Why do people travel.

Им овладело беспокойство, Охота к перемене мест (Весьма мучительное свойство, Немногих добровольный крест).

А.С. Пушкин. «Евгений Онегин»

Не was the slave of a tenacious, A restless urge for change of place (An attribute that's quite vexatious, Though some support it with good grace).

Translation by Charles H.Johnston

Parti

Before getting down to the text it would be a good idea to compare the well-known lines from Eugene Onegin with the English translation. It is quite suc­cessful, isn't it? Not quite close to the Russian original, though. But translating poetry is far more difficult than translating prose. To do this the translator must be a poet himself. Does anyone have any objections to this assertion?

And now let's go back to the question asked in the title of the story. Why do people travel? Why, indeed? What makes them leave their homes, their com­fortable sofas and armchairs in front of fantastic Japanese TV sets and go on journeys that may be tiresome and even risky?

Though everything on our planet seems to have been discovered, an ho­norary place among those who travel is well deserved by people who go on dar­ing expeditions in order to solve scientific problems. Cosmonauts and astro­nauts are, no doubt, among the first on the list.

Well, it is common knowledge that for quite a few people travelling is one of the requirements of their occupation. They are a motley company: business­men, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians and many-many others, who travel because they have to. They can hardly be called travellers in the prop­er sense of the word. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them com­muters, i.e. people who'regularly travel long distances to work. That's a joke, of course, because commuters travel to and from work every day and are not supposed to solve crucial problems, like politicians, for instance.

Another kind of travellers are those who, like Eugene Onegin, are obsessed with " a restless urge for change of place". They are adventurers by nature. They seek challenge, and it turns up. Among them you will find mountaineers strug­gling to reach new peaks, divers exploring the seabed, lonely sailors, who cir­cumnavigate the globe to set a world record, and simply holidaymakers - tour­ists who are anxious to see the treasures of the world with their own eyes. The 21^st century has witnessed the emergence of quite a new kind of tourist, who is prepared to pay enormous fares for a chance to have a good look at our planet from a spaceship.

Some people travel for quite different purposes. They go on long journeys to distant countries to share their knowledge, skills, kindness and generosity with those who need help. They are reluctant to speak about their experiences and their contribution to the cause of charity. Writers, who travel to get im­pressions, meet new people and get inspiration for their creative activities are more outspoken.

This is what Somerset Maugham writes on the subject in two of his char­ming short stories:

" I am of a roving disposition; but I travel not to see imposing monuments, which indeed somewhat bore me, nor beautiful scenery, of which I soon tire; I travel to see men. I avoid the great, I would not cross the road to meet a presi­dent or a king; I am content to know the writer in the pages of his book and the painter in his picture; but I have journeyed a thousand miles to see a missionary

Unit nine

of whom I had heard a strange story and I have spent a fortnight in a vile hotel in order to improve my acquaintance with a billiard-marker."

(In a Strange Land*)

" The wise traveller travels only in imagination. An old Frenchman (he was really a Savoyard) once wrote a book called Voyage entour de ma chambre**. I have not read it and do not even know what it is about, but the title stimulates my fancy. In such a journey I could circumnavigate the globe. An icon by the chimneypiece can take me to Russia with its great forests of birch and its white, domed churches. I stand on the little hill from which Napoleon first saw Moscow and I look upon the vastness of the city. I will go down and see the people whom I know more intimately than so many of my friends, Alyosha, and Vronsky, and a dozen more. But my eyes fall on a piece of porcelain and I smell the acid odours of China. In England, in London, there are certain afternoons in winter when the clouds hang heavy and low and the light is so bleak that your heart sinks; but then you can look out of your window, and you see the coconut trees crowded upon the beach of a coral island. The strand is silvery and when you walk along in the sunshine it is so dazzling that you can hardly bear to look at it. Those are the best journeys, the journeys that you take at your own fireside, for then you lose none of your illusions."

(Honolulu)

Names

Eugene Onegin [ju: 'd3i: n D'njegm]

Somerset Maugham ['sAmaset mo: m]

Voyage entour de ma chambre [vwaja3 A.tur da ma ГлЬг]

Honolulu [, Ьш1э'1и: 1и: ]

New Words

tenacious [ti'neijas] adj крепкий, цепкий

restless [restlas] adj беспокойный, неугомонный

urge [з: ф] п побуждение, потребность, желание

attribute ['aetnbju: t] n свойство, качество, отличительная черта

vexatious [vek'seijas] adj досадный, неприятный

with good grace зд. охотно, с достоинством

* In a Strange Land; Honolulu//Maugham W. S. Collected Short Stories. Volumes 1-2. Penguin Books, 1982.

