2016-07-02

【Aiden in English】

        From hearing the name, you can expect that Peter is an important figure in this city. Not only are you correct, but you also now know one of the largest people in Russian history. Peter is in a long family line of royal blood that has been ruling the country for centuries. There are many Peters in the house of Romanov, seven, to be exact, so to narrow things down, I am talking about Peter the Great, or Peter the Third, or the only Peter that people like in Russia (Peter Tchaikovsky not included). 

        The idea behind today's tour was to visit Peter the Great summer palace known as Peterhof, or "Russian Versailles". When people like you as a king, you can do crazy things. For example, you give an architect an unlimited budget for an ornate building like the best palace as much as possible. Assuming money can buy happiness, and this architect packed so much happiness into a house as he could. To start, the palace had to be big. After getting an image in your head, double the size. Then double it again. To get from one end of the property to the other required a lot of walking, enough to tire many people in our group out. Just saying, the sightseeing was meant to have "severe" walking distance. Now that the perimeter has been set, imagine a regular stone house. Then, make every crease, joint, and ceiling carving in the walls gold, every chair, picture frame, and case covered in gems. Add mosaics of diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, and world-renowned artwork. Finally, you have extremely waxed floors that make everyone shaky and have the tourists wear disposable shoe coverings to make the entire thing seem ten times more expensive. By looking at the items, I still wonder why the palace ever asks for donations for restorations when you can simply pluck off a loose diamond or gold useless door handle and sell it for a few grand. If the idea that every gem was in the palace wasn't even enough, they added an amber room. In case you didn't know, amber, if made correctly, looks like a fire flickering in a glowing, translucent stone. 

        Not only do the Russians like Peter’s, but they also like Catherine’s. Queen Catherine had the second grand palace of St. Petersburg, and it matched Peterhof every inch of the way. In the line of royals, Catherine was not supposed to be a ruler, but she led a revolution against her estranged empirical husband and claimed the throne at the age of 34. As a German descent, Catherine the Great had controlled Russia successfully and expanded its territory from the Baltic Region where Peter the Great had overpowered to the Black Sea for another 34-year ruling until her death. The only major difference between her palace and Peterhof was the outdoor garden. It is said, in rumors, that these are over 150 fountains in Peterhof. I, personally, disagree, but it just makes it sound much more mystical. The Peterhof garden is split by the Sea Channel which consists of a row of fountains, each with perfect symmetry to another across. The most dazzling one was located in the center, featuring Samson prying open a lion's jaws spaying out water that cascaded down the stepped terraces. Very PG-13 if you ask me. 

        The Russians loved to show off wealth, and having their houses covered with money is one way to do it. Whether it makes the audience be amazed or jealous or hatred, that is another matter. It's kind of a waste, though, now that it only becomes a museum.

【红霞译文】

        想必你刚一听到彼得的名字，心中早已猜出八九不离十，没错，他堪称俄国历史上最为显赫的沙皇之一，其皇室家族统治俄罗斯帝国长达数百年。当然在罗曼诺夫王朝中前后出现过好几位名叫彼得的皇帝，准确地说一共七位，在这里我暂且只想谈论有关彼得大帝即第三位彼得，也就是俄国人民唯一喜欢的那位（不包括彼得·柴可夫斯基）。

        之所以道出上述旁白是因为今天我们要去参观彼得大帝离宫──彼得宮，享有“俄罗斯凡尔赛”之美誉。假如你登上皇帝宝座，难免想以各种形式名扬天下，譬如：不惜任何代价让建筑家为自己打造一座举世无双的宫殿，俨然摆出金钱可以买来幸福的姿态，于是这位大师尽其所能将所有代表幸福的元素全部融入使命当中。首先，宫殿必须 “大”，空间大小要比想象得成倍膨胀。第二，再使海大的奇葩翻番变成天大的极品，不让所有到访的游客从宫殿的一头走到另一头累个半死决不善罢甘休，正如游览简介上友情提示的那样，步行距离“艰苦卓绝”。好了，既然你对宫殿规模业已心中有数，那么就来联想一下正常的石屋构造，每面墙、每根梁、每块顶棚全部用纯金装饰；每把桌椅、每幅图画、每个镜框全部用宝石镶嵌；各件马赛克艺术品传世之作不是用钻石，就是用祖母绿，或者用红宝石裱背起来；最后，彼得宮的地板统统打上油光锃亮的厚蜡，滑得大家步履维艰，而且个个事先必须武装齐备一次性鞋套，其费用消耗大有贵出十倍之势。留心盘算细目，我禁不住好奇彼得宮干吗还要收费集资以便开展修缮工作，何不就近摘取一颗散落的钻戒，哪怕一个完全派不上用场的金门手把，随便拿到市场上兜售，怎么也会捞回几个万来八千的，假如宝石还不够使，干脆典当点琥珀厅里的家什。万一你对之感觉丈二和尚摸不到头脑，不妨告诉你吧，质量好的琥珀是半透明的树脂化石，光亮如珍珠，色泽如玛瑙。

        当然俄国佬不仅喜欢彼得宫，而且同样热衷叶卡捷琳娜宫。叶卡捷琳娜女王在圣彼得堡建造了第二座夏宫，比起前辈彼得富丽堂皇的宫殿有过之而无不及。当年在皇室成员中，叶卡捷琳娜本来轮不上出马当政，但她发动政变一举推翻离心离德的花心老公，于三十四岁那年如愿即位。作为日耳曼后裔，叶卡捷琳娜二世成功地统治俄罗斯长达三十四年，并把疆域从彼得三世把持的波罗的海地区扩张到黑海地区，直至六十八岁去世。叶卡捷琳娜宫和彼得宫之间主要区别在于外部花园，传说彼得宫一共有150座喷泉，我倒并不这么认为，但听起来如雷贯耳，令人感觉气贯长虹。彼得宫花园被一排喷泉组成的“海上通道”平分为二，双侧严格讲究对称，最迷人的要算中央大喷泉，神力士师西门用力拨开狮子口犬牙，水柱直冲云霄，并沿阶梯式露台自上而下狂泻而去。要我说，带有十三岁以下孩子的家长应格外当心自己的心肝宝贝，千万别被吓坏。

        俄国人喜爱炫富善长招摇，巴不得把钞票贴满自家豪宅，是否成心惹人羡慕嫉妒恨另当别论，不过实在太过浪费，幸好现在被用作博物馆供世人欣赏。