神圣之夜：在教堂里露营

by Rachel Dixon

德孟译

神圣之夜：在教堂里露营

by Rachel Dixon

德孟译

秋高气爽，正是露营的好季节。谈到露营，大多数人的第一印象是各式各样的帐篷，以及野外环境；如果纯粹为了短暂逃离城市的压抑，并不想体验原始生活的艰苦，也有郊外的各式豪华露营房任君选择。教堂？这个庄严肃穆的圣所似乎跟露营风马牛不相及。但是自从教堂保护信托基金会推出教堂露营活动以后，人们发现教堂和露营还真是一拍即合的绝妙搭配。不管是不是信徒，在教堂里度过一夜，露营者的绝大部分自由活动都不会受影响。给你一个夜晚，独享一座美丽的教堂，这样的体验是不是格外深刻呢？

It was dark and chilly, and I was lying in a sleeping bag on a narrow camp bed. But I wasn’t in a tent, tipi or yurt—I was in a church. That’s because I wasn’t camping, nor even1)glamping; I was “2)champing”.

OK, it’s a terrible name, but what a brilliant idea! The Churches Conservation Trust looks after 347 churches that are no longer used for regular worship: it repairs and maintains the buildings, and finds new uses for them: circus schools,3)GP surgeries, artists’ workshops. Church camping was the bright idea of Peter Aiers, one of the trust’s regional directors. He says that churches embody hundreds of years of British history, and are beautiful buildings4)to boot, so what better way to appreciate them than spending a night in one? And have it all to yourselves.

四周又黑又冷，我躺在一张窄小的野营床上的一个睡袋里。但我既非身处普通帐篷或印第安圆锥形帐篷中，也不在毡房里——我在教堂里。因为我不是在露营，更加不是在豪华露营，我是在“堂营”。

好吧，虽然名字难听，但这个主意很赞！教堂保护信托基金会管理着347座不再用于日常礼拜活动的教堂。管理工作包括修葺和维护教堂建筑，以及为教堂寻找新用途：开办马戏学校、用作全科家庭医生的诊所、给艺术家做工作室等。教堂露营是基金会一个区域主管彼得·艾尔斯想出的机灵点子。他说教堂展现了英国几百年的历史，本身又是美丽的建筑，还有什么欣赏方式比在里面住一晚更妙呢？你可以独享整座教堂。

1) glamping 由glamourous camping合成的生造词，豪华露营，魅力露营

2) champing 由church camping合成的生造词，教堂露营

3) GP surgery 普通（全科）医师诊所（General practitioner surgery）

4) to boot 除此以外，加之

St Mary the Virgin in Fordwich, Kent, where I stayed, is certainly historic. (Champing is also offered at medieval All Saints Church in Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, and in the Georgian interior of St Cyriac & St Julitta at Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire. The trust is hoping to add more.) St Mary’s dates from Norman times; there are 14th-century stained-glass windows, 17th-century wall paintings and 18th-century wooden5)box pews. The church’s most famous object, the Fordwich stone, dates back to about 1100 and once formed part of a saint’s shrine; perhaps St Augustine of Canterbury’s.

A stroll around the churchyard revealed graves from the 1640s, and even older-looking stones whose inscriptions had weathered away over the centuries.

It was a bit overwhelming, especially when the key was handed over—a suitably huge, heavy, ancientlooking chunk of iron—and my friend and I were left alone. We couldn’t raid the6)mini bar, play music or call room service. And, unlike the average hotel, our bedroom was public property: when we neglected to lock the door, a man wandered in with his dog to look around.

我扎营在坐落于肯特郡福威奇镇的圣玛丽教堂，其历史意义不必赘述。（北安普敦郡阿尔德文科村的中世纪诸圣堂、剑桥郡斯沃夫汉姆普瑞尔村的圣希里亚克和朱莉塔教堂都开展了露营项目，后者有着乔治王时代艺术风格的室内装修。基金会期望开放更多的教堂进行这个项目。）圣玛丽教堂的历史可追溯至诺尔曼时期，拥有14世纪的彩色玻璃窗、17世纪的壁画和18世纪的木结构厢座。教堂内最有名的陈设是福威奇石，曾是一个神龛的一部分，其历史可追溯至12世纪前后。神龛曾安放某位圣人的遗体，据说这位圣人有可能是坎特伯雷的大主教圣奥古斯丁。

沿着教堂院落漫步，这里的古老坟墓可追溯至17世纪40年代，有的看起来甚至年代更为久远，经过几个世纪，墓碑上的铭文已经风化了。

我感受到一种震撼人心的神圣力量，尤其是接过教堂钥匙——与宏伟的大门相称的巨大、沉重、古色古香的一大块铁制品——然后只剩下我和朋友在教堂里时。我们不能翻找小冰箱，不能播放音乐，也不能享受客房服务。而且，不像一般的酒店，我们的卧室是公共财产：当我们忘了锁门时，一个男人带着他的狗踱了进来，环顾四周。

The door safely locked, we explored the church’s nooks and7)crannies. We examined the rare bread shelf, where loaves for the poor were once left. We climbed the 14th-century bell tower (inadvisable: it is pretty8)rickety). We stood in the9)pulpit composing a sermon, examined the magnificent Royal Arms over the chancel arch, and played the organ (badly).

