第26章 河谷寻幽(1)

    Down the Aalley

    河谷寻幽

    William Cobbet/威廉·科贝特

    I came off this morning on the Marlborough road about two miles，or three，and then turned off，over the downs，in a northwesterly direction，in search of the source of the Avon river，which goes down to Salisbury.I had once been at Netheravon，a village in this valley，but I had often heard this valley described as one of the finest pieces of land in all England；I knew that there were about thirty parish churches，standing in a length of about thirty miles，and in an average width of hardly a mile；and I was resolved to see a little into the reasons that could have induced our fathers to build all these churches，especially if，as the Scotch would have us believe，there were but a mere handful of people in England until of late years.

    我大清早就出了门，在马尔博罗公路上走了两三英里，然后拐向西北，翻过一处高地去寻找阿文河的源头，这条河流向索尔兹博。我曾经在河谷中一个叫作下阿文的村庄里住过一些日子，然而不止一次听说，这条河算得上是整个英国的胜地中的其中一个。那谷地不过三十公里长一英里宽，可上面竟然耸立着大约三十座教区教堂。我决定去探讨一番，究竟是什么原因驱使我们的先人们建造了这么多的教堂，更何况直到最近几年以前英格兰的人口还非常少——苏格兰人一直力求让我们相信这一点。

    In steering across the down，I came to a large farm，which a shepherd told me was Milton Hill Farm.This was upon the high land，and before I came to the edge of this Valley of Avon，which was my land of promise，or at least，of great expectation；for I could not imagine that thirty churches had been built for nothing by the side of a brook（for it is no more during the greater part of the way）thirty miles long.The shepherd showed me the way towards Milton；and at the end of about a mile，from the top of a very high part of the down，with a steep slope towards the valley，I first saw this Valley of Avon；and a most beautiful sight it was！Villages，hamlets，large farms，towers，steeples，fields，meadows，orchards，and very fine timber trees，scattered all over the valley.The shape of the thing is this：on each side downs，very lofty and steep in some places，and sloping miles back in other places；but each outside of the valley are downs.From the edge of the downs begin capital arable fields generally of very great dimensions ，and，in some places，runn... -->>
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