Hello. This is 6 Minute
English from BBC Learning
English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Rob.
Do you enjoy your own
company, Rob? Do you like
being alone? Or do you
prefer spending time
with friends?
Well, recently I haven't
seen my friends much
because of coronavirus - in
fact, I've hardly seen
anyone this past year!
It sounds like Rob has
become a bit of a hermit -
someone who lives alone
and apart from society.
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.
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.
Throughout history and
across all cultures, there
have been people who
choose to leave behind
the life and people the
know to live in isolation
and silence.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Here's Meng Hu talking
about Confucius to BBC
World Service programme,
The Why Factor:
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.
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.
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.
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.
A bit like the hippies
in the 1960s, you mean?
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.
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.
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:
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!
Sara says that
most people experience
silence after a
bereavement - the
death of a relative
or close friend.
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.
I'm still wondering
about that American,
Christopher Wright - I
suppose living alone
in the woods was
a treat for him...
I suppose so - but
why did he need
an alarm clock?
Ah yes, your quiz
question, Neil. I
thought maybe it
was to remind him
to hide his tent.
Was I right?
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!
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.
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.
People who
drop out reject
the normal rules
of society and live
outside the system.
Many people
experience solitude
after a bereavement -
the death of a close
friend or relative.
And finally a
treat is reward
or gift of something
special and enjoyable.
That's all for now,
but whether you're
listening alone or
with others, we
hope you'll join us
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6 Minute English.
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Bye bye!
Bye for now!