愛丁堡驚魂夜：一個非分的要求

By+Christine+Mc+Cafferty

Christine and Shannon， our two young travellers， had finished up their work at the inn near Henley-on-Thames2. They were catching a ride with one of the young men who had lived in the same house in which the two girls had shared a rented room. They were travelling by car from England all the way out to Edinburgh3， Scotland， in two days. It was a free road trip and sightseeing tour； something our girls would NEVER say no to…

The first stop after Henley-on-Thames was the Silverstone Circuit4. The first World Championship Grand Prix was held at Silverstone in 1950.5 It still hosts a Grand Prix Formula 1 race each year. Today， though， nothing was happening at Silverstone， but Shannon and I vowed to each other that we would watch a Grand Prix together that year. Rather an ambitious goal， especially as we had little idea where or when the races were held each year！

Then it was through Leicester， Nottingham， Sheffield， Darlington， Durham， Gateshead， Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed.6 Actually we travelled through many other towns and cities on this rather long way to Scotland， but dont you just love the sound of those names？Ian， our driver， stopped at Durham so that we could see the Durham Cathedral7. The Cathedral is recognised as one of the great buildings of Europe. It， along with Durham Castle， is a World Heritage Site. They stand grandly on a rocky outcrop， with the medieval city of Durham below and a river sweeping round.8 What a sight！

The site has been a Christian holy place since around AD 635， and parts of the Cathedral are well over 1，000 years old. Like many other great churches， the cathedral was built on at different times through history， and this is reflected in the many styles and features of the church and its many inner rooms and chapels9. This Cathedral is primarily in Norman style， which means that it was most influenced by the Normans who invaded and ruled over England from 1066.

Without the other two young men who they had shared the house with around， Ian was very sweet. We overnighted10 at a B&B and he paid the bill for two rooms！ A B&B is a bed and breakfast， and that is what you get. Different from a hotel， B&Bs are often private family homes and have between four and eleven rooms.

The trip was so much fun that we got to Edinburgh too soon. It was here that Ian would turn around and head back south. Shannon and I would stay to continue our adventure.

We werent going to be completely alone though. In fact I had a contact—an important one， it had come with the highest recommendation from one of my very good friends. During my time waitressing back home in the fancy11 Italian coffee， I had befriended the chef Carlo. He was a gentle giant of a fellow： kind， generous and very protective of me. Hed been very concerned about me setting off to Europe， practically alone， at such a young age. As a parting gift， hed even purchased me the backpack I was using. Prior to leaving， he had assured me that he had some very good friends in Edinburgh who would not only treat me like gold， but give me a job too！

On his word， I had Ian drop us off near the Italian restaurant at the address that Carlo had given me. We said goodbye to Ian and he drove off. We walked in boldly and I asked for Carlos friend， Franco， the owner of the restaurant. He was not there.

One of his underlings12， Leonardo， another one of the names that Carlo had given me， was though. He seemed incredibly excited to meet us two girls and very friendly. Hardly containing himself13， he invited us to stay at his house and he immediately took us there.

It was an apartment across the road from the restaurant. It was pretty bare in terms of furniture， but there were two rooms， each with a mattress and bedding.14 At least well have our own room—and it is free too， we agreed.

Leonardo was buzzing15 in Italian on his phone the whole time. He said that Franco， the restaurant owner， and the only person who could give us a job， had insisted that that very night we had to go meet him. We showered， and dressed in our best to impress—after all our future as waitresses was on the line！16 How I wished I had a better dress and a smart pair of black heels like my fashionable Belgian lady friend， Helga， had suggested. A taxi was called and we were taken to Francos apartment. How important we felt！

It was a very plush and lavish apartment，17 like something from an Italian fashion magazine. It felt like we were somewhere in Italy rather than in Edinburgh， Scotland！

Franco was a very suave smooth-speaking Italian man.18 Actually he was creepy19 and I didnt feel comfortable at all. I looked at Shannon and wondered if shed also noticed that he was licking his lips like a wolf when we walked in the door. I caught her eye and knew that she was wary20 too. He offered us wine and invited us to get comfortable on the sofas. Leonardo was sent to wait in the reception area.

After all the over-friendly and flattering21 greetings were out the way， Franco pulled a sad face. He told us that， unfortunately， he did not like Carlo， and owed him no favours. But maybe， he said， he could learn to like us… if… By this he implied that， if he was going to help us at all， it would not be because of Carlo—but rather because of something we could do for him…

I could not believe that my good friend Carlo had put me in touch with this unpleasant man！ Franco said in a very round-andabout22 way that， if the two of us could make ourselves available to him as something like girlfriends， probably a lot more… probably a lot less... depending on how you look at it， we could get a job from him—and maybe even a place to stay in his luxury apartment. Well， we were not in the least bit impressed， quite horrified in fact. Feeling a little nervous， we both decided to play it easy. It seemed safest that way.

