2016-07-10

【Aiden in English】

        The Irish are a much-labeled type of people, with stereotypes haunting every aspect of their culture. Oh, well, some may say they like the color green, but it actually is quite unlucky for their culture. Leprechauns are real people. They just were mistaken as mythical beings by the locals. Then again, I'm not sure what you would call people randomly popping out of hillsides. Relatively, the version on the 600 B.C.E events was taken very real as it could have been. At least there wasn't another religion that sprang up out of this story. 

        But what is true is that Ireland contains a history full of belief in supernatural power and religion. Figures as in St. Patrick, St. Kevin, and other religious saints have their statues and faces everywhere around the capital, and the effect of Christianity lasts even further than the cities. About an hour and a half away from Dublin, it lays a ruin of an old Glendalough Monastery burned down by flames. This area of County Wicklow has a long history of being raided by Vikings, giving another stereotype of them being a rather mad bunch of travelers. A group of "soggy campers", as we Americans would say. The monastery had a cemetery, which nowadays becomes the main attraction. 

        Legends say that under a holy trinity cross lies buried, in a deep sleep, St. Kevin. The Celtic cross is different from the other Christian symbols in the sense that the intersection is surrounded by a circle, which was the particular symbol of Ireland at the time. It represented the sun, which was considered, and really is now too, the most crucial part of society and in general, Earth. The cross and the circle are combined, showing the two most important symbols in life as a Christian living in Ireland. Most people come to see this stone tomb as well as the Irish round tower erected in the center of the cemetery in the 19th century. 

        The round tower serves a protective purpose. Earlier, I've mentioned the raids made by the Vikings. Obviously, people wouldn't have just left their stuff lying around nor have their people slaughtered in the backyard. So a 98-foot/30-meter tall, circular tower was built for the safekeeping of items and the safekeeping of people's heads. Vikings, back in the old day, liked to hit-and-run, not staying very long. Certainly not long enough for the hiding people in the tower to run out of food and water. The gateway was small enough for one man to hold the fort, and the doorway was a few meters off the ground to stop a steady flow of Vikings. But, a flaw was soon discovered, since an open flame in the tower would suffocate anyone inside. Some people must've thought, "Hey, if there aren't any openings, we'll be safe". Unfortunately, it backfired a few times, but the Vikings didn't stay that long to formulate a plan to this degree. I guess some of the TV shows starring the dumb Viking are correct. 

        Ireland's mixed history in the fabled Vikings to the historic change in St. Kevin is really something to look at. Whether you enjoy the stories of shamrocks or little men popping out of rocks, there is a legend for everyone just like Ireland: there is something for everyone.

【紅霞譯文】

        愛爾蘭人相當模式化，這一點從自身文化各個方面透視出來。也許有人會說他們喜歡綠色，但實際上綠色未必確切表達民族精粹。妖精本來實實在在，結果被當地人誤以為詭秘莫測，話又說回來，我也吃不准該怎麼面對冷不丁從山坡下來的陌生人，而對於發生在公元前六百年的歷史，人們往往能夠客觀地看待它，至少無需考慮其它信仰的影響。

        但是愛爾蘭歷史上一向尊崇神威信奉宗教，聖帕特里克、聖凱文以及其他聖徒的人物造型和光輝形象在首都大街小巷比比皆是，基督教歷史悠久，可以說早在城鎮建立之前就已經深入人心。驅車離開都柏林約有一個半小時之後，我們便來到一所古老的格蘭達洛修道院，修道院曾因大火燒毀而變成廢墟。過去很長時間裡，威克洛郡這一帶地區經常遭受北歐海盜侵襲，當地人被迫流離失所四處流浪，在美國人眼中真可謂“窩囊廢”。修道院墓地保留完好，如今業已成為遊客必經之地。

        傳說這座修道院聖十字架底下熟睡着一位聖徒──聖凱文，凱爾特十字與別的基督符號不同，其中央交叉處連接着一個圓環，那個年代實為愛爾蘭獨家使用，圓環代表太陽，過去是這樣，現在也是如此，最重要的是它隱喻社會，也就是通常所指的地球。十字與圓環相結合，充分顯示愛爾蘭基督聖明。多數遊人親臨現場參觀墓碑石刻，還有十九世紀屹立在墓地中間的愛爾蘭圓塔。

        圓塔的建造純屬為了自我保護，上面我已提到北歐海盜，有了它，祖先們就不會把好吃好用的東西留給敵人任意踐踏，也不會活活被屠殺慘死在自家後院。於是一個大約98英尺／30米高的圓形龐然大物就這樣被豎立起來，一來可以保障東西安在，二來還能免遭腦袋落地。那時北歐海盜喜歡打一槍換一個地方，無心按營紮寨，正好讓老百姓躲在裡面夠吃夠喝。塔口小到僅要一個人把守，塔門距離地面足有幾米遠，有效地控制海盜人流。可是建後不久即發現裡面因為僅設一個通風口而造成呼吸不暢，有人肯定會想：“嗨，沒有開口才叫安全。”但事與願違，幸虧北歐海盜來去匆匆，愛爾蘭日不必採取應對措施，現在我覺得電視裡把北歐海盜說成傻冒毫不為過。

        因為北歐海盜神出鬼沒，使得愛爾蘭歷史悲喜交錯虛實相生，聖凱文的出現改變了愛爾蘭人命運，這些事實都值得晚輩了解關注。你無論喜歡四葉草的故事還是石縫裡蹦出來小鬼頭的童話，愛爾蘭本身就是一個傳說：總是令世人皆大歡喜。