2016-07-12
【Aiden in English】
Do the people of Scotland drink whisky without an "e"? Well, they do, and it is probably the most popular drink. With a requirement to be fermented for three years, it is a potent, alcoholic beverage that every Scottish man enjoys. For every second, two percent of an atom evaporates, and whisky aged over forty years has a price that might as well be priceless. You must be old enough to drink and sip whisky with your beef and potatoes to be considered Scottish. Perhaps you need to eat beef and potatoes. It's a very United Kingdom-ish dish. Maybe you must be so stuffed with potatoes and roasted cows that cannibals can taste them after you die. "Wow, this human tastes like… roast beef and potatoes. How odd!" Or, even, you have to live in a medieval castle. Inveraray Castle is a notable example, as it has been home to families of Dukes and Duchesses for centuries. Featuring fantastic interior design, the castle showcases detailed paintings of world-renowned leaders and local rulers in its beautiful halls. Beware, don't let the pretty face of the house fool you; the center contains an armoury decorated with spears, rifles, blunderbusses, 10-inch knives, axes, swords of all kinds, ammunition, chest-plates, chain mail leggings, chain saddles, war maces, and every pre-Industrial Revolution lethal item that could be wielded in hand. I'm not sure about history at the moment. There might've been a chance that the Vikings were of Scottish descent. I wouldn't know because I'm not Scottish. Maybe the Scottish people have to walk around holding weapons. That makes it even more dangerous than the US these days. Perhaps on the outside, they appear to be ordinary English people discussing the weather. But when the whisky is served, they transform into savage monsters that wear helmets with two horns. Oops, I guess the stereotype is too strong. Maybe, to be Scottish, you have to be eaten by the Loch Ness monster. Not that it's real, but don't tell the people at Loch Ness, it's the main tourist attraction... Anyway, groups of scientists have tried to theorize the legends of a man-eating monster, which doesn't seem to gain any credit just from the description. So far, the best evidence, aside from century-old drawings and myths, is seismic readings in the area taken by some Italian scientists who visited the lake. There's not a lot to work off of. Oh! Perhaps being Scottish means being a bit vague at times. That's how I felt with our very Scottish tour guide today. So perhaps this is how to be Scottish. You're vague but mysterious and have been eaten by the Loch Ness monster, so you always carry a dangerous weapon to defend yourself. You have to store all your guns, live in a medieval castle, and have a farm that grows potatoes and has cows, so you always eat and taste like roast beef. And most of all, you drink the most excellent alcoholic beverage in the world, whisky, which isn't the best Water of Life. It's just that to be Scottish, you have to be stubborn. Wow, that was a load of baloney and stereotypes. That is not how to be Scottish, except for the whisky part… 【紅霞譯】
