A Scottish Yarn: A Knit in Time Saves the Fabric of Life

⊙ By Ari Shapiro

翻譯：BillyBudd

The Shetland Islands in the far north of Scotland are a strange mixture of old and new. Oil and gas have brought4)tremendous [tr??mend?s] adj.極大的，巨大的tremendous wealth to these islands, yet Shetlanders are also devoted to traditional ways of life that have existed for centuries.

This is where it all begins. Shetland is home to about 400,000 sheep. They5)outnumber [a?t?n?mb?(r)] v.數目超過，比……多outnumber people here 20 to 1. So if you’re invited to someone’s home for dinner, lamb will likely be on the table. And if you’re wearing a local scarf or6)mitten [?m?t(?)n] n. 連指手套mittens, chances are it was made out of Shetland wool. Ingrid Eunson is sitting at her7)spinning wheel 紡車spinning wheel at home. She’s turning what looks like a fur ball into8)thread [θred] n. 線thread, which will eventually become yarn.

To the side, she has blue-green yarn that she dyed herself. Her hands9)enact [??n?kt] v. 表現，展現enact a10)ritual [?r?t???l] n. 習俗ritual that her ancestors have practiced for generations. Locals used to survive by trading knitted hats or stockings with fisherman on passing ships.

Here in Shetland, knitting is not a hobby

在英國的最北部，散落著約100座島嶼，隔洋遙望著209公里外的蘇格蘭——設得蘭群島。群島中有五分之四是無人島，這里沒有綠樹參天，沒有鮮花遍野，有的只是最原始的野性與荒涼。但就在這些冷硬的曠野上，扎根著一個意外柔軟的傳統——編織。即便油氣資源帶來了滔天財富，群島上千百年流傳下來的編織手藝也未被腐蝕半分，依舊在時光長河里熠熠發光。11)reserved [r??zз?vd] adj. 保留的，預訂的reserved for grannies or12)hipster [?h?pst?(r)] n. 嬉皮士，追求非主流時尚的人，通常崇尚手工制作的環保產品。hipsters. It’s something people just do because they’ve always done it.

Carol Christiansen (Expert): Knitting is what drew me here initially. I visited in 1989 as a tourist—as a knitting tourist, actually.

Carol Christiansen is originally from Seattle. Now she’s a13)curator [kj???re?t?(r)] n. 館長，管理人curator at the Shetland Museum and14)archives [?ɑ?ka?vz] n. 檔案館Archives. She loves the fact that even within this small15)cluster [?kl?st?(r)] n. （人或物的）群，叢cluster of islands, there are knitting traditions specific to each island—fine lace on the northern island of Unst, rows of colorful patterns on the sweaters of Fair Isle down south.

Carol: This is a really strong tradition. You see teenagers and young people walking around with Fair Isle16)hoodie [?h?d?] n. 連帽運動衫hoodies on now,and it’s just part of life here.

Wilma Johnson can’t even remember learning to knit.

Wilma: I just knit because it’s like breathing. Can’t do without it.

These islands are so far from any mainland, they’ve developed a culture and a dialect all their own. It’s part Scottish,part17)Scandinavian [?sk?nd??ne?v??n]adj. 斯堪的納維亞人的Scandinavian, part uniquely Shetland. And the culture18)persist [p??s?st] v. 堅持，持續persists even though the largest oil and gas19)terminal [?tз?m?n(?)l] n. 集散站，終端terminal in Europe is here, providing the islands with massive wealth. Wilma Johnson sees no sign that the traditions may fade away. Her 15-year-old granddaughter is a knitter.

Wilma: She was actually up beside me yesterday20)pinch [p?nt?] v. 偷拿pinching some of my knitting.

She says some people might be upset to be robbed by their grandchildren, but as long as her granddaughter is stealing knitting supplies, Wilma is delighted.

…chances are it was made out of Shetland wool.

Chance本身具有“可能性”的意思，“chances are（that）+從句”是一個常用英語句型，表示“有可能……”。Chance的動詞搭配“stand a chance of doing sth.”也可用來表達“有可能（成功）”。例如：

● Bring an umbrella with you because chances are it’s going to rain today.（隨身帶把傘吧，因為今天可能會下雨。）

● You stand a very good chance of winning the prize.（你獲獎的可能性非常大哦。）

參考譯文

位于蘇格蘭極北端的設得蘭群島是一個古今糅雜的奇特混合體。石油和天然氣為這些島嶼帶來了巨大財富，但設得蘭島民仍然奉行著千百年流傳下來的傳統生活方式。

一切皆源于此——設得蘭群島是約40萬只綿羊的家園，它們的數量遠遠超過了當地居民的人數，兩者的數量之比高達20比1。因此，如果你被邀請到島上某家做客的話，餐桌上極可能會有一道羔羊肉；又或者假如你正戴著當地制作的圍巾或手套，它有可能就是用設得蘭羊毛制成的。英格麗德·尤恩森此刻正坐在家中的紡車旁，她正將一團毛球狀的東西紡成線，這些線最后就會變成羊絨紗線。

她身旁還有一團她自己染的藍綠色紗線，她的雙手仿佛正在進行著一個祖先世世代代傳承下來的儀式。當地人過去編織帽子和長襪與過往船只的漁民進行交換，以此維生。

在設得蘭群島，編織并不是一個僅限于老奶奶跟嬉皮士的愛好，而是島上的人自然而然都會做的事，因為他們世代如此。

卡蘿爾·克里斯琴森（專家）：我最開始是被編織吸引來的，我1989年來這兒時只是一名游客——事實上，還是個愛好編織的游客。

卡蘿爾·克里斯琴森來自美國西雅圖，如今她已是設得蘭博物館及檔案館的館長。盡管設得蘭的島嶼數量不多，每個小島的編織傳統也各有特色：北邊的安斯特島織物有精美的花邊，南邊的費爾島毛衣則以色彩豐富的條紋式樣為特色——這一點讓她癡迷不已。卡蘿爾：這是一個非常根深蒂固的傳統。你至今仍能在街上看到青少年和年輕人穿著費爾島風格的連帽衫，因為這些都是這里生活的一部分。

威爾瑪·約翰遜甚至已經記不清她是怎么學會編織的了。

威爾瑪：我就這樣織了起來，因為編織就像呼吸一樣，沒它就活不下去了。

這些島嶼離大陸太遠了，以至于這里形成了自己獨有的文化跟方言——混合了蘇格蘭、斯堪的納維亞跟獨特的設得蘭群島味道的文化與語言。盡管歐洲最大的油氣集散地就在設得蘭群島，為當地帶來了巨大財富，可本土文化仍舊得以留存。威爾瑪·約翰遜沒看到任何表明這些傳統可能消失的跡象，她15歲的孫女也是個編織好手。

威爾瑪：實際上，她昨天就在這兒陪我，還偷偷拿走了我的一些織品。

她說，一些人可能會因為被孫輩偷東西感到沮喪，但只要她孫女拿的是編織用品，她樂得如此。