煙熏桑拿房：愛沙尼亞人滌蕩身體與心靈之所

In the deciduous forests of southern Estonia, small cabins made of logs layered with moss dot the countryside. These are the smoke saunas — places to bathe bodies and cleanse spirits. The aromas of alder wood and stripped birch, burning below hot stones, waft through the air. Once the stones reach peak heat, the smoke is vented out with the help, it’s said, of a mythical “smoke eater.” Inside the cabin, a caretaker whisks visitors’ skin, delivering gentle beatings with a bouquet of leaves gathered, as at the sauna in Vorumaa at left, from the surrounding woods as the hot air alleviates the anxiety that comes with living in one of the world’s most technologically savvy populations. For three to five hours at a time, Estonians go back and forth from hot cabins to cold ponds nearby. Generations of Estonian families have marked the special occasions of life and death and healing in these small cottages and communal sweats — the oldest written references to the practice date back to at least the 13th century, and Unesco includes the tradition as a part of “the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.” But the tradition is productive, too: It turns freshly slaughtered livestock and wildlife into smoked meat to be eaten for a post-sauna meal. In a smoke sauna, you are meant to breathe deeply, to relax, to feel the heat and then to plunge into the chill of the pond. Jaime Lowe

愛沙尼亞南部的落葉林中，生著青苔的原木小屋點綴在鄉(xiāng)野間。它們是煙熏桑拿房——滌蕩身體和心靈之處。熱石頭底下燃燒的赤楊木和去皮樺木散發(fā)出香氣，飄蕩在空氣中。一旦石頭達到最高溫度，就在所謂的神秘“食煙者”(smoke eater)幫助下把煙排出去。小屋內(nèi)，一名服務(wù)員以一束采集自周圍樹木的葉子輕拂游客的肌膚，并溫柔地拍打——就像在上圖左側(cè)位于沃魯?shù)男∧疚堇锬菢?mdash;—與此同時，熱氣緩解了因置身世界上高科技普及程度最高的國家之一而生出的焦慮。在三五個小時的時間里，愛沙尼亞人會數(shù)度往返于熱氣騰騰的桑拿房和附近清涼的水池之間。這些小屋見證了一代又一代愛沙尼亞人的生死病愈帶來的特殊場合，以及他們共同揮汗的經(jīng)歷——關(guān)于煙熏桑拿的最古老文字記錄至少可以追溯至13世紀，聯(lián)合國教科文組織已將該傳統(tǒng)認定為“人類非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)”的一部分。但這項傳統(tǒng)也頗具生產(chǎn)力：它能把新宰殺的家畜和野生動物變成熏肉，供人在蒸過桑拿后大快朵頤。在煙熏桑拿房里，你要深呼吸，要放松，要感受那熱氣，然后躍入涼得沁人心脾的池塘里。Jaime Lowe