2014-05-24

【Aiden in English】

      Thomas Jefferson had a lot of great accomplishments throughout his lifetime, such as commissioning the Lewis and Clark Expedition after Louisiana Purchase, writing the Declaration of Independent and the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom, establishing of the Univ. of Virginia, serving as an ambassador to France, etc. One of his most grandiose and spectacular, as many visitors would appreciate, was Monticello or a little mount in Italian which Jefferson designed himself after his retirement from the political career. The acres upon acres were well splendid to create both Italian and French classical architectures designated as a UNESCO Heritage Site. The third US President's paradise-like mansion was so breathtaking, yet being organized at the same time was amazing.

      Mulberry Row near Monticello was home to about 600 slaves whom Jefferson possessed to work on his property, plantation, and fields. Even though he wasn't proud of slavery, it went against his famous quotation "All Men Are Created Equal" in the Declaration of Independence, which sounded a beginning of the end of slavery.

      As soon as you enter the mansion, you would probably notice the weird display of animal bones and Native American items in the entrance hall. Jefferson was very strict on receiving the furs and hides of any animals that Lewis and Clark collected when they cross the Mississippi River. You might also notice the octagon shaped rooms to receive more natural light, the seven-day Great Clock to indicate the accurate time by the position of iron weights, or even the Mars yellow walled dining room for his much celebrated ingenuity and taste in decoration. Every turn in the house looked like entering another wonderland.

      Jefferson had a heck of an imagination and made many great things in the daily life. One of the most famous would be the dumbwaiter. It was hidden inside the wood frame of a fireplace on both sides and suspended by ropes to carry wines in the dining hall. The world of busboys were changed (assuming there were busboys back then) because a bottle of wine could be delivered from the cellar downstairs much easier. Yet the real reason of inventing the dumbwaiter was that Jefferson tried to avoid the slaves coming inside as much as possible. In the 1800's, everyone had a problem with races.

      Jefferson's private library was one of a kind. There were thousands of volumes at his disposal and he used them wisely. At a time, the US Congress bought some books from him. But later, he thought was a huge mistake. I guess a genius without books feels like a plant without water.

      The veggie garden became another sightseeing place in Monticello. It had from squash to different kinds of kales. What was a real shocker was that the garden went on for 500-600 feet/152-183 meter in length. Beyond the massive patch laid a lush forest of nature. After strolling through all, I agreed that Monticello was a masterpiece of time.

【紅霞譯文】

      托馬斯‧傑斐遜一生中立下了許多豐功偉績，譬如﹕路易斯安那購地案之後差遣劉易斯和克拉克遠征﹔起草《獨立宣言》和制定《弗吉尼亞宗教自由法》﹔創建弗吉尼亞大學﹔出任駐法大使﹔等等。退出政治舞台之後，由其本人親手設計的最雄偉壯觀並深受民眾稱讚的“小山包”——蒙蒂塞洛莊園(意大利語)創造了又一部不朽作品，這座被聯合國教科文組織列為《世界遺產名錄》的意—法古典建築傲然屹立在一碧萬頃之中。美國第三任總統的豪宅酷似天堂，令人嘆為觀止﹔當然精心管理這棟別墅同樣超乎尋常。

      傑斐遜擁有600名黑奴，他們住在蒙蒂塞洛附近的桑樹街，為傑斐遜打理莊園、種植場以及林區。儘管傑斐遜並非以奴隸制為榮，但其行動卻與《獨立宣言》中所倡導的“人人平等”背道而馳。乍聽起來，這句至理名言如同宣告奴隸制結束。

      當走進莊園，你可能會發現到門廳兩側懸掛的動物模型和印第安人土特產品，這些都是劉易斯和克拉克巡視密西西比河兩岸時為傑斐遜特別收集來的實體皮毛標本。此外，你也許還注意到受光面大的八角形房間、靠鉛錘位置指示一周七天的“大時鐘”、或者時髦且不失高雅的火星黃餐廳。總而言之，無論從哪個角度來欣賞蒙蒂塞洛莊園，獨具匠心的設計處處引人入勝。

      傑斐遜想像豐富，在日常生活里屢見不鮮，其中最著名的就是藏在餐廳壁爐木框兩側的升降機，用繩索吊掛酒瓶，跑堂的小工這下終於可以喘口氣力了(假如當年有小工一說)，因為酒瓶可以直接從地窖傳輸上來。其實，傑斐遜最初發明升降機的真正用意卻想儘量避免接觸黑奴，追溯到十九世紀，人們或多或少都帶有種族色彩。

      傑斐遜私人圖書館收藏了數以千計的書籍，博覽群書使他學富五車才高八斗。據說有一次，美國國會曾從傑斐遜手中買下不少書，沒想到事後他非常後悔。看來天才離開了書本就像植物被切斷了水源供給，頓時生命失去了靈魂。

      菜地成為蒙蒂塞洛另一景點，從南瓜到各種羽衣甘藍，品種繁多。然而，真正令人驚詫之處在於，整個自留田占地500－600英尺／152－183米長，其外圍綠樹成蔭，環抱大片森林。參觀完畢，我發自心底感嘆，蒙蒂塞洛莊園不愧為時代的傑作。