a respirator; and in case of heavy rain I proposed to make myself a little tent, or tentlet, with my waterproof coat, three stones, and a bent branch.

我的这件发明大概有六英尺见方，此外还有两个三角形的翻盖，夜间可以当枕垫，白天则是袋子的顶盖和底部。我把它叫做“袋子”，但是再怎么看，它也远远称不上是一个袋子，而只是一个长长的面包卷或香肠样的东西，外面是绿色防水车篷布，衬里是蓝色羊皮。它既是一个容量大的手提包，又是一张温暖干燥的床。睡袋有足够的空间让独睡者舒舒服服地翻身，必要时也挤得下两个人。我钻进去可以一直盖到脖子；至于头部，我把它交给了一顶皮帽子，帽子上有帽兜可以拉下来遮住耳朵，还有一个帽圈盖在我鼻子下方，好像一个口罩。下大雨的话，我打算用雨衣、三块石头和一段弯树枝搭一个小小的帐篷。

It will readily be conceived that I could not carry this huge package on my own, merely human, shoulders. It remained to choose a beast of burden. Now, a horse is a fine lady among animals, flighty, timid, delicate in eating, of tender health; he is too valuable and too restive to be left alone, so that you are chained to your brute as to a fellow galley-slave; a dangerous road puts him out of his wits; in short, he's an uncertain and exacting ally, and adds thirty-fold to the troubles of the voyager. What I required was something cheap and small and hardy, and of a stolid and peaceful temper; and all these requisites pointed to a donkey.

很容易就可以想见，我独自一人，单靠一副肉肩膀，可没法背那么重的行囊。我还得选一头负重的牲口。现在的问题是，马可是动物中的贵妇，它易惊、胆小、吃食挑剔、体质娇嫩。它太贵重，脾气又倔，因此没法丢之一旁，这样你就和你的牲口拴在了一起，成了和它一样的苦工。一段危险的路就足以让你的马匹受惊不已。简言之，马是一位喜怒无常、要求苛刻的同伴，会给旅行者增添三十倍的麻烦。而我需要的是一种廉价、小巧、耐劳的动物，性情要温和平静，驴子恰能满足这些要求。

There dwelt an old man in Monastier, of rather unsound intellect according to some, much followed by street-boys, and known to fame as Father Adam. Father Adam had a cart, and to draw the cart a diminutive she-ass, not much bigger than a dog, the colour of a mouse, with a kindly eye and a determined under-jaw. There was something neat and high-bred, a quakerish elegance, about the rogue that hit my fancy on the spot. Our first interview was in Monastier market-place. To prove her good temper, one child after another was set upon her back to ride, and one after another went head over heels into the air; until a want of confidence began to reign in youthful bosoms, and the experiment was discontinued from a dearth of subjects. I was already backed by a deputation of my friends; but as if this were not enough, all the buyers and sellers came round and helped me in the bargain; and the ass and I and Father Adam were the centre of a hubbub for near half an hour. At length she passed into my service for the consideration of sixty-five francs and a glass of brandy. The sack had already cost eighty francs and two glasses of beer; so that Modestine, as I instantly baptized her, was upon all accounts the cheaper article. Indeed, that was as it should be; for she was only an appurtenance of my mattress, or self-acting bedstead on four castors.

勒莫纳斯捷住着一位老人，大家喊他“亚当老爹”。据有些人讲，他脑子不太灵光，身后常跟着一群捣蛋的孩子。亚当老爹有一辆马车，拉车的是一头极小的母驴，比狗大不了多少，毛色像老鼠，有一双温和的眼睛和一个坚毅的下颌。这头瘦弱的牲口身上有种整洁、高贵的气质，一种贵格会教徒似的优雅，让我一下子就对它动了心。我们第一次见面是在勒莫纳斯捷的集市上。为了证明驴子的好脾气，孩子们一个接一个地被抱上驴背，又一个接一个头朝下被甩了下来，直到那些年轻小子们失去了信心，再也没有别的人敢尝试。我已经有一群朋友帮我了；但仿佛这样还不够，市场上所有买东西和卖东西的人都聚拢过来帮我还价。在近半个小时的时间里，驴子、我和亚当老爹成了一场喧哗吵闹的中心。终于，这头母驴以六十五法郎外加一杯白兰地的价格成交，从此为我效劳。睡袋已经花费了我八十法郎和两杯啤酒，所以小乖（我立刻就给它起好了名字）不管从哪方面讲都算是便宜的了。确实，本就应该如此，因为她只是我床垫的附属品，或者说是一个自己能活动的四轮床架。

I had a last interview with Father Adam in a billiard-room at the witching hour of dawn, when I administered the brandy. He professed himself greatly touched by the separation, and declared he had often bought white bread for the donkey when he had been content with black bread for himself; but this, according to the best authorities, must have been a flight of fancy. He had a name in the village for brutally misusing the ass; yet it is certain that he shed a tear, and the tear made a clean mark down one cheek.

