騎手日記:穿越法國北部

The weather was glorious and the rural French landscape was idyllic as I cycled along the banks of the River Meuse. The light had a sort of special haze to it that seemed to intensify and magnify distances, but what really stood out was the all-encompassing silence. A car hadn't gone by in nearly half-an-hour; there wasn't even the dull drone of traffic from a distant road. All that could be heard was birdsong, the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, the occasional chime of a village church bell... and a strange squeaking noise.

我沿着默茲河岸（River Meuse）騎車，陽光燦爛，法國鄉村風景如田園詩般美麗。光線中瀰漫着一種特別的輕霧，使距離影影綽綽變得遙遠，但是真正非同一般的是天地間難以打破的寧靜。半個小時沒有一輛汽車駛過，也聽不到遠處公路上交通的嗡嗡聲。能聽到的只有鳥鳴、牛羊的低吼和時而的教堂鐘聲……還有一種奇怪的吱吱聲。

Mercifully, the noise disappeared following a liberal application of oil to the bike gears and everything else that looked as though it might be a moving part. I was doubly glad – at first I wasn't sure if it was being made by the bike or by my knees.

謝天謝地，我在自行車齒輪和其它運動部位加足了油之後，吱吱聲消失了。我特別高興，因爲起先我實在吃不準聲音是哪裏發出來的，是自行車還是我的膝關節？

It takes about a week to physically adapt to cycling between 40 and 50 miles a day, for the fatigue to ease enough for you to fully take in your surroundings. Before then, your legs feel as heavy as concrete.

我用了一個星期的時間來讓身體逐步適應每天騎行40到50英里。當你全身心融入到周圍環境中之後，疲勞大大減輕了。在此之前，我的一雙腿簡直像石頭一樣。

However, once past that point, you find yourself going at a pace that makes you appreciate where you are and brings you more into contact with the people, even if largely it's only to ask directions or to refill your water bottles.

但是隻要過了極點之後，你就會發現可以一邊騎車一邊欣賞風景，也可以更多接觸當地人民，儘管大多數情況下只是問路或要水喝。

While there are too many pockets of industrialisation around the town of Givet for the River Meuse to be considered beautiful this far north, by the time you've cycled south through France for a couple of days, you begin to understand what the fuss is about. It's so bucolic and peaceful it's hard to believe that these were once the trench-scarred killing fields of the First World War.

在吉維特市附近有許多工業化地區，所以就會認爲最北部的默茲河很美麗。但是在法國境內朝南騎了兩天之後，就開始明白那是大驚小怪了。這裏一派田園風光，如此祥和美麗，難以相信曾經是一次世界大戰溝壕縱橫的戰場。

Especially worthwhile, in my opinion, is the stretch south of Sedan that takes in towns such as Mouzon and villages like Wiseppe.

我認爲特別值得一看的是色當（Sedan）南面的地區，像莫桑鎮（Mouzon）和瓦斯普村（Wiseppe）這些地方。

I really don't think you could have quite the same experience in a car, but that's not to say there are no downsides to bicycle travel. I find that I constantly have in mind Dr Johnson's judgment on the Giant's Causeway. The 18th-century man of letters famously remarked that this bizarre formation of rocks in Northern Ireland was worth seeing, but not worth "going" to see.

我真的不認爲坐在汽車裏會有同樣的體驗，但也不是說自行車旅行沒有缺點。我發現自己總是把約翰森博士對“巨人之路”（ Giant's Causeway）的著名點評記在心裏，這位十八世紀的作家評論說，北愛爾蘭奇特的岩石構造值得看，但是不值得“走過去”看。

This maxim I had to apply to Mt Malgré-Tout, which I was told was the scene of a wartime massacre of French civilians by the Nazis. In other circumstances I'm sure it would have proved an interesting diversion, but as I gazed up the steep slope that leads up to it, there was just no way I was going to find out.

我把這句至理名言用到了摩爾格力.透特山上（Mt Malgré-Tout），有人告訴我，這裏在二次大戰期間曾有法國平民被納粹屠殺。在其它情況下，我肯定會覺得這是一個有意思地方，但是當我把目光投向陡峭的山坡時，卻找不到上山的路。

What I've found harder to adapt to are the hardships of sleeping rough. Cooking on a primus stove is no problem. In fact, after a long day in the saddle, you'd be surprised just how tasty a warm tin of ravioli can be. But after three consecutive nights of camping out I'd had enough, especially since the last had been spent near Verdun in Le Foret du Mort Homme, which translates as Dead Man's Forest. In my overactive and puerile imagination, every crack of a branch was made by the ghost of some dead soldier.

我難以適應的事情是野外露營。在小油爐上做飯沒有問題，事實上，在鞍座上騎了一天車之後，你自已也會奇怪，一罐熱的意大利餛飩味道是多麼鮮美。但是連續在野外露營三天之後，我就感覺受不了了。特別是最後一夜在凡爾登（Verdun）附近的Le Foret du Mort Homme度過，翻譯成英文就是“死人森林”。我的想象力活躍而天真，在我看來樹枝的每一聲響動都來自死去士兵的亡靈。

The next night was spent less than 15 miles away in the luxurious comfort of a bed and breakfast in the village of Dugny-sur-Meuse. There was an almost voluptuous feeling to being clean again after having had a shower. I then slept the sleep of the righteous for a full and completely undisturbed 11 hours.

第二天我到了15英里以外的多尼.斯尤. 默茲村（Dugny-sur-Meuse），在一家家庭旅館奢華而舒適的牀上過了夜。衝了澡之後人又變得乾乾淨淨，感覺太棒了。接下來我足足熟睡了十一個小時。

Never has 45 euros been better spent, but I need to toughen up – and quickly – if my money is not to run out well before I reach India.

這45歐元花得太值得了，但是，假如我不想在到達印度以前把錢花光的話，我必須把錢袋子看緊一點，路也要走得更快一點。

Fingers crossed, the next time you hear from me I should be in Germany, close to the source of the Danube and on a route that will take me through a further seven European countries.

我把手指交合在一起。下一次你聽到我消息時，我該在德國多瑙河源頭附近了，沿着那兒的一條路，我將去歐洲其餘的七個國家。

Before then, however, I have to visit the French border city of Strasbourg, where I worked as a teenager in a packaging factory for about six months nearly two decades ago. I hope to meet the couple who ran the hostel where I lived, which catered for workers from across Europe and North Africa. Sylvie was pretty, while Gilbert had the looks and moustache that reminded me of a dark-haired Asterix. I don't know if the hostel is still there or, if so, it's still in their charge. After all, 20 years is a long time, but either way, I hope to find that they are both well.

但是在此之前，我還要去探訪法國邊境城市斯特拉斯堡（Strasbourg）。差不多二十年以前，我還是十幾歲的少年，曾經在這裏的一家包裝工廠裏工作了六個月。我希望能拜訪當年的客棧老闆夫婦，他們的客棧專門招待來自歐洲和北美的工人。希爾薇很漂亮，吉爾伯特的長相和鬍子總讓我想起深色頭髮的法國喜劇阿斯特里科斯中的人物。我不知道這家客棧是否還在，如果在的話，他們是不是還當老闆。畢竟二十年時間不短，但是不管怎樣，我希望看到他們一切平安。