夏至,2014-06-21
【Aiden in English】
I was sick and tired of Ocean City in MD, and so was Dad. That's when Dad had a brilliant idea to visit Baltimore and its aquarium, the largest in the nation. I agreed at once and we bolted for the car.
There was so much for a brilliant idea. The price doubled from the last time I'd been here.
As I walked into the building, I noticed that there weren’t many real exciting things to do like feed fish or touch them. Instead, there were boards of information that I barely even tried to read. Even the dolphin show was gone and the show replaced with a training demo since some trainers got killed by the trainees or dolphins during training routines. It became more controversial than ever before, though. Now only a few aquariums in the US were still hosting the dolphin shows. People also thought that it resulted in animal abuse because some animals may not like performing, which I understood. Something inside me also felt grateful of the people who noticed the animal's right and emotion.
What slapped me in the face was that when I was young, this aquarium was one of my most favorite places. Back then, I thought it was filled with wonders of the sea. And I still think so now, except Baltimore Natl. Aquarium kinda lost its luster. Probably because I expect more as I grow up, but whatever reason it is, I'm not going back.
【紅霞譯文】
我實在玩膩了馬里蘭州海洋城,老爸所見略同。正在此時,他靈機一動計上心來,何不到巴爾的摩遛達一趟,順便參觀全美最大的水族館,我舉雙手贊成。於是,倆人鑽進車裡,旋風般狂奔而去。
雖說主意不賴,但我們為此而付出加倍的代價,門票面值比我上次來訪時正好翻了一番。
我一走進大樓即刻發現,除了餵魚親手觸摸海洋動物之類的遊藝項目外,巴爾的摩國家水族館不再令我興致盎然,我甚至懶得追蹤布告欄上的消息報道。海豚表演也被取消,取而代之的訓練示範可用來畫餅充飢。海豚表演越來越有爭議,由於某些教練員因訓練海豚而橫遭海豚報復致死,現在美國國內僅有個別幾家水族館仍保留這項娛樂活動。與此同時,公眾也認為海豚表演勢必導致虐待動物,因為有的動物未必喜歡登台演出,我深表理解。值得欣慰的是,動物權利及其情感問題已經引起人們的關注。
我好像在摑自己一記耳光,回想起小時候,該水族館可謂本人最喜歡光顧的地方之一,年幼的我對大海滿懷憧憬。如今我依然迷戀十萬個為什麼,只是不再着眼於巴爾的摩國家水族館。或許隨着年齡增長,我的期望值大幅度提高,但無論何種原因,我不會故地重遊。