最后一次与亚当老爹攀谈是在大清早的台球房，我请他喝了白兰地。他宣称因为离别而伤心欲绝，还宣称他经常买白面包给他的驴子吃，而他自己只吃黑面包就心满意足了。而据最权威人士讲，这肯定是一派胡言。他虐待驴子在村里是出了名的。可他确实流下了一滴泪，这颗泪珠滑下他的脸颊，留下了一道明晃晃的痕迹。

By the advice of a fallacious local saddler, a leather pad was made for me with rings to fasten on my bundle; and I thoughtfully completed my kit and arranged my toilette. By way of armoury and utensils, I took a revolver, a little spirit-lamp and pan, a lantern and some halfpenny candles, a jack-knife and a large leather flask. The main cargo consisted of two entire changes of warm clothing—besides my travelling wear of country velveteen, pilot-coat, and knitted spencer—some books, and my railway-rug, which, being also in the form of a bag, made me a double castle for cold nights. The permanent larder was represented by cakes of chocolate and tins of Bologna sausage. All this, except what I carried about my person, was easily stowed into the sheepskin bag; and by good fortune I threw in my empty knapsack, rather for convenience of carriage than from any thought that I should want it on my journey. For more immediate needs I took a leg of cold mutton, a bottle of Beaujolais, an empty bottle to carry milk, an egg-beater, and a considerable quantity of black bread and white, like Father Adam, for myself and donkey, only in my scheme of things the destinations were reversed.

我接受当地一位不太牢靠的马具匠的建议，定做了一个皮垫子，上面有几个环，用来固定我的行李。我还仔细备齐了工具包里的工具，整理好我的洗漱用品。我选了一把左轮手枪当作武器，还有一个小酒精灯和平底锅、一盏灯笼和一些半便士的蜡烛、一把折叠小刀和一个装在皮套里的大扁酒瓶等生活用品。主要的行李包括两整套替换的御寒衣服——这不包括我的旅行服，即我的乡村棉绒裤子、粗呢短大衣和羊毛针织上衣——几本书和一条行路毯。这条毯子也被做成了袋子的形状，与睡袋一起成为我抵御寒夜的双重堡垒。常备食物是巧克力蛋糕和几听大红肠罐头。所有这些，除了我随身携带的物品，都很轻松地塞进了羊皮袋子里。幸运的是，我还额外塞进了一只空背包，这完全是顺手塞进去的，而不是想到路上真有可能用得到它。为了应付眼下的需求，我带了一条冷羊腿、一瓶博若莱葡萄酒、一个盛牛奶的空瓶子和一个打蛋器。此外，还有一大堆黑面包和白面包，就像亚当老爹那样，是为我自己和驴子带的，只不过在我的计划里，它们的用途刚好颠倒过来。

Monastrians, of all shades of thought in politics, had agreed in threatening me with many ludicrous misadventures, and with sudden death in many surprising forms. Cold, wolves, robbers, above all the nocturnal practical joker, were daily and eloquently forced on my attention. Yet in these vaticinations, the true, patent danger was left out. Like Christian, it was from my pack I suffered by the way. Before telling my own mishaps, let me, in two words, relate the lesson of my experience. If the pack is well strapped at the ends, and hung at full length—not doubled, for your life—across the pack-saddle, the traveler is safe. The saddle will certainly not fit, such is the imperfection of our transitory life; it will assuredly topple and tend to overset; but there are stones on every roadside, and a man soon learns the art of correcting any tendency to overbalance with a well-adjusted stone.

