Explorer
Joe Ray for The New York Times
THE titanium spork was a Christmas gift from my brother Gregory, a choice that seemed random at the time. I had no use for ultra-lightweight dual-use cutlery. But nine months later, almost 7,000 miles from my home in New York City and nearly catatonic with exhaustion, I was thankful for its lack of heft. Gregory; my husband, Joe; and I had been hiking for 12 hours while hoisting a 30-pound backpack over steep and slippery rock in a thick mist. After nightfall, headlamps fading, we spotted dots of light below us in the dark, and heard the eerie whoosh of a wind generator. We stumbled down to the Satgat-jae shelter, a basic cabin for hikers perched at over 4,200 feet in South Korea's Deogyusan National Park. I unpacked my spork.
鈦制叉勺是我弟弟格雷戈里(Gregory)給我的聖誕節禮物，這個禮物應該是他當時隨便選的。超輕兩用餐具對我來說沒什麼用。但是9個月之後，在離我紐約市的家7000英里之外的地方，在我累得要死的時候，我很感激它沒那麼重。當時，我和格雷戈里以及我的丈夫喬伊(Joe)已經走了12個小時，我們背著30磅重的背包，在濃霧中翻過陡峭光滑的岩石。夜幕降臨後，頭燈變得昏暗，我們看到下面的黑暗中有點點燈光，聽見風力發電機怪異的嘶嘶聲。我們偶然碰到了一個避難所——一個供徒步旅行者落腳的簡陋小木屋，它棲息在韓國德裕山(Deogyusan)國家公園4200多英尺高的山上。我取出了我的叉勺。
It was Gregory, now living in South Korea and flush with the zeal of the newly expatriated, who had suggested we hike a portion of the Baekdu-Daegan trail. The Baekdu-Daegan is a mountain system running the entire length of the two Koreas, some 870 miles. On maps, it appears as the topographical backbone of the Korean Peninsula, but I soon realized it was also a psycho-spiritual one. The notion first occurred to me when Gregory told us that his city-dwelling Korean girlfriend said he would understand her better if he hiked the Baekdu-Daegan. And when Joe and I checked out of our ultramodern hotel in central Seoul, the receptionist clapped when I told her what we were about to do.
是格雷戈里建議我們徒步走一段“白頭大干”(Baekdu-Daegan)山系的，他現在住在韓國，因為剛剛移居國外而特別興奮。 “白頭大干”是縱貫朝鮮和韓國兩國的山系，長約870英里。從地圖上看，它像是朝鮮半島地形上的脊梁，但是我很快意識到它也是“心理—精神”上的主心骨。我第一次產生這個想法，是在格雷戈里告訴我們他住在城裡的韓國女朋友說如果他去一趟白頭大干山，他會更理解她的時候。喬伊和我在首爾市中心超級現代的酒店辦理離店手續，我告訴接待員我們打算去做什麼的時候，她鼓起了掌。
South Korea may be among the most wired and densely populated countries in the world, but its first religion many centuries ago — before the arrival of Christianity, Confucianism and Buddhism — was based on the worship of mountain spirits. The Korean version of feng shui, known as pungsu-jiri, holds that the nation's energy flows south along the Baekdu-Daegan ridge and outward along its branches. By the time of our trip, I had developed a theory that the mountains are to Koreans as the Wild West is to Americans : even if a New Yorker, say, has never set foot on a ranch, he likes to think he's got a little bit of cowboy in his soul. It's part of the collective unconscious.
韓國可能是世界上互聯網最強大、人口最密集的國家之一，但是它幾千年前出現的第一個宗教——在基督教、儒教和佛教到來之前——卻是基於對山神的崇拜。依照韓國的“風水”(pungsu-jiri)之說，該國的元氣順著白頭大干山脊向南流動，順著它的支脈向外擴散。我們開始旅行的時候，我已經有了一個推論：山脈對韓國人的意義，就像荒蠻的西部對美國人的意義一樣：即使一個紐約人從來沒有踏上過西部大牧場的土地，他也樂意認為他的靈魂裡帶著點牛仔精神。這算是一種集體無意識。
Joe Ray for The New York Times
俯瞰海印寺的一個屋頂。
Since the '80s, as both freedom and wealth have spread in South Korea, so has the popularity of mountaineering. As it has, the South Korean portion of the Baekdu-Daegan has become hikable along nearly all of its 457-mile ridge, with trails built and maintained by the Korea Forest Service, part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Weekend warriors tackle it in chunks, and a hardy few attempt the entire length as an epic two-month trek.
