Neil
Hello This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English I’m Neil
Rob
And I’m Rob
Neil
Do you enjoy your own company, Rob? Do you like being alone? Or do you prefer
?spending time with friends
Rob
Well, recently I haven’t seen my friends much because of coronavirus – in fact,
I’ve hardly seen anyone this past year!
Neil
It sounds like Rob has become a bit of a hermit – someone who lives alone and
apart from society
Rob
Yes, I’ve been forced to spend time alone – but it wouldn’t be my choice I’d much
rather be socialising and visiting friends
Neil
If, like Rob, the idea of being alone does not appeal to you, it might be hard to
understand why anyone would choose to be a hermit But some people do - and
in this programme we’ll be hearing some of the reasons why
Rob
Throughout history and across all cultures, there have been people who choose
to leave behind the life and people they know to live in isolation and silence
Neil
People like Christopher Wright – an American man who lived in complete
isolation in the forests of Maine for nearly 30 years! When hikers discovered his
tent all they found was an alarm clock So my quiz question is this: why did
Christopher Wright, the hermit of the Maine woods, need an alarm clock? Was it:
a) to remind him when to hide his tent?,
b) to frighten away wild animals?, or
c) to wake him up at the coldest part of the night so he didn’t freeze to death?
Rob
Well, if he wanted to be alone so much I guess he needed to be invisible, so I’ll
say a) to remind him to hide his tent
Neil
OK, Rob, we’ll find out the answer later Christopher Wright may be an extreme
example of someone seeking solitude, but there are many other motivations for
becoming a hermit
Rob
Some people are looking for peace and silence, and for others it’s about being
closer to God, focusing on what’s inside and finding a sense of joy
Neil
Meng Hu is a former librarian who now runs a website all about hermits He says
that in ancient times, many Chinese hermits seeking solitude were followers of
the philosopher, Confucius
Rob
Here’s Meng Hu talking about Confucius to BBC World Service programme, The
Why Factor:
Meng Hu 06’14”
His dictum was something like, ‘When the Emperor is good, serve When the
Emperor is evil, recluse’ And so over a thousand years at least there were a lot of
recluses, a lot of educated men who simply couldn’t tolerate any more evil – they
simply dropped out and they would migrate to small villages, to farms
Neil
Meng Hu mentions Confucius’s dictum A dictum is a short statement or saying
which expresses some wise advice or a general truth about life
Rob
Confucius’s dictum advised that when the Emperor was evil, people should
become recluses – people, like hermits, who live alone and avoid contact with
others
Neil
In the interview, Meng Hu uses ‘recluse’ as a verb – to recluse - but this is very
uncommon A more modern way of saying this is, to drop out – to reject the
normal ways society works and live outside the system
Rob
?A bit like the hippies in the 1960s, you mean
Neil
Right Although most hippies weren’t looking for isolation, they did have
something in common with hermits – the desire to challenge society’s rules and
conventions
Rob
Someone who combines the hippie and the hermit is Catholic writer, Sara
Maitland Part of a long tradition of Christian hermits, Sara spent forty days and
nights alone on the Isle of Skye, seeking God in the silence of the remote
Scottish island
Neil
For her, the magic of silence is something to be embraced and taught to children
Here she explains more to BBC World Service’s, The Why Factor:
Sara Maitland
Most people first encounter silence in bereavement, in relationship breakdown
and in death and that seems to be about the worst place to start People say,
‘But what should we do?’ Never, ever use ‘Go to your room on your own’ as a
punishment You use it as a reward – ‘Darling, you’ve been so good all day, you’ve
been so helpful, why don’t you go to your room for half an hour now and be on
your own?’ A treat! A reward!
Rob
Sara says that most people experience silence after a bereavement – the death
of a relative or close friend
Neil
She also thinks that parents should never tell their children, ‘Go to your room!’ as
a punishment Instead, being alone should be a treat – a reward or gift of
something special and enjoyable That way, children learn that being alone can
actually be enjoyable
Rob
I’m still wondering about that American, Christopher Wright – I suppose living
alone in the woods was a treat for him…
Neil
?I suppose so - but why did he need an alarm clock
Rob
Ah yes, your quiz question, Neil I thought maybe it was to remind him to hide his
tent Was I right?
Neil
Well incredibly, Rob, the answer was c) to wake him up at the coldest part of the
night so he didn’t freeze to death!
Rob
That’s someone who really wants to be left alone! A hermit in other words, or a
recluse – two ways of describing people who live alone and avoid others
Neil
OK, let’s recap the rest of the vocabulary, starting with dictum - a short saying
often giving wise advice or expressing a general truth about life
Rob
People who drop out reject the normal rules of society and live outside the
system
Neil
Many people experience solitude after a bereavement – the death of a close
friend or relative
Rob
And finally a treat is reward or gift of something special and enjoyable
Neil
That’s all for now, but whether you’re listening alone or with others, we hope
you’ll join us again soon, here 6 Minute English
Rob
Don't forget - you’ll find us on our website or you can download our free app, so
you won’t miss any of our programmes And we are on all the main social media
sites Bye bye!
Neil
Bye for now!
VOCABULARY
hermit
someone who lives alone and apart from the rest of society, especially for
religious reasons
dictum
short statement or saying giving wise advice or a general truth about life
recluse (noun)
someone who lives alone and deliberately avoids other people
drop out
reject the normal rules and conventions of society and live outside the system
bereavement
(sadness you feel) when a close friend or relative dies
treat
reward or gift of something special and enjoyable