“Oh， yes， of course， you are lonely and looking for friends，” I said， playing innocent. “Well have to give your kind offer a lot of thought.”

Shannon joined in， “Yes all of our belongings are back in Leonardos apartment so we will need to go back there for the night. He had promised us a room there and we dont want to be rude.”

“Yes，” I said， “We dont want to be rude， do we？ Tomorrow first thing， though well be in touch.”

I then said that wed had a long day， and Shannon yawned23. We thanked him for his hospitality and kindness， and suggested that he call the taxi. We left with a great deal of relief.

Back in Leonardos apartment， we didnt feel very comfortable either. We immediately said we were tired and went to our room. However， we did not get too much sleep as all night long we could hear Leonardo shuffling24 strangely in his bed， from the other room. Shannon and I were unhappy.

Early next morning we were relieved to find that he had to head off to work early and would not be back till evening. He gave us a front door key and showed us how to get in and out. We were polite and friendly， and gave the expectation that wed be there on his return. No sooner had he gone when we had a quick shower and packed up all our stuff. We wanted to escape from that place as soon as possible and felt rather lucky that we were safe.

We actually felt quite angry that Franco had made such an indecent proposal and then had to experience an uncomfortable night with a weirdo25 in the room next door. As payment for our misery， and given our very poor budget， we decided we should at least have a good breakfast before we went. After all， he had pointed us to the fridge though I dont think that he expected us to drink all his orange juice and eat all his cheese， biscuits， fruit， ice cream and chocolate. Then we had a bowl of cornflakes for good measure.26 The cupboards were bare， but who knew when we would eat again！

Finally， we were free to do what we had actually come to Edinburgh for—sightseeing， especially now that our job hunt had gone so badly wrong.

1. indecent： 無禮的，不合適的。

2. Henley-on-Thames： 泰晤士河畔的亨利小鎮，位于英格蘭牛津郡南部。

3. Edinburgh： 愛丁堡，蘇格蘭首府，位于蘇格蘭東南部。

4. Silverstone Circuit： 銀石賽道，位于英格蘭中部，1950年成為第一場世界一級方程式錦標賽的賽場，并于1987年起成為其固定賽道。

5. World Championship： 指世界一級方程式錦標賽（FIA Formula 1 World Championship），簡稱Formula 1或F1，于1950年首次舉行，是當今世界最高水平的賽車比賽；Grand Prix： 大獎賽，是法語詞，與英文中的Grand Prize對等，每個一級方程式賽季都包括許多分站的比賽，這些比賽稱為大獎賽，通常以舉辦國名稱命名，大多有其傳統的比賽賽道。

6. 本句中提到的城市依次為萊斯特、諾丁漢、謝菲爾德、達林頓、達勒姆、蓋茨黑德、泰恩河畔紐卡斯爾、特威德河畔貝里克，是作者和朋友從英格蘭中部一路向北經過的城市。

7. Durham Cathedral： 達勒姆大教堂（又譯杜倫大教堂），始建于1093年，是英國最典型的諾曼式教堂，同附近的達勒姆城堡（Durham Castle）一起被列為聯合國教科文組織的世界遺產地（World Heritage Site）。

8. 它們雄偉地高踞于裸露的巖石上，俯瞰著中世紀的達勒姆城和環繞流淌的河水。outcrop： 露出地面的巖層；medieval： 中世紀的，中古時期的。

9. chapel：（附屬于大教堂的）小教堂。

10. overnight： 過（一）夜。

11. fancy：（旅館、餐廳等）昂貴的，豪華的。

12. underling： 下屬，部下。

13. contain oneself： 克制自己。

14. bare：（墻壁、表面等）無陳設的，無裝飾的；mattress：床墊。

15. buzz： 興奮熱烈地低聲談話。

16. 我們梳洗完畢，穿上了最好的衣服，希望能給對方留個好印象，畢竟未來能否得到服務員的工作還懸而未決。on the line： 懸而未決，模棱兩可。

17. plush： 豪華的，高級的；lavish： 奢侈的，華麗的。

18. suave： 溫文爾雅的，文縐縐的（含有不真誠之意）；smoothspeaking： 講話圓滑世故的。

19. creepy： 使人緊張的，令人害怕的。

20. wary： 留神的，謹慎的。

21. flattering： 奉承的，討好的。

22. round-and-about：（說話、行事等）繞圈子的，不直接的。

23. yawn： 打哈欠。

24. shuffle： 翻來覆去，移來移去。

25. weirdo： 怪人。

26. cornflake： 玉米片；for good measure： 另外，作為附加的東西。