所有勒莫纳斯捷人，不管他们的政治派别是什么，都用种种荒唐不经的不幸事件和离奇的突然死亡吓唬我。每天都有人绘声绘色地提醒我注意严寒、狼群、强盗，尤其是夜里搞恶作剧的人。然而，这些预言却偏偏遗漏了那真正的、显而易见的危险。就像基督徒那样，我旅行中最大的困难来自于我的包裹。在讲述我自己的不幸事件之前，请让我用简单的几句话说一下我得到的教训吧。如果包裹两头都用绳子扎紧，并且能够平展着——可千万不要折叠着，为你自己着想——放在驮鞍上，那么旅行者就是安全的。驮鞍肯定不会刚好合适，这就是我们短暂生命的不完美之处。它一定会摇摇欲坠，还很容易弄翻在地；但路边有的是石头，而且你很快就能学会怎样用一块合适的石头保持平衡。

On the day of my departure I was up a little after five; by six, we began to load the donkey; and ten minutes after, my hopes were in the dust. The pad would not stay on Modestine's back for half a moment. I returned it to its maker, with whom I had so contumelious a passage that the street outside was crowded from wall to wall with gossips looking on and listening. The pad changed hands with much vivacity; perhaps it would be more descriptive to say that we threw it at each other's heads; and, at any rate, we were very warm and unfriendly, and spoke with a deal of freedom.

动身那天，我五点刚过就起床了。六点，我们开始把行李装上驴子，可仅仅十分钟后，我的希望就落了空。皮垫子在小乖背上连半分钟都呆不住。我拿着它去找马具匠，和他好好理论了一番。我们吵得激烈极了，外面的路上挤满了看热闹的人，都津津有味地听我们争执。垫子在我们彼此手里飞快地传来传去；或者更确切地说，我们把它朝着对方的脑袋扔来扔去。不管怎么说，我们确实吵得很厉害，彼此很不友好，措词也相当不讲究。

I had a common donkey pack-saddle—a barde, as they call it—fitted upon Modestine; and once more loaded her with my effects. The doubled sack, my pilot-coat (for it was warm, and I was to walk in my waistcoat), a great bar of black bread, and an open basket containing the white bread, the mutton, and the bottles, were all corded together in a very elaborate system of knots, and I looked on the result with fatuous content. In such a monstrous deck-cargo, all poised above the donkey's shoulders, with nothing below to balance, on a brand-new pack-saddle that had not yet been worn to fit the animal, and fastened with brand-new girths that might be expected to stretch and slacken by the way, even a very careless traveller should have seen disaster brewing. That elaborate system of knots, again, was the work of too many sympathisers to be very artfully designed. It is true they tightened the cords with a will; as many as three at a time would have a foot against Modestine's quarters, and be hauling with clenched teeth; but I learned afterwards that one thoughtful person, without any exercise of force, can make a more solid job than half-a-dozen heated and enthusiastic grooms. I was then but a novice; even after the misadventure of the pad nothing could disturb my security, and I went forth from the stable door as an ox goeth to the slaughter.

我把一个普通驮鞍——他们管它叫“战马铠甲”——安在小乖背上，然后又一次把我的财物装到她背上。折叠好的睡袋、我的粗呢短大衣（当时还很暖和，我路上只穿马甲就行了）、一长条黑面包，还有一个没有盖子的篮子，里面装着白面包、羊肉和瓶子，所有这些都用精巧的绳结捆扎在一起。我心满意足地看着我的成果，现在想来真是愚蠢之极。这样巨大的行囊全部悬在驴背上方，下面没有任何东西用来保持平衡，用的还是崭新的、还不知道是否与这头牲口相配的驮鞍，绑着的肚带也同样是崭新的，路上很有可能会挣松开来。即使再怎么粗心的旅人也可以看到其中潜藏的灾难。同样，这些精巧的绳结也是很多热心人努力的结果；当然，插手的人太多了，也就无法设计得非常工巧。他们确实很努力地想把绳子拉紧，一次可能就有三个人同时拿脚抵住小乖的腿，咬紧牙拼命拽着绳子。但我后来才了解到，一个细心的人不必用什么力气，就会比六个激动的热心人做得更好。那时我还只是个生手；即使是皮垫的不幸事件也无法动摇我的信心。我义无反顾地冲出了马厩，就像是一头正在走向屠宰场的牛。 qjUEvqMoNI4XiVrLMc8PcvUacJamZDyUA/2S7gu9LVH8hdL6UT6JNmOePopn6NXx