down the aalley
河谷寻幽
willia bbet/威廉·科贝特
i ca off this orng on the arlborough road about o iles，or three，and then turned off，over the downs， a northwesterly direction， search of the urce of the avon river，which goes down to salisburyi had once been at heravon，a vil this valley，but i had often heard this valley described as one of the fest pieces of nd all engnd；i knew that there were about thirty parish churches，standg a length of about thirty iles，and an avera width of hardly a ile；and i was relved to see a little to the reans that uld have duced our fathers to build all these churches，especially if，as the stch would have believe，there were but a re handful of people engnd until of te 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。
steerg across the down，i ca to a r far，which a shepherd told was ilton hill farthis was upon the high nd，and before i ca to the ed of this valley of avon，which was y nd of proise，or at least，of great expectation；for i uld not iage that thirty churches had been built for nothg by the side of a brook（for it is no ore durg the greater part of the way）thirty iles longthe shepherd showed the way towards ilton；and at the end of about a ile，fro the of a very high part of the down，with a steep slope towards the valley，i first saw this valley of avon；and a ost beautiful sight it was！vils，halets，r fars，towers，steeples，fields，adows，orchards，and very fe tiber trees，scattered all over the valleythe shape of the thg is this：on each side downs，very lofty and steep pces，and slopg iles back other pces；but each outside of the valley are downsfro the ed of the downs beg capital arable fields nerally of very great dinsions ，and， pces，runng a ile or o back to little crossvalleys，ford by hills of downsafter the rnfields e adows on each side，down to the brook or riverthe farhoes，ansions，vils，and halets are nerally situated that part of the arable nd which es nearest the adows
【讲真，最近一直用咪咪阅读看书追更，换源切换，朗读音色多，iiread 安卓苹果均可。】
沿着高地走，我来到一座巨大的庄园附近，一位牧人对我说这是米尔顿山庄。庄园建在高地上，距离阿文河还有一些路程。这个河谷就是我“想抵达的地方”，或者至少是一个令人期待的地方，因为我实在是难以想像为什么人们会无缘无故地把这三十座教堂建在这么一条三十英里长的小河旁（而这条小河的大部分并没有什么特色鲜明的地方）。牧人把通向米尔顿村的道路指给了我，差不多走了一英里，我终于从直达谷地的一个陡峭的坡上第一次见到了阿文河谷——多么美丽的河谷呀！这里有村落、庄园、塔楼、田野、草地、果园，还有郁郁葱葱的树木。这里的地形是这样的：河谷的周围都是高地，有些地方陡峭险峻，绵延向前数英里，有的地方坡度比较平缓。在河谷和高地的交汇的地方，是一大片肥沃的田地，有的甚至顺着高地向上爬了一二英里远。玉米地紧紧地挨着两边的草地，向下一直延伸到水边。在靠近草地的田间里，座落着大部分的农屋、农院和村屯。
great as y expectations had been，they were ore than fulfilledi delight this rt of untry；and i had freently seen the vale of the itchen，that of the bourn，and al that of the teste hapshire；i had seen the vales aongst the uth downs；but i never before saw anythg to please like this valley of the avoni sat upon y horse and looked over ilton and easton and pewsey for half an hour，though i had not breakfastedthe hill was very steepa road，gog sntg down it，was still steep，and washed very deep by the ras of as，that i did not attept to ride down it，and i did not like to lead y horse，the path was narrow seeg a boy with a drove of pigs gog out to the stubbles，i beckoned hi to e up to ；and he ca and led y horse down for but now，before i beg to ride down this beautiful vale，let give，as well as y ans will enable ，a pn or ap of it，which i have ade this waya friend has lent a very old an of wiltshire describg the spots where all the churches stand，and al all the spots where anor hoes or ansion-hoes stoodi id a piece of very th paper upon the ap，and th traced the river upon y paper，puttg figure to represent the spots where churches stand，and puttg stars to reprent the spots where anor-hoes or ansion-hoes forrly stood（未完待续）