蘇格蘭——風笛與格子裙的故鄉(xiāng)

Scotland is a unique and austere place， laden with history， where you can find aristocratic palaces and castles， as well as the traditional parades in national costumes. It has some of the most beautiful cities in Europe， a living testimony of a proud and splendid past.

蘇格蘭是一個獨特的地方，歷史的厚重感隨處可見。豪門望族的府邸與城堡歷歷在目，以及穿著傳統(tǒng)服裝的儀仗隊。這些全歐洲最美麗的城市，訴說著蘇格蘭昔日的榮耀與光芒。

In order to see and discover the true soul of Scotland today， what forged the character of this splendid region， we have to go towards the northern regions， to the Grampian Mountains. Beautiful and unspoiled， it was difficult to farm. The Scots conquered the environment with simple spades and strong arms.

想體驗和發(fā)現(xiàn)真正今日的蘇格蘭，追尋這里民族精神的源泉，就得去北部的格蘭扁山區(qū)。格蘭扁山區(qū)景色怡人，決無污染，曾一度不適合耕作，蘇格蘭人硬是憑著簡單的鋤頭、鐵鍬和他們的雙手征服了生存環(huán)境。

The history of this ancient struggle， and its people's ancient love affair with the hard land， is enclosed within the walls of the Angus Folk Museum. You are able to get a feel of the typical rural atmosphere of times past from the everyday artifacts displayed here.

蘇格蘭先民的艱苦勞作史以及他們自古對這片貧瘠土地的眷戀，在安格斯民俗博物館里一覽無余。從這里展出的平常物品中，你能夠感受到那種典型的往日鄉(xiāng)間氣氛。

From coastal Aberdeen in towards the interior of the Grampian Mountains there runs the Castle Trail， a road that touches on many fortresses， which are witnesses of continual revolts against the dominion of neighboring England in Scottish history.

有一條古堡之路從沿海的阿伯丁一直蜿蜒到格蘭扁山區(qū)深處。沿途很多昔日的要塞，都是蘇格蘭在歷史上不斷反抗英格蘭統(tǒng)治的見證。

Perhaps the most exciting moment for Scottish autonomy is the one experienced inside this ancient abbey of Arbroath， where， in 1320; the Declaration of Independence was celebrated， at the instigation of King Robert the Bruce. He carried out the plan for autonomy drawn up by the great popular hero William Wallace， to whom cinema has dedicated the wonderful film Braveheart， the winner of five Oscars.

蘇格蘭爭取自治的過程中最大快人心的時刻莫過于1320年，在古老的阿布羅斯修道院，在羅伯特·布魯斯國王的鼓動下慶賀《獨立宣言》的簽訂。布魯斯采納了傳奇英雄威廉·華萊士所獻的計策，完成了自治大業(yè)，這個故事后來被改編成精彩的電影《勇敢的心》，并獲5項奧斯卡大獎。

This is Glamis Castle. It is often remembered for being the residence of King Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth in her childhood. Among the most assiduous guests here are the inevitable ghosts， which are nourished， if not actually created， by ancient popular beliefs.These have been handed down over the centuries by a people inclined to live with mystery， with the forces of the supernatural.

格拉姆斯城堡之所以聞名遐邇，是因為這里是蘇格蘭國王麥克佩斯與兒時的伊麗莎白女王的住所。如今這里最相看無厭的當數(shù)傳說中揮之不去的幽靈，這些幽靈即使不是憑空捏造的，也就是源于世代相傳的古老信仰。蘇格蘭人似乎生來就喜歡與神秘事物生活在一起，篤信超自然的力量，因此才有了這些世代相傳的傳說和幽靈。

Another attraction here is a legendary monster: the Loch Ness Monster. Is it real or imaginary， this monster， which has been nicknamed Nessie， has collected a good 3000 sightings over the last 50 years? To fuel the debate about the monster， and perhaps also curiosity about the lake， a price of 500，000 pounds sterling has been put on Nessie's head.

這里的另一個看點則是充滿傳奇色彩的尼斯湖水怪。真假姑且不論，這個昵稱尼西的怪獸在過去的半個世紀中已經(jīng)吸引了3 000余名游客。如今它頭上有50萬英鎊的懸賞，更使得關于它存在的爭論日益激烈，或許對該湖的好奇也會日盛吧。

The true flag of Scotland， tartan， is recognizable from the brightly coloured plaid patterns which are used to distinguish the various clans. Over the last few decades this fabric has made a comeback and is part of the daily life of this country.

蘇格蘭格子呢是蘇格蘭真正的旗幟。它色彩鮮明的花格子圖案曾經(jīng)是區(qū)分不同宗族的標志。在過去幾十年里，格子呢在蘇格蘭再度流行，如今則已在日常生活中不可或缺。

The typical Scottish garment， the kilt， is de rigeur when the Scots play the Great Highland bagpipes， especially when they march in parades.

蘇格蘭傳統(tǒng)的褶裥短裙按照禮節(jié)是應該在蘇格蘭人演奏著名的高地風笛時穿的，尤其是列隊前進的時候。

Bagpipes and reels open the competitions of local sporting events， which are called Highland Gatherings. The games， which have strange rules， involve a spirit that has more to do with brute force than with athletics.

風笛與里爾舞揭開了蘇格蘭高地運動盛會的序幕。運動會的比賽項目規(guī)則奇特，賽事的主題與其說是競技比賽，不如說是蠻力的較量。

尼斯湖水怪

自古至今，有不少學者對“尼斯湖水怪之謎”一直持懷疑甚至完全否定的態(tài)度。他們認為，尼斯湖根本就沒有什么怪獸，而是一種光的折射現(xiàn)象給人們造成的錯覺。有的則認為很可能是在尼斯湖湖底有一些具有浮力的漿沫石，這些漿沫石在一定的條件下浮上水面隨波飄蕩。當人們站在湖岸邊時，遠遠望去，由于視覺的錯誤，往往把奇形怪狀的漿沫石誤認為是怪獸。

但是，全世界許多著名的科學家堅信在尼斯湖中確實存在有一種至今尚未被人們查明的怪獸。他們認為，幾億年前，尼斯湖一帶原是一片極目浩瀚的滄茫海洋，后來由于地殼運動頻繁，經(jīng)歷了多次海陸變遷，才逐漸演變成今天的面貌。因此，很可能有一種尚未被人類認識的遠古動物——獨特的海棲爬蟲類至今仍然生活在尼斯湖里。這只是一種假設和推測，還需要有充分的實物證據(jù)才能證明，仍有待科學家今后進一步去深入探索和研究。

因此世界各國都拍攝了以尼斯湖水怪為題的影視作品。

◆編輯：Nina