世界太忙，何妨躺躺.docVIP

世界太忙，何妨躺躺 　　在?@个忙碌的时代，享受休闲时光成了一种奢侈，甚至连睡觉都只是成了一种需要。随之而来的，就是很多休闲形式的消失，比如躺卧。现如今，这种放松的形式会被认为是懒惰的表现。其实，躺卧可谓一门艺术，自古有之，它不仅能带给人身体上的放松，更能让人的思维在想象的世界中自由驰骋。 　　 　　The legendary Roman dining couch， known as the klinai1）， was made from wood or stone， covered with cloth， and designed for lying down. I sometimes wonder how comfortable it really was. Then again， since people 2，000 years ago weren’t acquainted with comfort in the modern， well-cushioned sense， they probably enjoyed it much more than we would today. The klinai was perfectly adequate for the purpose of munching grapes， drinking wine， exchanging philosophical opinions， and meeting potential lovers. 　　As a sophisticated art form， however， lying down was perfected much later. Take the divan2）. The word means different things under different circumstances： A Turkish divan consists of a mat on the floor or a flat ledge that can run along an entire wall. In a French boudoir3）， a divan means an upholstered4） bench， often decorated with tassels5） and fringe6）， in the middle of the room. The term can even be used for a row of chairs clustered around a raised platform. Ultimately， divans and couches came to be associated with a kind of literary dilettantism7）―thanks to the likes of Thomas De Quincey， the 19th-century English essayist and wastrel8）， who succumbed to opium while reclining on a chaise. Later， writers ranging from Truman Capote to the former US poet laureate Charles Simic would confess to producing their best work while horizontal. 　　Until recently， lying down was seen as the horizontal counterpart to the dreamy rambling9） of the melancholy fl?neur10）， walking about without pursuing any goal in particular. When we lie on our backs and direct our gaze up toward the ceiling or sky， we lose our physical grasp of things. We relax our state of hyper-vigilance11）， and our thoughts soar. 　　Indeed， the general disdain for lying down was “unhealthy” and “hypocritical，” according to G K Chesterton， the English critic ren