BEING ALONE WITH NATURE
與自然獨(dú)處的快樂(lè)

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(dú)處可以使我快樂(lè)，你會(huì)不會(huì)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(lái)回了一趟合恩角，全程18000英里，其中的12000英里我是獨(dú)自一人度過(guò)的。陸地在離我1000英里以外的地方，那種感覺(jué)就好像世界上就只有我一個(gè)人了。我那時(shí)很高興，但不是所有的時(shí)間都是高興的——天刮著大風(fēng)、海浪把你的船打翻的時(shí)候你也不會(huì)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(lái)，讓我在暴風(fēng)雨中喘口氣的時(shí)候，我感到了一種強(qiáng)烈的快樂(lè)，那是在陸地上從未有過(guò)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(wú)人問(wèn)津的海域。這時(shí)，星星出來(lái)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(guò)的人在書(shū)中描寫(xiě)過(guò)類(lèi)似的經(jīng)歷，這樣的體驗(yàn)讓他們愈發(fā)覺(jué)得自己在這浩瀚的宇宙中是多么渺小。然而，我當(dāng)時(shí)卻感覺(jué)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(ài)的人身邊，我會(huì)把這個(gè)故事告訴他們，我希望他們也能感受到我的快樂(lè)。

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