** (Fr) A journey within my own room.

Parti

objection [эЬ'фек/эп] л возражение

tiresome ['taiassm] ad/утомительный

it is common knowledge общеизвестно

motley ['moth] adj разномастный, пестрый

appropriate [s'praupriat] ad/уместный, подходящий

obsessed [ab'sest] adj одержимый, охваченный

obsess (with / by) v завладевать, преследовать, мучить, обуять (о же­лании, идее и т. д).

seek [si: k] v искать

diver ['daiva] л ныряльщик

seabed ['si: bed] л морское дно

circumnavigate [, s3: k3m'naevigeit] v плавать вокруг, совершать кругосвет­ное морское путешествие

witness [witnss] i/быть (стать) свидетелем, увидеть

contribution [kDntri'bjuiJan] л вклад

cause [ka: z] л дело

charity f'tfaenti] л благотворительность

inspiration [mspa'reijsn] л вдохновение

outspoken [aut'spaukan] adj откровенный, открытый, разговорчивый

roving fraovirj] adj бродячий, кочевой

disposition [, disp3'zij9n] л зд. предрасположенность, склонность to be of a roving disposition быть бродягой по натуре

imposing [im'psuzin] adj производящий сильное впечатление, внушитель­ный, импозантный

content (with) [kan'tent] adj довольный, удовлетворенный

missionary ['mijansn] л миссионер

fortnight ['fb: tnait] л две недели

vile [vail] adj отвратительный, мерзкий, зд. с дурной репутацией

acquaintance [a'kweratsns] л знакомство, знакомый

billiard-marker [^lbilj9d, ma: k9] л маркер

fancy [Tasnsi] л фантазия, воображение, прихоть, каприз, причуда

chimneypiece ['tfimnipi: s] л полка над камином

birch [b3: tf] л береза

domed [daumd] adj украшенный куполом, с куполом

vastness [Va: stnis] л простор(ы)

intimately ['mtimsth] adv близко, интимно

porcelain ['po: slm] л фарфор

acid ['aesid] adj кислый, острый (о запахе)

bleak [bli: k] adj зд. унылый, гнетущий

coconut f'kauksiut] л кокос

strand [straend] л прибрежная полоса, берег

dazzling ['daezhn] adj ослепительный

Unit nine

Questions for discussion.

1. They say travel broadens the mind. Do you agree? Give your reasons.

2. Do you have to travel on business? How often do you have to travel?
Where do you usually go? Describe your typical business trip.

3. Do you like travelling for pleasure? How often do you spend your holiday
travelling? Do you travel in Russia or do you usually go abroad? Do you
like to come back to the same place or do you prefer to go to different
places? When and where did you travel last?

4. What are the inconveniences of travelling in your opinion?

5. What do you think makes people go on risky and dangerous journeys?

6. The author of the story In a Strange Land claims that he " travels to
see men". Do you think it's a good reason for travelling or does it only
concern writers?

7. In the story Honolulu Somerset Maugham says " the wise traveller
travels only in imagination". Do you agree with this assertion or do you
have any objections?

8. Could you guess who Alyosha and Vronsky are?

EXERCISES

Find English equivalents in the text for the following (you may think of better Russian translations).

1. А теперь давайте вернемся к вопросу, поставленному в заголовке...

2. Хотя, как кажется, все на нашей планете уже открыто, достойное
место среди путешественников занимают люди, которые отправ­
ляются в дерзкие экспедиции, чтобы решить научные проблемы,
касающиеся...

3. Общеизвестно, что для довольно значительного количества людей
путешествия являются частью их профессиональной деятельности.

4. Другой тип путешественников - это те, которыми, подобно Евге­
нию Онегину, «овладевает охота к перемене мест».

5. По натуре я бродяга, но я путешествую не для того, чтобы увидеть
внушительный памятник, что на самом деле мне довольно скучно,
и не для того, чтобы полюбоваться прекрасным видом...

6. Я избегаю великих людей, я бы и дороги не перешел, чтобы позна­
комиться с каким-нибудь президентом или королем...

7....в гостинице с дурной репутацией.

8. Я не читал ее и даже не знаю, о чем она, но название возбуждает
мое воображение.

9....с ее березовыми рощами и куполами церквей.

Parti

10. ...людей, которых я знаю более близко, чем многих из моих дру­
зей...

11. Но взгляд мой падает на фарфоровую безделушку, и я ощущаю
кисловатый запах Китая.

12....свет такой унылый, что ваше сердце разрывается...

13....вы с трудом осмеливаетесь смотреть на него.

14....поскольку именно тогда вы не теряете ни одной из своих ил­
люзий.

VOCABULARY

Read and translate these sentences into Russian so as to have a better idea of how these words can be used.

travel v, n, traveller n

1. To travel' means to go from one place to another, especially to a distant
place.

2. They say travel broadens the mind.

3. A traveller is a person on a journey.

Compare