一平方英寸的寂靜

In the fall of 1980 I was on that path， driving from Seattle to Madison， Wisconsin， to graduate school， when I pulled off and slipped down a side road until I found a place to rest for the night， a recently harvested cornfield. Hands behind my head and ready for a deep rest， I lay between rows of 1）stubby， shorn stalks. I heard a wonderful 2）chorus of chanting crickets and began to smell the dampness of an approaching storm. There， on the 3）prairie， the thunder rolled in from far away， signaling rain long before it arrived. Again and again this thunder boomed and echoed， growing ever louder—magnificent， deep， 4）primordial， soul-shaking sounds. I’d never heard thunder like this before.

Hours later and thoroughly soaked， I thought， “How could I be 27 years old and never have listened before？”

My life changed that night in the cornfield， though I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time. It took me a few months to realize that graduate study at the University of Wisconsin was not the path I wanted to pursue. I felt a new yearning， one I understood better after reading 5）John Muir describe his life-changing 6）epiphany as “soul hunger”. Since then I’ve been around the globe three times， recording the sounds and silences of nature. My hearing had become my life， my livelihood. My hearing was everything.

Three doctor visits and a CAT scan later， I learned that my hearing loss was due to a problem in my middle ear. But nothing could be done， at least， the doctors said， without the risk of making matters worse. Worse？ The best thing to do， I was told， was to be fitted for a 7）hearing aid and hope that the matter cleared up on its own.

To even suggest a hearing aid was an 8）outrage. Nearly all hearing aids are designed primarily to 9）amplify and clarify human speech， to hear what a person has to say. They do not make music more enjoyable or nature sounds more audible.

Back home， in a fit of private anger， I said out loud， “I just want my old life back！” So I examined everything I had done a year before my hearing loss and everything that I’d been doing during my hearing loss， regardless of perceived significance.

I had recently turned 50， and to celebrate this I began taking supplements that were recommended to me by my brother， who is a physician and had been on a rigorous vitamin and hormone 10）regimen himself： high-potency B-complex， potassium， calcium， alpha lipoic acid，11）to name a few. And to top off my new look， I also put 12）Rogaine onto my head like 13）hair tonic and sometimes felt it drip down my 14）scalp and around my ears. All of this， my ear doctors reported， had nothing to do with my hearing loss. Nevertheless， out of desperation， I discontinued all supplements and put away the Rogaine.

Then， about two months after quitting the supplements， as if God himself had spoken to me， I experienced a sudden onset of completely normal hearing. Sitting in my grandfather’s rocking chair next to my woodstove， I realized I could hear the crackle of the fire and the once-familiar gurgling of the refrigerator. Then， as quickly as it had returned， my hearing vanished once again.

I continued to 15）abstain from all supplements. Time became my ally， not my enemy. Brief periods of normal hearing came more frequently and lasted longer， then blended together， fashioning an encouraging， nearly normal six months. Today my hearing has fully recovered.

We’ve all heard it said： “There are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason.” When I hear this， I think of the great naturalist John Muir， who lost his eyesight in an industrial accident while working as a young man at an 16）Indianapolis carriage factory. Thrust into total darkness， alone， and desperately wishing that he could once again see， to fully enjoy the natural world as intended， Muir vowed that if his sight should ever return he would devote himself to “the inventions of God” and not to the inventions of man. When his sight did eventually return， he began a 1，000-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico， “along the leafiest and least trodden path possible，” on his way to becoming the man Americans know best as the father of our national parks.

In the spring of 2005， my hearing restored， my career as the Sound Tracker back on track， I asked myself， “What good is perfect hearing in a world filled with noise pollution？” After a good bit of thought， I resolved to make good on a quiet conversation project I’d 17）conceived of years earlier.

One Square Inch of Silence was designated on Earth Day 2005（April 22）， when， with an audience of none， I placed a small red stone， a gift from an elder of the Quileute tribe， on a log in the Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park， approximately three miles from the visitors center. With this marker in place， I hoped to protect and manage the natural soundscape in Olympic Park’s 18）backcountry wilderness. My logic is simple and not simply symbolic： If a loud noise， such as the passing of an aircraft， can affect many square miles， then a natural place， if maintained in a 100 percent noise-free condition， will likewise affect many square miles around it. Protect that single square inch of land from noise pollution， and quiet will 19）prevail over a much larger area of the park.

My hope is that this simple and， I believe， inexpensive method of soundscape natural resource management will prove both an inspiration and a helpful mechanism for the National Park Servive to meet several under-attended， codified goals， namely， preserving and protecting the natural soundscapes of its parklands and restoring those soundscapes degraded by human noise.

1980年秋天，我從西雅圖開車前往位于威斯康星州麥迪遜市的研究所，開到一條小路時，我剎車停下，沿著路邊的一條小徑走下去，直到找到過夜安歇的地方，那是一片剛被收割的玉米田。我把手枕在頭后，準(zhǔn)備好好睡上一覺。我躺在一排排被割過的粗硬莖稈上。我聽到一場美妙的蟋蟀大合唱，聞到暴風(fēng)雨來臨前空氣中潮濕的味道。陣陣?yán)坐Q從遠(yuǎn)方傳至田野里，早早地預(yù)示著即將來臨的大雨。雷聲不斷地轟隆回蕩，越來越大聲——這是一種宏偉、深沉、原始、撼動靈魂的聲音。我從未聽過這樣的雷聲。

幾個小時后，我全身都濕透了，我想：“為什么我都27歲了，卻從未聽過這樣的聲音？”

我的人生在那晚的玉米田里徹底改變了，雖然當(dāng)時我并未完全意識到這點(diǎn)。我花了幾個月的時間才明白在威斯康星大學(xué)讀研究生不是我要追尋的人生道路。我感到一種新的渴望，在讀過約翰·繆爾的描述后，我對這種渴望有了更深一層的理解，他把這種改變?nèi)松念D悟稱為“靈魂的渴望”。其后，為了錄下大自然的聲音與寂靜，我已經(jīng)環(huán)游世界三次。我的聽覺成為了我的生命、我謀生的手段。我的聽覺就是我的一切。

我看了三次醫(yī)生，隨后進(jìn)行了一次CAT掃描，我了解到我的失聰是因?yàn)橹卸隽藛栴}。但醫(yī)生說沒有任何解決方案，不過幸好，沒有情況惡化的風(fēng)險。惡化？醫(yī)生建議，我最好還是戴個助聽器，并希望情況能自然而然地好轉(zhuǎn)。

醫(yī)生讓我戴助聽器的建議讓我感到憤怒。……