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Host: This week, we’re thinking about summer vacations. Today, a little history.
Until the middle of the 19th century, Americans used the word “vacation” the way the English do, the time when teachers and students vacate the school 1)premises and go off on their own. In those days, a vacation was also a mark of privilege. Over time, the vacation became a middle-class institution, as well as a time for physical, mental and spiritual selfimprovement, not to mention sheer entertainment.
Cindy Aron (History Prof.): The first vacationers in the early part of the 19th century were elite people, some of whom were going away for their health.
Host: But as for the notion that we need a break from work, that there’s some virtue to leisure, you say that at the beginning, our 2)Puritan roots had people who worked six days a week and then the seventh day went to church and heard preachers telling them all about how good it is to work and the 3)vices of 4)idleness.
Cindy: Yes, absolutely. For Puritans, work was extremely important. Idleness is suspect.
Host: So, when do we start seeing people advocating the idea of some organized idleness in…in the summer and that’s a good thing?
Cindy: By the middle of the 19th century, not only doctors—of course, doctors are beginning to say it’s important to get away for your health—but you even begin to see some ministers beginning to turn around. And there begins to be fears about businessmen—businessmen who were suffering brain fatigue. There was also an infrastructure growing up. The railroad is realizing “We could get people to the shore, and we could build a hotel at the other end,” and you begin to see a whole vacationing infrastructure growing up.
Host: But there’s a critical role here played by churches. 5)The Methodist Church is very active in this, and there are resorts, whether in 6)Martha’s Vineyard or in the Delaware shore, that are founded as resorts, but there’s some religious 7)dimension to them as well.
Cindy: Absolutely. Methodist campgrounds evolve into religious resorts, and there’s a reason for this. And the reason is part of what made the middle class is that they had worked hard, they 8)ascribed to certain values: hard work, discipline, 9)sobriety, which allowed them to accumulate enough resources to go on vacation.
Host: Right.
Cindy: And then they went on vacation, where they were tempted to…
Host: Idleness, drunkenness and all of those things.
Cindy: Exactly, all of…all of…all of those things. So, there needed to be a form of vacation where middleclass people could feel, OK, I can take a vacation, but I don’t have to be worried by the temptations of idleness, and religious resorts were perfect. No drinking, no smoking. You couldn’t bathe on Sundays.
Host: So, when did the American vacation turn into something…well, when where people more interested in improving their 10)serve than their soul, let’s say, when they went away in the summer? When did this change take place?
Cindy: Well, there were some people who always went on vacation to improve their serve, OK, without a doubt, you know, fancy balls and courting. But the public discussion about vacations, all over the newspapers, that vacations were potentially dangerous—there’s tension between work and play.
Host: A friend of mine once quoted a European who had told him, “We…we work so that we can go on vacation, we Europeans. You Americans go on vacation so that you can go back and work.” Do you think that’s true?
Cindy: I think there’s something of a truth in that, and I think it’s an old story. I think if you look at the history and you look at this tension between work and leisure in American culture, I mean, we have this love-hate relationship with our vacations, and I think we’ve had it from the beginning.
Host: I think that’s a great note to conclude on.
