The other side of the hedge

The other side of the hedge

By E.M Forster/Translated by Li Jing

The pedometer shows that I am second Fifteen. Although it was unbelievable that I couldn't stop, I still sat down at the milestone on the roadside. I wanted to take a rest. I was really tired. People kept passing me and laughing at me, but I didn't care and didn't even bother to feel disgusted. Even when the great educator Miss Eliza Dimbleby hurried past me and urged me not to give up, I He just smiled slightly and took off his hat to greet her.

At first, I thought I would end up like my brother. I remember that it was one or two years ago when I left him on the side of the road nearby. He wasted his last breath on singing and devoted all his efforts to helping others. But I had walked wisely, and now I was just weighed down by the boring road. In my memory, there was always dust underfoot and grey-brown, cracked hedges on both sides.

I have thrown away a lot of things. In fact, the various materials we threw away are covered with gray dust along the way. They look no different from stones. The muscles all over my body are sore and I can't even carry the rest. I got up and left the stone monument, slipped to the road next to it, lay down, looked at the tall withered hedges, and silently prayed that I wouldn't have to leave anymore.

A breeze blew by, refreshing me. It seemed to be coming from beyond the hedge. I opened my eyes and saw a ray of light shining through the mess of branches and dead leaves. It seems the hedge is not that dense. Although I was weak and ill, I still wanted to push forward and explore the other side. There was no one around, but I shouldn't have been afraid to try. Those of us who run on the road never mention to one another that there is another side to the hedge.

I gave in to the temptation and said to myself, I will be back soon. The thorns scratched my face. I used my arms as a shield and relied on my feet to move forward step by step. When I reached the middle, I wanted to go back because all the things I carried were scraped off by branches and my clothes were torn. But I was so deep into the hinterland that turning back was impossible. I had to go blindfolded and zigzag forward, thinking that at any moment I might be exhausted and die in the bush.

Suddenly, cold water flooded my head, and I seemed to be sinking endlessly. It turned out that I got out of the hedge and fell into a deep pool. When I finally surfaced, I started shouting for help. I heard someone on the other side laughing and saying, "Another one!" Then someone pulled me up violently. I lay on the shore, breathing heavily.

After I dried my eyes, I still felt dizzy, because I had never seen such an open world, nor such grassland and sunshine. The blue sky is no longer narrow, the earth is bulging, and the mountains are undulating, standing cleanly between heaven and earth without any cover. Beeches grow in the valleys, and at the foot of the mountains are meadows and clear lakes. The mountain is not high, and the whole scene seems to imply that there are people living here. Therefore, it is not a bad idea to call this place a park or a garden, although this name sounds a bit tacky and formal.

As soon as I came to my senses, I immediately asked the person who saved me: "Where does this place lead to?"

He smiled and said: "Thank the Lord! It's not anywhere." "He looks like he is in his fifties or sixties. We would never believe someone of this age on the road. But he behaved calmly and spoke like an eighteen-year-old boy.

His answer surprised me so much that I didn’t even bother to thank him for saving my life. I blurted out: “It must lead to somewhere!”

He headed towards the mountain. The person shouted: "This person wants to know where this leads to?!" The other person waved his hat and laughed in response.

I discovered that the deep pool I just fell into was actually a moat, extending to the left and right, with hedges planted against it. From this side, the hedge is green and the tree roots can be seen through the clear water, with fish swimming among them. The hedge is surrounded by rosettes and clematis. It turns out this is a barrier. Suddenly, I had no interest in the pastures, blue sky, trees, or happy residents here.

Although it is beautiful and open, this place is actually a prison.

We left the border area and followed a parallel path through the pasture. I found it difficult to walk because I always wanted to overtake my companion, but there was no point in overtaking him since it didn't lead anywhere. Ever since my brother and I separated, I haven't walked side by side with anyone.

I wanted to tease him, so I stopped suddenly and said with a frustrated look: "It's outrageous. There is no progress or development in this place. We people walking on the road..."

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"Well, I know."

"Listen to me, we people walking on the road are always making progress."

"I know."

"We are always learning, pioneering, and growing. Just talk about me. Although I am not very old, I have seen many examples of progress, such as the First Boer War, the financial crisis, and Christianity. The rise of Scientology and the discovery of radium. For example..."

I took out my pedometer, but it still showed twenty-five and there was no increase.

"Oh, it's broken! I wanted to show it to you. I thought it would remember the path we just walked together. But I'm still twenty-five now."

He said: "A lot of things are malfunctioning here. Someone brought a new rifle in that day, and it couldn't be used."

"Scientific laws apply everywhere. It must be because I dropped Entering the moat, the machine is flooded. Under normal circumstances, science and competitive spirit are the two forces that determine our nature."

I always have to stop, Respond to the cordial greetings of passers-by. Some people are singing, some are chatting, some are tending the garden, weeding, or doing other inconspicuous things. They all looked happy. If I forget that this doesn't lead anywhere, maybe I'll be happy too.

As we were walking, suddenly a young man ran past us, nimbly climbed over a low fence, rushed across a field, plunged into the lake, and swam to the other side. So energetic! I exclaimed loudly: "Cross-country race! Where are the other runners?"