從80年代開始，隨著自由和財富在韓國擴散，登山也流行開來。白頭大干位於韓國部分的山脊約有457英里長，據說這段山脊幾乎完全適合徒步旅行。這裡建有登山步道，由韓國農業森林部下屬的森林服務局養護。週末成群的遊客來此登山，少數強壯的人還會嘗試用兩個月的時間艱苦地走完全程。
In the spring, Gregory had mailed me the only English-language guidebook to the trail. The spork had been a subtle lure, but I took the guidebook as an all-out invitation and began making plans for a September trip. My brother had lived in South Korea for much of his 20s, but, always too busy or broke from my own globe-trotting, I had never visited. Now he was moving back there at the age of 37, in love with Korea, the Korean language and a Korean woman. I wanted to better understand his decision, which seemed to be either a bold gamble on personal happiness or a crazy one. And I wanted to know the place that might be his permanent home.
今年春天，格雷戈里給我寄了一份關於這條路線的唯一的英文旅遊指南。叉勺是個小小的誘惑，但是我把這份指南看作是極力邀請，於是開始計劃九月份去那裡旅行。我弟弟20多歲的大部分時間是在韓國度過的，但是因為我太忙或者因為我在全球旅行幾近破產，所以我還從沒拜訪過那裡。現在他年屆37又搬回那裡，愛上了韓國、韓語和一個韓國姑娘。我想更好地了解他的決定，這個決定似乎是對個人幸福的勇敢冒險或者瘋狂冒險。我想了解這個可能是他度過餘生的地方。
Gregory is younger than I am, but he became our leader, particularly after we left the capital and entered the countryside, where we saw no other foreigners and heard virtually no English, and so were dependent on his Korean skills.
格雷戈里比我小，但是他成了我們的領頭人，特別在我們離開首都、進入鄉野之後，因為我們沒再看到過其他外國人，沒再聽到過英語，所以我們要依靠他的韓語特長。
The section of trail we had chosen began in a southern farming region and took us north into 90-square-mile Deogyusan National Park. Clouds clung to the hills, a reminder of the unseasonably late typhoon that had passed over the peninsula the day before. As we ascended, we were almost immediately passed by a hiking club — 15 lithe men and women in the black hiking pants favored there, made from panels of high-tech-looking fabric. Their leader broke his stride just long enough to tie a ribbon to a tree marking their passage; some branches we passed were festooned with these brightly colored strips.
我們選擇的那一段路程始於南部的一個農業區，向北到達90平方英里的德裕山國家公園。聚在山上的雲讓人想起前一天刮過半島的颱風，它比往年來得晚。我們往山上走的時候，很快就被一個徒步旅行團超過了——團裡有15個男女，他們步態輕盈，身穿黑色的步行褲，這種褲子在當地很受歡迎，是用高科技面料做成的。他們的領頭人比其他人走得稍快一些，這樣他就有時間在樹上系上緞帶做記號；我們後來在路上見過一些樹枝上繫著這些鮮豔的彩色緞帶。
In height, South Korea's mountains are more akin to the Appalachians than the Rockies — the highest mainland peak is 6,283-foot Jirisan. They can, however, be jagged in the extreme. We planned to cover just seven miles on the first day, but the steep and constant ups and downs soon had us aching. We often had to climb using our hands, and in many places we used the chains and ropes that the forest service had helpfully attached to the rocks.
