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不过在马德里，一切都已经知晓，所有的事物都已经测量好。大广场的北侧长约101.52米。它是在1619年，由德莫拉建成的。这里的温度是摄氏18.5度，风向朝西。大广场中央的菲利普三世骑马的雕像高5.43米，是由詹博洛尼亚 [11] 和皮耶罗·塔卡 [12] 合力铸造而成。旅游指南介绍这些详情时，偶尔显得有些急切。接着，它又指引我来到圣米格尔教堂。这是一座灰色的建筑物，为了不被游客一眼带过，它建得与众不同。书上这么写道：
But in Madrid everything was already known, everything had already been measured. The northern side of the Plaza Mayor was 101 metres and 52 centimetres long. It was built by Juan Gómez de Mora in 1619. The temperature was 18.5 centigrade, the wind was from the west. The equestrian statue of Philip III in the middle of the Plaza Mayor was 5 metres and 43 centimetres high and had been crafted by Giambologua and Pietro Tacca. The guidebook occasionally seemed impatient in presenting its facts. It sent me to the Pontificia de San Miguel, a grey building designed to repel the casual glances of passers-by, and declared:
这座由波纳维亚设计的长方形教堂，是少数从18世纪意大利巴罗克建筑风格获得灵感的西班牙教堂。它弧形的外观以精致的塑像点缀，展现了内外线条之美。拾阶而上，可以看见圣尤斯图斯和圣帕斯托尔的浮雕。这座教堂正是为纪念这两位圣者而建。教堂的椭圆形屋顶与拱形的屋檐交叉着，而且灰泥粉饰浓重，使教堂内部显得优雅高贵。
The basilica by Bonavia is one of the rare Spanish churches to have been inspired by 18C Italian Baroque. Its convex façade designed as an interplay of inward and outward curves, is adorned with fine statues. Above the doorway is a low relief of saints Justus and Pastor to whom the basilica was previously dedicated. The interior is graceful and elegant with an oval cupola, intersecting ribbed vaulting, flowing cornices and abundant stuccowork.
如果说我的好奇心远不如洪堡（而回床睡觉的冲动却是那么强烈），那么其中部分原因在于我们旅行的目的有别。对于任何旅人来说，一个为求得真知而进行的旅程，远比一个四处观光之旅得到更多好处。
If my level of curiosity was so far removed from Humboldt's (and my impulse to return to bed so strong), it was in part because of the range of advantages with which any traveller on a factual, as opposed to touristic, mission is blessed.
知识是有其用途的。对于测绘师和研究德·莫拉作品的学生来说，测量大广场北侧的尺寸是有用的。对气象学家来说，获知马德里中部四月天的气压也是有用的。库马纳仙人掌的圆周为1.54米。全欧洲的生物学家对洪堡的这个发现，也感到特别有兴趣，因为他们从来没有想过仙人掌可以长得这么粗大。
Facts have utility. Measuring the dimensions of the north face of the Plaza Mayor will prove useful to architects and students of the work of Juan Gómez de Mora. Knowledge of the barometric pressure on an April day in central Madrid will be useful to meteorologists. Humboldt's discovery that the circumference of the Cumanán cactus (Tuna macho ) was 1.54 metres was of interest to biologists throughout Europe, who had not suspected that cacti could grow so large.
实用的知识能够引起群众的共鸣。当洪堡于1804年8月把自己有关南美洲的研究结果带回欧洲时，他受到许多兴致勃勃的人的包围和热情款待。抵达巴黎的6个星期后，他在座无虚席的皇家学院宣读了他的第一份旅行记录。他指出了南美洲海岸太平洋和大洋洲海水的温度差异，也描述了森林里不同种类的15种猴子。他打开20个箱子，展示了各种化石和矿物样本，吸引与会者纷纷挤到前台围观。经度研究局向他索取天文观测的资料，天文台则要了他有关气压的数据。他受到夏多布里昂和施特尔夫人的宴请，也受邀加入只有名流（如拉普拉斯、贝托莱和盖吕萨克等）才有资格参加的阿奎尔学会。在英国，赖尔和胡克熟读他的作品，而达尔文也对他的大部分发现烂熟于胸。
And with utility comes an (approving) audience. When Humboldt returned to Europe with his South American facts in August 1804, he was besieged and fêted by interested parties. Six weeks after arriving in Paris, he read his first travel report before a packed audience at the Institut National. He informed them of the sea temperature on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of South America and of the fifteen different species of monkey in the jungles. He opened twenty cases of fossil and mineral specimens and many pressed around the podium to see them. The Bureau of Longitude Studies asked for a copy of his astronomic facts, the Observatory for his barometric measurements. He was invited to dinner by Chateaubriand and Madame de Staël and admitted to the élite Society of Arcueil, a scientific salon whose members included Laplace, Berthollet and Gay-Lussac. In Britain, his work was read by Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker. Charles Darwin learnt large parts of his findings by heart.
当洪堡绕着一株仙人掌打转，或在亚马孙测量温度时，其好奇背后的驱动力，肯定源于一种服务他人的意识，因此就算他受到疲劳和疾病的威胁，这种意识也能够支撑他。洪堡发现，几乎所有关于南美洲的现有资料都与事实不符，或疑问重重，他因此有机会对它们一一修正。1800年他航海到哈瓦那，他甚至发现这个西班牙海军最重要的战略基地在地图上的位置也是错误的。于是，他取出自己的测量仪器，重新确定了正确的纬度。一名西班牙元帅为此还请他吃了一顿晚餐，以示感激。
As Humboldt walked around a cactus or stuck his thermometer in the Amazon, his own curiosity must have been guided by a sense of others' interestsand bolstered by it in the inevitable moments when lethargy or sickness threatened. It was fortunate for him that almost every existing fact about South America was wrong or questionable. When he sailed into Havana in November 1800, he discovered that even this most important strategic base for the Spanish navy had not been placed correctly on the map. He unpacked his measuring instruments and worked out the correct geographical latitude. A grateful Spanish admiral invited him to dinner.