My companion replied: "There are no other runners." We continued walking through a meadow and heard a girl singing alone, The singing is very beautiful. He said again: "There are no other players." Confused by the waste of productivity in front of me, I muttered to myself: "What on earth is going on?"

He said: " It all means something in itself." Then he repeated it slowly, as if I were a child, afraid that I wouldn't understand.

I replied calmly: "I understand, but I don't agree. Every achievement is worthless unless it is a link in the development chain. I really can't bother you anymore. I'm going back to the road and fixing my pedometer."

But he said, "You have to look at those doors first, but we never use them."

Out of politeness, I reluctantly agreed. After a while, we walked to the moat again, where there was a bridge. There was a gate at the other end of the bridge, white as ivory, which fit into a gap in the hedge. The door opened outwards, and I was surprised to find that there was a road outside the door, which looked very much like the road I left - looking out, I could see dusty dust and gray-brown, dry and cracked hedges on both sides.

I shouted: "It's my way!"

He quickly closed the door and said to me: "But it's not the way you want to go. Many, many years Human beings walked out of this door before, when they were first seized by the desire to walk." I ignored him and found that the road I left was only two miles away. Not far away. But people his age are very stubborn, and he kept saying: "It's the same road. This is the starting point. Although it seems to be a straight road, it has twists and turns in the middle. It never strays far from the border here, and sometimes it is even close to the border. Overlapping." He bent down and started walking along the wet edge of the moat, looking confused. We walked back across the meadow together, and I tried to make him realize that he was wrong.

"The road will indeed turn, but that is an exercise for us. Who can deny that the general trend is forward? We don't know the end yet. It may be some tower that will allow us to reach the sky. Mountains may also be cliffs leading to the deep sea. But it is definitely moving forward. No one can deny that it is this idea that makes us strive to win in our respective fields and gives us the inner motivation that you just lacked. The person running in front of me, yes, he runs fast, jumps high, and swims fast, but we have people who can run faster, jump higher, and swim faster than him. This is due to professionalism. The result is unimaginable. And that girl..." But I suddenly stopped, and then shouted: "Oh my god! I swear, that must be Eliza. Miss Dimbleby, sitting at the fountain, playing in the water!”

My companion also believed what I said.

"How is that possible! We parted on the road, and she was scheduled to speak in Tunbridge Wells tonight. How strange, she was supposed to catch the train at Cannon Street, the driving time was... right , and my watch doesn't work. She's the last person to be here."

"People are always surprised by the encounter, at any time. They were ahead or behind, or even left to die. I always stood at the border, listening to the sounds coming from the road, you know what they were, and I always wondered if someone was going to come over to this side. I like to drag people out of the moat, just like I helped you. There are more and more people here, and this is actually where everyone belongs.”

I think he is kind-hearted, so he is polite. The response was: "Humans have other goals. I must get back among them." I said good night to him. The sun was setting and I wanted to get back to the road before dark. But he suddenly grabbed me and shouted: "You can't leave!" I tried my best to get rid of him, because we really had nothing in common, and his kindness made me tired. But no matter how hard I struggled, this annoying old man just refused to let me go. I really couldn't resist him, so I had to continue to follow him.

On my own, I would definitely not be able to find the way I came. I am hoping that after visiting the places he desperately wants me to see, he can take me back to where I came from. But I was determined not to spend the night here because I didn't trust the place or the people, friendly as they were. Although I was hungry, I refused to have a dinner with milk and fruit with them. I also threw away the flowers they gave me when they were not paying attention. They lay down one after another, getting ready to sleep, some sleeping on the bare hillside, and others sleeping under the beech trees, like herds of livestock. In the orange sunset, I followed my annoying guide closely. I was exhausted and faint from hunger, but I still refused to accept it and murmured: "Give me life. There are struggles and victories, and there are failures." and hatred, with profound moral meanings and an unknown ending!"

Finally we came to the moat surrounding this place. There was a bridge on the river, and on the other side of the bridge was a hedge with a door embedded in it. This door is different from the first door in that it is translucent, like a horn, and opens inwards. The light was dim, but behind the door I saw again the road I had left - as far as the eye could see, it was dull and dusty, with grey-brown and cracked hedges on both sides.

For some reason, this sight made me uneasy, as if it had taken away my self-control. At this time, a man passed us with a sickle on his shoulder and a can of drink in his hand, preparing to go back to the mountains to spend the night. I left the fate of mankind behind, the road in front of me, rushed towards him, snatched the can from his hand and started drinking.

The stuff was no stronger than beer, but because I was exhausted, I collapsed to the ground. As if in a dream, I saw the old man closing the door, and heard him say: "Your road ends here. All mankind, all the remaining people, will pass through this door and come to us."

I gradually lost consciousness, but before falling into emptiness, my senses seemed to be expanding. I seemed to hear the beautiful singing voice of the nightingale, smell the aroma of hay, and see the stars piercing the dark night.

The man whose beer I had robbed gently supported me and helped me lie down so that I could sleep off the alcohol. Only then did I see clearly that he was my brother.

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