在高度上，韓國的山脈更接近阿巴拉契亞山脈，而不像洛基山——最高的山峰是6283英尺高的智異山(Jirisan)。但是這些山脈極其起伏不平。我們第一天只計劃走7英里，但是山路十分陡峭，不斷起伏，很快我們就累得渾身酸痛。我們經常需要用手攀爬，在很多地方我們需要抓著“森林服務局”為方便遊客在岩石上安裝的鍊子和繩子。
As we limped into our second morning, we decided to rethink our itinerary. Instead of sticking religiously to the trail for six days, we would weave our way on and off, stopping at villages and temples along the way. Things immediately improved. For one thing, the sun had come out. For another, we were going downhill. Soon we were following a stream, broken up by waterfalls and pools through a deciduous forest of maple, hazel and birch. We stopped to talk to a pair of Korean hikers on their way up. I would hear Gregory explain our presence so many times over the course of this trip that I began to pick up the words for sister and brother-in-law. “People look at you differently when you're traveling with family,” he said to me after another encounter with fellow hikers. “You're not a suspicious bachelor.”
第二天早上我們緩慢而費力地前行時，決定要重新考慮一下我們的旅行計劃。我們打算不再連續6天都嚴格沿著步道前行，而是時不時地迂迴一下，到附近的山村和廟宇歇歇腳。情況馬上變好了。一是太陽出來了；二是我們開始走下坡路了。很快，我們沿著一條溪水前行，沿途看到了瀑布和潭水，穿過了一片落葉林，裡面有楓樹、榛子樹和樺樹。我們停下來和兩位上山的韓國遊客交談。一路上我多次聽到格雷戈里跟別人解釋我們的關係，我都知道用韓語怎麼說“姐姐”和“姐夫”了。 “別人如果知道你是和家人一起旅行，對你的看法就不同了，”又一次跟其他遊客碰面後他對我說，“他們就不會再認為你是一個可疑的單身漢了。”
Two nights later we found our way to another park shelter, this one just below 5,282-foot Hyangjeok-bong. At sunset we climbed to the peak and had the 360-degree view to ourselves. To both east and west, mountain ranges in shades of gray, blue and black, each one silhouetted against the next, stretched away like waves on an ocean.
兩晚之後，在快到5282英尺高的香積峰(Hyangjeok-bong)的地方，我們找到了公園的另一處小木屋。日落時我們爬上了山頂，可以360度俯瞰群山。東邊和西邊的山脊是灰色、藍色和黑色的，相互映襯，像大海裡的波浪延伸到遠方。
After sunset, at a picnic table outside our shelter, we encountered the two best-equipped hikers I have ever met. Kwang Sub Shin and Jin Koo Suk, who both work for a bank in Seoul, hike sections of the Baekdu-Daegan on weekends . Each had a headlamp strapped to his forehead. Music played from a phone, which was attached to a solar battery. Bottles of ice-cold rice wine were scattered around the table. Mr. Suk cut pieces of sweet potato and added them to a bubbling pot of fish broth. From atop a second camp stove he served hot barbecued duck. They put to shame the instant rice and curry we'd been subsisting on.
日落之後，在小木屋外的野餐桌旁，我們遇到了我見過的裝備最齊全的兩位徒步旅行者。申光燮（Kwang Sub Shin，音譯）和石鎮丘（Jin Koo Suk，音譯）都在首爾的一家銀行里工作，週末的時候在白頭大干山系的部分地段徒步旅行。兩個人的前額上都戴著照明燈。用太陽能電池供電的手機裡播放著音樂。桌子四周散放著一瓶瓶冰冷的米酒。石先生把紅薯切成塊，加到沸騰的魚湯鍋裡。另一個野營爐上是熱騰騰的烤鴨。我們用以果腹的速食大米和咖哩顯然相形見絀。
Fortunately we had two items to add to the feast. Both had been controversial when we set out (the less heft the better): canned peaches and boxes of soju, the national tipple. The temperature dropped with nightfall, but the steam and aromas from the table kept us warm. With Gregory translating, I asked our new friends if they thought my cowboy metaphor made sense. Did Koreans all have a little bit of mountaineer in their souls? Mr. Shin looked up from under his headlamp and replied with a simple but emphatic “yes.”
幸運的是，我們還有兩樣拿得出手的東西。這兩樣東西在我們出發的時候還引起了爭議（我們的原則是行李越輕越好）：蜜桃罐頭和幾箱韓國燒酒(soju)。夜幕降臨之後溫度下降了，但是食物的熱氣和香味讓我們感到溫暖。我讓格雷戈里幫我翻譯，問我們的新朋友他們是否認為我的牛仔比喻有道理。是不是所有的韓國人靈魂裡都帶著點登山家精神？申先生抬起頭，簡單而有力地回答道：“是的。”
The spring outside our shelter had a sign on it, which Gregory told me said the water was drinkable. The next morning, though, seeing me filling my bottle, Mr. Suk dashed toward me in alarm. “Ah,” Gregory said. “ It says do not drink this water.”