With fewer than 300 inhabitants, Fordwich is the smallest town in England. Its tiny town hall was built during the reign of Henry VIII and is believed to be the oldest still in use. It contains fascinating objects such as a10)ducking stool, for use on “scolds” and “gossips” in the 15th century. Fordwich is a sleepy place today, a town in name only, but it has a bittersweet air of faded grandeur. It was an important port until the11)Stour12)silted up; stone from Caen in Normandy, which was used to rebuild Canterbury cathedral in 1067, was unloaded at Fordwich.

We had dinner at the Fordwich Arms, one of the town’s two pubs. The long-serving landlord13)regaled us with tales of Fordwich past as we ate potted shrimp and pork belly in the cosy bar. We would be back for breakfast (the trust had arranged for the pub to open specially to serve us a full English in the 14)panelled dining room).

稳稳当当地锁上门后，我们探索了教堂的每个角落和每道裂痕。我们察看了罕见的面包架，架上曾放着派送给穷困者的面包。我们攀登了14世纪的钟楼（不建议：钟楼有点摇摇欲坠）。我们站在讲道坛上创作布道辞，察看圣坛拱顶上华丽的皇家纹章，还弹了风琴（弹得很难听）。

福威奇的居民不到300人，是英格兰最小的镇。小小的议政厅建于亨利八世统治时期，被认为是仍在使用中的最古老的议政厅。这里有一些引人注目的陈设，例如浸水椅刑具，在15世纪时被用于惩罚“谩骂他人者”和“散布谣言者”。如今的福威奇只在名义上还是一个镇，冷冷清清的，昔日的辉煌如今已消逝，只剩下一种忧乐参半的气息。在斯陶尔河淤塞之前，福威奇是重要的港口。公元1067年，石头从法国下诺曼底大区卡昂市运送过来，在此卸船，用来重建坎特伯雷大教堂。

福威奇镇上有两家酒吧，其中一家名叫福威奇纹章，我们在那吃了晚餐。经营酒吧多年的老板盛情款待我们。在这个舒适的酒吧里，我们一边享用罐焖小虾和五花肉，一边听老板把小镇的传说娓娓道来。第二天我们将回来这儿吃早餐（基金会安排了这家酒吧在早上营业，特别为我们准备全英式早餐，在镶板装修的餐厅里享用）。

5) box pew 厢座

6) mini bar （酒店客房内提供收费零食和饮料的）小冰箱

7) cranny ['krænɪ] n. 裂缝，小孔

8) rickety ['rɪkɪtɪ] adj. 摇摇晃晃的，连接处不牢固的

9) pulpit ['pʊlpɪt] n. （教堂的）讲坛，布道坛

10) ducking stool 浸水椅，一种古老的刑具，将犯罪者缚于椅上，淹入水中

11) Stour 斯陶尔河，英格兰东部河流，发源于剑桥郡，流经坎特伯雷市，注入北海

12) silt up 淤泥充塞

13) regale [rɪ'geɪl] v. 盛宴招待，款待

Then it was time for bed. I had expected it to be15)spooky—just the two of us, walking through a graveyard in the dead of night to a dark,16)draughty old church. Nothing could have been further from the truth; it was simply quiet and peaceful. We lit lots of candles to17)illuminate our box pew “bedroom” and piled duvets and pillows on top of our18)spartan beds.

Champing isn’t19)billed as a luxurious or romantic experience—the churches are still20)consecrated spaces, though guests are free to21)get up to whatever their consciences allow—but it was undeniably a special place to spend the night.

I had packed lots of layers, just in case, and had a great night’s sleep. We woke to jewel-like light22)fltering through the stained-glass windows and the morning calls of birds in the tree-shaded churchyard. It was the frst time in years that I’d been in a church on a Sunday morning. With no strict checkout time, we lingered,23)loth to leave our sanctuary. But the lure of a proper toilet in the pub (we just had a camping loo in a tent outside the church’s north door) got us moving.

