Lesson59
Economy is one powerful motive for camping, since after the initial outlay upon equipment, or through hiring it, the total expense can be far less than the cost of hotels. But, contrary to a popular assumption, it is far from being the only one, or even the greatest. The man who manoeuvres carelessly into his five shillings worth of space at one of Europe's myriad permanent sites may find himself bumping a Bentley. More likely, Ford Consul will be hub to hub with Renault or Mercedes, but rarely with bicycles made for two.
That the equipment of modern camping becomes yearly more sophisticated is an entertaining paradox for the cynic, a brighter promise for the hopeful traveler who has sworn to get away from it all. It also provides--and some student sociologist might care to base his thesis upon the phenomenon--an escape of another kind. The modern traveller is often a man who dislikes the Splendide and the Bellavista, not because he cannot afford, or shuns, their meterial comforts, but
because he is afraid of them. Affluent he may be, but he is by no means sure what, to tip the doorman or the chambermaid. Master in his own house, he has little idea of when to say boo to a maitre d'hotel.* From all such fears camping releases him. Granted, a snobbery of camping itself, based upon equipment and techniques, already exists, but it is of a kind that, if he meets it, he can readily understand and deal with. There is no superior 'they' in the shape of managements and hotel hierarchies to darken his holiday days.
To such motives, yet another must be added. The contemporary phenomenon of motor-car worship is to be explained not least by the sense of independence and freedom that ownership entails. To this pleasure camping gives an exquisite refinement.
From one's own front door to home or foreign hills or sands and back again, everything is to hand. Not only are the means of arriving at the holiday paradise entirely within one's own command and keeping, but the means of escape from holiday hell (if the beach proves too crowded, the local weather too inclement) are there, outside--or, as likely, part of--the tent.
Idealists have objected to the practice of camping, as to the packaged tour, that the traveller abroad thereby denies himself the opportunity of getting to know the people of the country visited. Insularity and self-containment, it is argued, go hand in hand. The opinion does not survive experience of a popular Continental camping place. Holiday hotels tend to cater for one nationality of visitors especially, sometimes exclusively. Camping sites, by contrast, are highly cosmopolitan. Granted, a preponderance of Germans is a characteristic that seems common to most Mediterranean sites; but as yet there is no overwhelmingly specialized patronage. Notices forbidding the open-air drying of clothes, or the use of water points for car washing, or those inviting 'our camping friends' to a dance or a boat trip are printed not only in French or Italian or Spanish, but also in English, German and Dutch. At meal times the odour of sauerkraut vies with that of garlic. The Frenchman's breakfast coffee competes with the Englishman's bacon and eggs.
Whether the remarkable growth of organized camping means the eventual death of the more independent kind is hard to say. Municipalities naturally want to secure the campers' site fees and other custom. Police are wary of itinerants who cannot be traced to a recognized camp boundary or to four walls. But most probably it will all depend upon campers themselves: how many heath fires they cause, how much litter they leave, in short, whether or not they wholly alienate landowners and those who live in the countryside. Only good scouting is likely to preserve the freedoms so dear to the heart of the eternal Boy Scout.
NIGEL BUXTON The Great Escape from The Weekend Telegraph
参考译文
经济是野营的一种强有力动力，因为除添置装备或租用的支出外，总花费要比旅馆低得多。但是，同流行的假设相反，它远非是唯一的动力，或甚至不是最有力的。漫不经心地驾车进入欧洲无数永久野营地之一的一个他租的价值5先令空位里去，可能会撞上一辆本特利汽车。很可能是福特.康索尔同雷诺或梅塞迪斯并排，但极少挨着双人自行车。
年复一年越来越高级的现代野营装备对愤世嫉俗者来说，是一件有趣的自相矛盾的事，然而对曾发誓要逃避现实怀有希望的旅游者来说，却带来了更光明的前景。它还提供了另一种方式的逃避（社会学系的学生大可根据这一现象写出论文）。常有一些现代旅游者不喜欢“斯普兰迪德”和“贝拉维斯塔”之类的豪华宾馆，不是因为花不起或躲避物质方面的舒适，而是因为对它们害怕。他可能很富有，但对如何给门口仆役或女服务员付小费却心中无数。在家中发号施令的他，却不懂得什么时候可以向餐厅待者总管摆气派。
野营使他不必为这些而担惊受怕。就算野营本身根据其装备和技巧可能会有不懂装懂的情况；但碰上时他会很快就弄懂从而应付自如。不会有以经营管理和旅馆等级制度形式出现的“他们”会扫他假日之兴。
除以上动机外，还得添上一个。当代的汽车崇拜现象，大可由车主赋有的独立自由感来加以解释。为这件乐事，野营作出了微妙的精心安排。
从自家前门出去到家乡或是异乡的山野或海滩，然后再返回。一切都垂手可得。它们不但是可以完全由自己掌握操纵到达假日天堂的工具，而且，要从假日地狱（海滩过于拥挤或天气太坏时就是这样）逃脱时，汽车就在帐篷外（很可能它就是帐篷的一部分）。
理想主义者像反对由旅行社全部代办的旅游那样一直反对野营，认为到国外的旅游者会失去对访问国人民进行了解的机会。他们认为孤立和沉默寡言密不可分。这种意见经不起受欢迎的欧洲野营地经验的考验。假日旅馆有特别迎合某一国旅游者的倾向，有时会达到排他的程度。而野营现场都是高度世界主义的。就算多数地中海现场常有德国人占多数这一特点，到目前为止还没有为某一民族专设的营地。禁止在野外晒衣服、不准用水源洗汽车，以及邀请“我们的野营朋友们”参加舞会或船游等等的通知，不但用法文、意大利文或西班牙文，而且还以英文、德文和荷兰文印成。用餐时，德国泡菜的清香和大蒜的气味各不相让。法国人的早餐咖啡同英国人的熏肉鸡蛋一比高低。
很难说有组织的野营明显增长究竟最终会不会使更独立的野营消亡。市政当局自然希望能获取野营者的场地费和其他人的惠顾。警察则对那些查不出有他们的固定营地或居有四壁的旅游者保持警惕。但最重要的或许是野营者自身：引起过多少场野火；丢下多少垃圾。总之，要看他们的行为是否惹起了土地所有者和乡下居民完全不友好的表示。看来只有良好的野营活动才能保住不朽的童子军无比钟情的那种自由自在。
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