可以有把握地想象,两千年前,在凯撒踏进英国南部地区之前,镶嵌在我正在写作的这间房屋窗口的整个原野,仍处在一种“原始状态”之中。除了到处都可以看见的一些现在仍然破坏着连绵丘陵轮廓的坟堆,似乎还找不到人类的痕迹;覆盖在宽阔高地和狭谷斜坡的那层 It is safe to imagine that two thousand years ago, before Caesar stepped into the southern region of England, the entire field set in the window of the house I was writing was still in an “original state.” In addition to the burial piles that can be seen everywhere and still undermine the contours of the rolling hills, it seems that no traces of humanity have been found; the layer covering the broad highlands and the narrow slopes