蘇格蘭人所喝的威士忌名稱中沒有非同尋常的字母“e”嗎？是的，他們可能把威士忌封為最受歡迎的飲料。威士忌需要發酵三年，烈性醇香，深得蘇格蘭男人青睞。發酵過程中，每秒鐘就有百分之二的原子蒸發，年過四十載的老窖價格狂飈，幾乎賽過無價之寶。不過即使身為蘇格蘭人，必須長到一定的歲數才能就着土豆燒牛肉喝口威士忌咂巴一下滋味。哦，或許你不得不拿土豆牛肉當下酒菜，這可是正宗的英國料理；或許你一年到頭不是吃土豆燒牛肉，就是吃牛肉燉土豆，以致百年之後，連食肉族動物都不無感觸：“哇塞，這傢伙吃起來怎麼一股土豆燒牛肉的味道，多邪乎！”
要不然你必須住在中世紀城堡里，阿瑞灣城堡即為最好的實例，過去幾十年來公爵和公爵夫人一家長期在這裡生活。城堡室內裝潢富麗堂皇，氣派的大廳依次陳列家族成員巨幅畫像，其中不乏有世界知名的領導人物以及掌管實權的地方闊佬，務必留心，千萬不要被精美的畫面所蒙蔽，大廳中央設有軍械庫，裡面擺滿了長矛、步槍、散彈槍、10英寸匕首、斧子、各種寶劍、彈藥、護胸、鏈甲護腿、鐵皮馬鞍、狼牙棒，大工業革命前焊接打制的致命器械基本上應有盡有。現在我愈發對歷史滿目迷惘，莫非北歐海盜真是蘇格蘭人，坦率地說我自己確實搞不懂到底怎麼回事，畢竟咱不是蘇格蘭後裔，沒準他們出門隨身帶槍，豈不比當今美國現況還要糟糕。從外表上看，蘇格蘭人無異於純樸的英國佬，喜歡聊聊天氣，想不到一旦沾上威士忌立刻變成頭上長角凶神惡煞的魔鬼。哎喲嘞，我覺得自己說話太過偏見。
也許身為蘇格蘭人遲早要被尼斯湖水怪吃掉，儘管純屬子虛烏有，但犯不上跟當地人矯情，反正那裡已開闢成主要的旅遊景點……總而言之，科學家們試圖對吃人妖怪做出合理解釋，這麼做本來就毫無意義。迄今為止，最佳證據還是上百年前某位意大利科學家前來尼斯湖所收羅的天書般繪畫和神話故事，難得被人破解。哎！也許生為蘇格蘭人本該似是而非，我覺得今天這位當地導遊恰好這樣。
也許這就是蘇格蘭人，看不清摸不准，被尼斯湖怪獸吃得神魂顛倒，正因如此，你們老是全副武裝，私藏槍支彈藥，不惜囚居於中世紀城堡，在自家莊園裡種植土豆飼養奶牛，這也是為什麼你吃牛肉，渾身散發出牛肉的氣味，更重要的是你喝全天下酒精含量最高的威士忌，而它並非世界上最棒的“生命之水”，倒是蘇格蘭風土人情中獨定少不了固執己見的特質。 呃，上面說的多半胡編亂造，蘇格蘭人並非如此，除了涉及到威士忌部分…… Today in History(歷史上的今天):
2016: Greenock, the Port to New World(蘇格蘭綠橡城·通往新世界的港口) 2016: Argyll & Bute in Scotland(蘇格蘭阿蓋爾-比特地區) 2016: Luss, the Dark Village SCO(蘇格蘭香草鎮·鬱悶村莊) 2016: Scottish Highlands, Best of the World(蘇格蘭高地·世界之最) 2016: Inveraray, the Mouth of the Aray SCO(蘇格蘭阿瑞灣鎮) 2014: Ocean City, NJ(新澤西州海洋城)  Panaroma of Inveraray Castle & Aray Bridge
(因弗雷里城堡與阿瑞“水道”河橋·全景)  Close-up of Inveraray Castle & Aray Bridge
(因弗雷里“水道河口”城堡與阿瑞“水道”河橋·近景)  Inveraray Castle (因弗雷里“水道河口”城堡 07-12-2016)
 Aray Bridge over River Aray (阿瑞河上阿瑞橋)
 Panorama of Inveraray Castle
(因弗雷里城堡全景 07-12-2016)  Guesthouse (客房)
Wooden Eagle (木刻老鷹) 
Giant Pine (巨型松樹 07-12-2016)
 Garden (花園 07-12-2016)
Armoury Hall (武器廳)  Musket Display @ Armoury Hall (武器廳·滑膛槍展)
Sword Display @ Armoury Hall (武器廳·劍展)  Atrium (中庭)
Mahogany-Carved Chair (雕花桃花心木椅)  State Dining Room (宴會廳)
 Silverware (銀器)
 Silver Plates (銀盤)
 Gold Sailing Boat (金帆船)
 Beauvais Tapestry Drawing Room
(博韋“美麗山谷”掛毯會客廳 07-12-2016)
Princess Louise (路易絲公主)  Lady Charlotte Campbell (夏洛特·坎貝爾夫人)
Mary Sherard, Mrs Peter Whitcombe
(瑪麗·謝拉德，即彼得·惠特科姆夫人)
Anne Russell, Countess of Bedford
(安妮·拉塞爾，即貝德福德伯爵夫人)
Mary Langham, Countess of Warrington, a Prominent Figure in 17th-Century England
(沃靈頓伯爵夫人瑪麗·蘭厄姆——17世紀英國傑出人物)
Louisa Grenville, Later Countess Stanhope
(路易莎·格倫維爾，即後來的斯坦霍普伯爵夫人)
Angelica Magdalena Wharton (安吉莉卡·瑪格達萊娜·沃頓)
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Queen Consort of King George III of England for 58 Years, the Longest Reign of Any Consort
(梅克倫堡—斯特雷利茨的夏洛特·英格蘭國王喬治三世的王后，在位58年，是所有王后中在位時間最長的)
Wedding Dress Worn by Eleanor Cadbury (埃莉諾·吉百利“明亮·煙霧城堡”公爵夫人婚禮裙) Crosslinks(相關博文):
UK(出遊英國) Europe(歐洲掠影) 7th Grade(初中二年級) |