然后到了就寝时间。我预想这会是挺阴森诡异的——只有我们两个人，在夜深人静时走过墓地前往黑漆漆、穿堂风呼啸的老教堂。事实上却是静谧又祥和，其他什么事也没发生。我们点燃了很多蜡烛，照亮我们的厢座“卧室”，把羽绒被和枕头高高地堆在我们朴素的床上。

教堂露营并没有被标榜为奢华或者浪漫的体验——教堂仍然是神圣的地方，尽管客人们可以做在自己的良心上过得去的任何事情——但作为留宿之地，无可否认教堂还是很特别的。

我带了很多件衣服，以备不时之需。这一夜睡得非常好。我们醒来的清晨，阳光从彩色玻璃窗滤进来，如珠宝般闪耀，鸟儿在绿树成荫的教堂院落里鸣叫,唤人早起。这是我多年来首次在教堂度过礼拜天的清晨。退房时间没有严格的规定，我们久久留连，不愿离开这圣所。但由于受到酒吧里像样洗手间的吸引（我们仅在教堂北门外的帐篷里有一个临时厕所），我们还是动身了。

Fordwich is on a scenic stretch of the Stour—St Augustine travelled along it in 597 on his way to become the first24)Archbishop of Canterbury—so we opted for a canoe trip. The five-mile paddle to Grove Ferry took us through Stodmarsh nature reserve and our guide, Andrew Magnell from Canoe Wild, pointed out25)herons and26)marsh harriers, and signs of beavers and woodpeckers.

27)Paddling a two-person canoe with a less-than-able seaman was something of a lesson in Christian values of forgiveness and so the Grove Pantry Pub & Inn, right on the riverbank, was a welcome sight.

Fordwich is a couple of miles from Canterbury and a short drive from the north Kent coast—we went to Whitstable—so there is plenty to do beyond the parish. At £60 a head, it is certainly not as cheap as camping. But considering that you have sole use of a historic building, which has witnessed important events in people’s lives for hundreds of years, it is a bargain. More than that, it is a privilege.

福威奇地处斯陶尔河风景区内——公元597年，圣奥古斯丁沿着斯陶尔河前去就任坎特伯雷首任大主教——所以我们选择了坐游艇游览。我们划着小艇前往五英里外的格鲁夫渡口，途中经过了斯托得沼泽国家自然保护区，我们的向导安德鲁·芒内尔来自“野外轻舟”划艇出租和培训中心，他给我们指出哪些是苍鹭和沼泽鹞，以及海狸和啄木鸟出没的踪迹。

和一个蹩脚的船夫一起划着一条双人艇，这旅程像一堂关于宽容的基督教道德伦理课，我和朋友都学着原谅对方的失误，因而很欣喜终于看见河堤上的格鲁夫贮藏室酒吧旅馆。

福威奇距离坎特伯雷几英里，从肯特郡北海岸出发只需很短的车程——我们去了惠特斯特布尔镇——在教区之外，因而可以进行很多活动。每个人要花60英镑，这当然没有普通露营那么便宜。但考虑到你能专享一处见证了几个世纪人们生活变迁的古建筑，这就太划算了。不止是划算，简直就是特别优待。

14) panel ['pæn(ə)l] v. 镶嵌上（板）

15) spooky ['spuːkɪ] adj. 毛骨悚然的，使人想到鬼的

16) draughty ['drBːftɪ] adj. 通风良好的

17) illuminate [ɪ'luːmɪneɪt] v. 照明，照亮

18) spartan ['spBːt(ə)n] adj. 简单的，朴素的

19) bill as 用招贴宣布

20) consecrate ['kɒnsɪkreɪt] v. 把…奉为神圣

21) get up to <口> 干（坏事、蠢事）

22) flter ['fɪltə(r)] v. 过滤，透过

23) loth [lɒθ] adj. 不愿意的，勉强的

24) archbishop [Bːtʃ'bɪʃəp] n. 大主教

25) heron ['herən] n. 苍鹭

26) marsh harrier 白头鹞，沼泽鹞

27) paddle ['pædl] v. 用桨划小资料

Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve

英国斯托得沼泽国家自然保护区

英国斯托得沼泽国家自然保护区位于英国肯特郡斯陶尔河谷地，是英格兰35个最著名的自然保护区之一。虽是“自然保护区”，其形成原因却是人为采矿而沉陷被淹，并不太“自然”。该区地形多样，有大面积的开阔水域、漫水沙坑、广阔的苇丛河滩、赤杨林地、卡尔群落（以赤杨和柳树为主的潮湿林地）和淹水草甸，成为了野生动物的重要栖息地，吸引了众多的濒危鸟类，以及水獭、水鼠等哺乳动物。