[wordhunter] Illusions of pastoral peace
- From: <hzgmaxwell@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "wordhunter" <wordhunter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:17:03 +0800 (CST)
The quiet life of the country has never appealed to me. City born and city
bred,I have always regarded the country as something you look at through a
train window, or something you occasionally visit during the weekend. Most of
my friends live in city, yet they always go into raptures at the mere mention
of the country. Though they extol the virtues of the peaceful life, only one of
them has ever gone to live in the country and he was back in the town within
six months. Even he still lives under the illusion that the country life is
somehow superior to the town life. He is forever talking about the friendly
people, the clean atmosphere, the closeness to nature and the gentle pace of
living. Nothing can be compared, he maintains, with the first cockcrow, the
twittering of birds at dawn,the sight the rising sun glinting on the trees and
pastures. The idyllic pastoral scene is only part of the picture. My friend
fails to mention the long and friendless winter evenings in fro
nt of TV--virtually the only form of entertainment. He says nothing about the
poor selection of goods in the shops, or about those unfortunate people who
have to travel from the country to city every day to get to work. Why people
are prepared to tolerate a four-hours journey each day for the dubious
privilege of living in the country is beyound me. They could be saved so much
misery and expense if they chose to live in the city where they rightly
belong.<p> If you can do without the few pleasure of the country, you will
find the city can provide you with the best that life can offer. You never have
to travel miles to see your friends. They invariably live nearby and are always
available for an informal chat or an evening's entertainment. Some of my
acquaintances in the country come up to town once or twice a year to visit the
theatre as a special treat. For them this is a major operation which involves
considerable planning. As the play draws to its close, they wonder wh
ether they will ever catch the last train home. The city dweller never
experiences anxieties of this sort. The lastest exhibitions, films or plays are
only a short bus ride away. Shopping,too, is always a pleasure. There is so
much variety that you never have to make do with second best. Country people
run wild when they go shopping in the city and stagger home loaded with as many
of the exotic items as they can carry. Nor is the city without its moments of
beauty. There is something comforting about the warm glow shed by
advertisements on cold wet winter nights. Few things can be more impressive
than the peace that descends on the deserted city streets at weekends when the
thousands that travel to work every day are tucked away in their homes in the
country. It has always been a mystery to me why city dwellers, who appreciate
all these things, obstinately pretend that they would prefer to live in the
country.<p>
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