主持人：这一周，我们都在想夏季假期这事儿；今天，我们来聊一下休假的历史。
一直到19世纪中期，美国人使用“休假”一词的方式与英国人一样，那就是指老师和学生离开学校，自由自在的那段时间。在那个时候，休假是特殊待遇的一种标志。渐渐地，休假成了中产阶层的一种习惯，是让身体、脑力和心灵获得自我提高的时间，至于来点纯粹的娱乐，那更是理所当然了。
辛迪·阿伦（历史教授）：在19世纪早期，最早的休假者是精英阶层，他们其中一部分人去度假是因为身体原因。
主持人：但说到我们需要放下工作休息一下，说到休闲也是有好处的这种观念，你说在一开始，我们的清教信仰决定了人们一周工作六天，然后在第七天到教堂去听牧师跟他们说工作是一种高尚品德，而闲散则是一种罪恶。
辛迪：是的，确实如此。对于清教徒来说，工作非常的重要，而闲散才是我们要提防的。
主持人：那么，是从什么时候开始有人提倡应该在夏天安排有序的闲散时间，而这样做其实是好事？
辛迪：到了19世纪中期，不仅仅是医生——当然，医生也开始说去度假对健康有好处——甚至有些牧师的态度也开始发生变化。当时人们开始担心商人——那些脑力疲劳的商人。同时，基础设施的建设也正如火如荼，铁路方面意识到，“我们可以把人送到海边，可以在铁路的尽头盖旅馆”。于是，休假基础设施开始出现。
主持人：但教堂在其中起了一个关键的作用。卫理公会在这个问题上非常积极，他们在一些地方，如马撒葡萄园岛和特拉华州的海边有度假胜地。它们当初就是作为度假地设立的，但这些度假村与宗教有关。
辛迪：确实是这样。卫理公会派的营地变成了宗教胜地，这么做是有原因的。这个原因就是中产阶层形成的部分原因：他们一直在努力工作，他们认同某些价值观：努力工作、自律、不嗜酒。而这样做让他们就有足够的积蓄去度假。
主持人：对。
辛迪：而后他们去休假时，他们面对种种诱惑……
主持人：闲散、醉酒等等。
辛迪：正是，一系列此类事情。因此，就有必要形成一种度假的形式，让中产阶层觉得，好，我现在可以休假了，但同时我不需要担心闲散带来的诱惑。在这种情况下，宗教胜地就是最好的选择。不喝酒、不抽烟，也不在星期天洗澡。
主持人：那么，美国人的度假是在什么时候变成……嗯，这么说吧，当人们在夏季去度假的时候，他们什么时候开始把兴趣从提高自己的修养转向提高自己的运动技能？这种变化是在什么时候发生的？
辛迪：呃，一直都有些人去度假就是为了提高运动技能，好吧，毫无疑问，你也知道，还有华丽的舞会和社交活动。但公众关于休假的讨论在报纸上闹得沸沸扬扬，大家普遍认为休假这种做法是有潜在危险的，当时存在着工作与娱乐之间的对立。
主持人：我的一位朋友曾经引用一个欧洲人对他说的话：“我们努力地工作是为了去度假，我们欧洲人是这样。而你们美国人去度假是为了回来继续工作。”你觉得这话是真的吗？
辛迪：我觉得有一定的真实性，我认为那已经是老生常谈了。我觉得如果你回顾历史，看看美国文化中工作与休闲之间的紧张关系，我是说，我们对度假的态度是爱恨交加，我觉得从一开始就是这样。
主持人：我想我们正好以这一点结束节目。翻译：旭文
Until the middle of the 19th century, Americans used the word “vacation” the way the English do, the time when teachers and students vacate the school 1)premises and go off on their own. In those days, a vacation was also a mark of privilege. Over time, the vacation became a middle-class institution, as well as a time for physical, mental and spiritual selfimprovement, not to mention sheer entertainment.
Cindy Aron (History Prof.): The first vacationers in the early part of the 19th century were elite people, some of whom were going away for their health.
Host: But as for the notion that we need a break from work, that there’s some virtue to leisure, you say that at the beginning, our 2)Puritan roots had people who worked six days a week and then the seventh day went to church and heard preachers telling them all about how good it is to work and the 3)vices of 4)idleness.
Cindy: Yes, absolutely. For Puritans, work was extremely important. Idleness is suspect.
Host: So, when do we start seeing people advocating the idea of some organized idleness in…in the summer and that’s a good thing?
Cindy: By the middle of the 19th century, not only doctors—of course, doctors are beginning to say it’s important to get away for your health—but you even begin to see some ministers beginning to turn around. And there begins to be fears about businessmen—businessmen who were suffering brain fatigue. There was also an infrastructure growing up. The railroad is realizing “We could get people to the shore, and we could build a hotel at the other end,” and you begin to see a whole vacationing infrastructure growing up.
Host: But there’s a critical role here played by churches. 5)The Methodist Church is very active in this, and there are resorts, whether in 6)Martha’s Vineyard or in the Delaware shore, that are founded as resorts, but there’s some religious 7)dimension to them as well.
Cindy: Absolutely. Methodist campgrounds evolve into religious resorts, and there’s a reason for this. And the reason is part of what made the middle class is that they had worked hard, they 8)ascribed to certain values: hard work, discipline, 9)sobriety, which allowed them to accumulate enough resources to go on vacation.
Host: Right.
Cindy: And then they went on vacation, where they were tempted to…
Host: Idleness, drunkenness and all of those things.
Cindy: Exactly, all of…all of…all of those things. So, there needed to be a form of vacation where middleclass people could feel, OK, I can take a vacation, but I don’t have to be worried by the temptations of idleness, and religious resorts were perfect. No drinking, no smoking. You couldn’t bathe on Sundays.
