新生活從選定方向開始

郭倩

1. Bissell is a place of interest in West Sahara. Before Ken Levin discovered it， people here tried many times to walk out of the desert， but failed. 比塞爾是西撒哈拉沙漠中的一個旅游圣地。可是在肯·萊文發現它之前，這里的人嘗試過很多次走出沙漠，但都失敗了。

2. He asked everyone， but got the same answer： no matter which direction you walk towards， you will return to the starting point. To confirm1 that， he walked northwards from Bissell Village， and went out of the desert three days and a half later. 他問每個人原因，結果回答都一樣：無論朝哪個方向走，最后還是回到出發的地方。為了證實這種說法，他從比塞爾村向北走，結果三天半就走了出來。

3. Ken Levin wanted to know why， so he hired a native as his guide. They took water， which could be used for half a month， and two camels. Ken Levin put away his modern equipment like compasses. He followed with only a stick. They walked about 800 miles during 10 days. On the morning of the 11th day， they returned to Bissell. 肯·萊文想弄清楚原因，于是雇了一名當地人來做他的向導。他們帶了半個月的水，牽了兩頭駱駝，肯·萊文收起指南針等現代設備，只拄一根木棍跟在后面。10天過去了，他們走了大約八百英里的路程。第11天的早晨，他們果然又回到了比塞爾。

4. Ken Levin finally understood. The reason why the people of Bissell could not walk out was that they didnt know the Big Dipper2. In the desert， if a man goes only by his feeling， he will walk in the circles of all sizes and the final footprint will probably be a shape of tape. The village of Bissell was in the middle of the vast3 desert without a reference4， it was impossible to walk out without knowing the Big Dipper and compasses. 肯·萊文終于明白了，比塞爾人之所以走不出沙漠，是因為他們不認識北斗星。在沙漠里，一個人如果憑著感覺往前走，他會走出許多大小不一的圓圈，最后的足跡十有八九是一把卷尺的形狀。比塞爾村處在浩瀚的沙漠中間，沒有任何參照物，如果不認識北斗星又沒有指南針的話，想走出沙漠，確實是不可能的。

5. When Ken Levin left Bissell， he took a young man named Guterl. He told him he could walk out of the desert as long as he walked in the direction of that star in the night. 肯·萊文在離開比塞爾時，帶來了一位叫阿古特爾的年青人。他告訴阿古特爾，只要夜晚朝著北面那顆星走，就能走出沙漠。

6. Guterl did as he was told. He walked to the edge of the desert three days later. He became the pioneer of Bissell. A bronze statue5 of him was erected6 in the center of the city. A line of words were engraved7 in the base of the statue： the new life is starting from the selected direction. 阿古特爾按照他說的去做，三天之后果然來到了沙漠的邊緣。阿古特爾因此成為比塞爾的開拓者，他的銅像被豎在小城的中央。銅像的底座上刻著一行字：新生活是從選定方向開始的。