小木屋外的泉水邊有個警示牌，格雷戈里告訴我上面寫著泉水可以飲用。但是第二天早上我往瓶子裡裝泉水的時候，申先生驚慌地向我跑過來。 “噢，”格雷戈里說，“牌子上說不要喝這裡的水。”
“Sorry,” he said, and then, in the tone he uses when waxing philosophical, “the window is only half open.”
“對不起，”他說，然後用一種哲學式的語氣說，“窗戶只開了一半。”
IF Gregory's window onto Korea was only half open, then mine was barely cracked. It occurred to me that this sense of traveling through a half-understood world was something we had both sought many times over. Moving to a different culture meant the world suddenly became more mysterious. It could make you feel like a perpetual outsider. But it also made you feel as if you were always learning.
如果說格雷戈里通往韓國的窗戶只開了一半，那我的只開了個小縫。我忽然明白，在一個似懂非懂的世界裡旅行的感覺，是我們一直追求的東西。生活在一個不同的文化里，意味著世界突然之間變得更神秘了。它會讓你覺得你永遠都是個局外人。但是它同時也讓你覺得好像你一直在學習。
After hiking another stretch of the Baekdu-Daegan, we descended steeply out of the national park and took a bus through fields of garlic, peppers, zucchini and ginseng. We had one more stop to make before ending our pilgrimage, at Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple draped over the folds of Mount Gaya. On the sunny Sunday afternoon when we arrived, swarms of day-tripping urbanites were taking the half-mile stroll from parking lot to temple in full regalia — stretchy tops, hiking boots and black super-pants — as if their gear were a type of modern religious raiment.
在白頭大干山系又走了一段之後，我們順著陡峭的山路下山，離開了國家公園，乘坐公共汽車穿過一片種著大蒜、辣椒、西葫蘆和人參的田地。在結束我們的朝聖之旅之前，我們還要再去一個地方——隱藏在伽倻山(Mount Gaya)山谷裡的海印寺(Haeinsa)。我們到達的時候是周日的下午，陽光燦爛，成群的城里人來這裡進行一日遊，他們從停車場走半英里來到寺廟，身穿全副盛裝——彈力上衣、徒步靴和黑色登山褲(super-pants)——好像他們的這身服飾是一種現代宗教服飾。
Certain temples, Haeinsa included, allow guests to stay overnight, but you have to follow their rules. Gregory and Joe were sent to share a spartan room, while I got my own. We ate silently in the monks' dining hall. Just before sundown we gathered in the central courtyard, where, standing under a pavilion's carved and painted eaves, a young monk in gray and maroon robes beat on a drum taller than he was, the deep sound echoing off the mountains. When it was dark, we ascended to the main worship hall, from which golden Buddhas shone like suns. We took off our shoes and sat next to an enormous window open to the night. Chanting rose and fell around us.
有些寺廟，包括海印寺，允許客人過夜，但是你得守規矩。格雷戈里和喬伊被分配合住一個簡樸的房間，我自己住一間。我們在僧人的食堂里安靜地用過晚餐。太陽快要落山的時候，我們聚在中央的庭院裡。一位身穿灰色和栗色僧袍的年輕僧人站在一個亭子下面，亭子的飛簷雕有花紋、繪有圖案。他敲響一面比他還高的鼓，深沉的鼓聲在山谷間迴盪。天黑之後，我們上到主祈禱殿，大殿裡的幾座鍍金的佛像好似一個個太陽。我們脫掉鞋子，坐在一面巨大的窗戶旁邊，窗外夜色朦朧。唱經的聲音在我們四周起起伏伏。
I couldn't understand the words. But I did understand a little more why Gregory wanted to be there. He'd learned enough to know that he could spend a long time learning more.
我聽不懂經文。但是我更理解為什麼格雷戈里想要待在那裡了。他已經學到了很多，足以明白他能花很長的時間學習更多。
本文最初發表於2012年12月2日。
翻譯：王艷
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