BEING ALONE WITH NATURE

與自然獨處的快樂

By Paul Heiney

保羅·海利

If I told you being alone can make me happy, might you raise an eyebrow?

如果我告訴你，獨處可以使我快樂，你會不會感到驚訝呢?

A couple of years back I sailed my boat to Cape Horn and back, a round trip of 18,000 miles, and for 12,000 of them I was as alone on this planet as it is possible to be. Land was more than 1,000 miles away. And I was very happy to be there. Not all of the time - there’s not much happiness when the wind blows and the seas tumble across your boat.

許多年前，我撐船來回了一趟合恩角，全程18000英里，其中的12000英里我是獨自一人度過的。陸地在離我1000英里以外的地方，那種感覺就好像世界上就只有我一個人了。我那時很高興，但不是所有的時間都是高興的——天刮著大風(fēng)、海浪把你的船打翻的時候你也不會高興到哪里去。

But when the ocean gives you a break from storm and tempest, I find a more fundamental kind of happiness than any on land.

但當(dāng)大海平靜下來，讓我在暴風(fēng)雨中喘口氣的時候，我感到了一種強(qiáng)烈的快樂，那是在陸地上從未有過的。

One night, in one of the calms in the infamous doldrums, the stars came out, and suddenly they were perfectly reflected in the sea - I was floating among the stars!

一天夜晚，我正身處一片無人問津的海域。這時，星星出來了，一下子倒映在平靜的海面上，而我似乎就漂浮在漫天星光之中!

Other sailors have written that such experiences reinforce their insignificance amid the vastness of the universe. But in that moment I felt at the very centre of the universe.

一些在海上航行過的人在書中描寫過類似的經(jīng)歷，這樣的體驗讓他們愈發(fā)覺得自己在這浩瀚的宇宙中是多么渺小。然而，我當(dāng)時卻感覺自己是宇宙的中心。

And then back in the embrace of loved ones when the journey’s over, I can tell them this tale and, I hope, make them happy in turn.

旅途結(jié)束之后，我回到所愛的人身邊，我會把這個故事告訴他們，我希望他們也能感受到我的快樂。