Host: So, when did the American vacation turn into something…well, when where people more interested in improving their 10)serve than their soul, let’s say, when they went away in the summer? When did this change take place?
Cindy: Well, there were some people who always went on vacation to improve their serve, OK, without a doubt, you know, fancy balls and courting. But the public discussion about vacations, all over the newspapers, that vacations were potentially dangerous—there’s tension between work and play.
Host: A friend of mine once quoted a European who had told him, “We…we work so that we can go on vacation, we Europeans. You Americans go on vacation so that you can go back and work.” Do you think that’s true?
Cindy: I think there’s something of a truth in that, and I think it’s an old story. I think if you look at the history and you look at this tension between work and leisure in American culture, I mean, we have this love-hate relationship with our vacations, and I think we’ve had it from the beginning.
Host: I think that’s a great note to conclude on.
主持人：这一周，我们都在想夏季假期这事儿；今天，我们来聊一下休假的历史。
一直到19世纪中期，美国人使用“休假”一词的方式与英国人一样，那就是指老师和学生离开学校，自由自在的那段时间。在那个时候，休假是特殊待遇的一种标志。渐渐地，休假成了中产阶层的一种习惯，是让身体、脑力和心灵获得自我提高的时间，至于来点纯粹的娱乐，那更是理所当然了。
辛迪·阿伦（历史教授）：在19世纪早期，最早的休假者是精英阶层，他们其中一部分人去度假是因为身体原因。
主持人：但说到我们需要放下工作休息一下，说到休闲也是有好处的这种观念，你说在一开始，我们的清教信仰决定了人们一周工作六天，然后在第七天到教堂去听牧师跟他们说工作是一种高尚品德，而闲散则是一种罪恶。
辛迪：是的，确实如此。对于清教徒来说，工作非常的重要，而闲散才是我们要提防的。
主持人：那么，是从什么时候开始有人提倡应该在夏天安排有序的闲散时间，而这样做其实是好事？
辛迪：到了19世纪中期，不仅仅是医生——当然，医生也开始说去度假对健康有好处——甚至有些牧师的态度也开始发生变化。当时人们开始担心商人——那些脑力疲劳的商人。同时，基础设施的建设也正如火如荼，铁路方面意识到，“我们可以把人送到海边，可以在铁路的尽头盖旅馆”。于是，休假基础设施开始出现。
主持人：但教堂在其中起了一个关键的作用。卫理公会在这个问题上非常积极，他们在一些地方，如马撒葡萄园岛和特拉华州的海边有度假胜地。它们当初就是作为度假地设立的，但这些度假村与宗教有关。
辛迪：确实是这样。卫理公会派的营地变成了宗教胜地，这么做是有原因的。这个原因就是中产阶层形成的部分原因：他们一直在努力工作，他们认同某些价值观：努力工作、自律、不嗜酒。而这样做让他们就有足够的积蓄去度假。
主持人：对。
辛迪：而后他们去休假时，他们面对种种诱惑……
主持人：闲散、醉酒等等。
辛迪：正是，一系列此类事情。因此，就有必要形成一种度假的形式，让中产阶层觉得，好，我现在可以休假了，但同时我不需要担心闲散带来的诱惑。在这种情况下，宗教胜地就是最好的选择。不喝酒、不抽烟，也不在星期天洗澡。
主持人：那么，美国人的度假是在什么时候变成……嗯，这么说吧，当人们在夏季去度假的时候，他们什么时候开始把兴趣从提高自己的修养转向提高自己的运动技能？这种变化是在什么时候发生的？
辛迪：呃，一直都有些人去度假就是为了提高运动技能，好吧，毫无疑问，你也知道，还有华丽的舞会和社交活动。但公众关于休假的讨论在报纸上闹得沸沸扬扬，大家普遍认为休假这种做法是有潜在危险的，当时存在着工作与娱乐之间的对立。
主持人：我的一位朋友曾经引用一个欧洲人对他说的话：“我们努力地工作是为了去度假，我们欧洲人是这样。而你们美国人去度假是为了回来继续工作。”你觉得这话是真的吗？
辛迪：我觉得有一定的真实性，我认为那已经是老生常谈了。我觉得如果你回顾历史，看看美国文化中工作与休闲之间的紧张关系，我是说，我们对度假的态度是爱恨交加，我觉得从一开始就是这样。
主持人：我想我们正好以这一点结束节目。翻译：旭文