2016-07-11

【Aiden in English】

        Notice how I'm calling it "Northern" Ireland. It technically is a different country, since it uses a separate government and leadership, but is still considered a part of the UK. Ireland was divided when the nation declared independence from Great Britain, with a fourth of the people saying they were against farmers being the dominating power. So Northern Ireland was formed. There isn't much difference between the two countries, except the large factor of Giant's Causeway outside of Belfast. 

        The world is a very huge place. When events with extreme rarity don't occur, many people believe that they will never happen. Think about it again. This world has a lot of areas, which allows many chances for an event to happen. In addition, with a few billion years that the earth has been around, the probability that an event has happened from the beginning must be somewhat guaranteed, especially if it has anything to do with nature. I mean, it's not like anyone was rushing nature. Obviously, it isn't everywhere that an event such as this would pop up, so the sight would still be stunning to see. What exactly is what the Giant's Causeway is. 

        The Giant's Causeway is a small piece of land made up of approximately 40,000 interlacing basalt columns, jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. Why do we come to see the rocks? This reoccurring theme of viewing the different internationally famous rocks has become quite a ritual to this trip now. From watching enigmatic mountains to magical stones to mythical ... rock columns, its special hard material seems to be in the wrong league. But, I was incorrect. It is a natural event that's rarity quite distinguishes itself from the others. About 60 million years ago, the area was on the Ring of Fire, and lava was always covering and recovering the grounds. Towards the top, the cooled lava becomes cracked and broken, but down lower in the earth's crust, the lava cracks in shapes, making five, six, seven-sided figures. That is why the Giant's Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since the stones on the bottom have pushed their way up using uplift and erosion on the surface. Now, people can see the natural pier of hexagonal rocks stretching out into the waters. They actually are pillars, rising to nearly forty meters in height. Examples of this can be found on the hillsides, where the dirt has been eroded, which exposed the huge pillars. They seem to be the doings of God, which is not far off. Of course, when there is a scientific theory, there must be a myth... 

        Once upon a time, Fionn MacCool, an Irish giant, lived on this island. He was the greatest, tallest, strongest of them all, except one. On the island of Scotland lived Benandonner who was the largest of the giants. Fionn wanted to find out who the best was, and threw down these rocks to form a bridge, now known as the Causeway. There is proof of a bridge since in Scotland laid the other end of this bridge, although nowhere near as grand. Benandonner's size surprised Fionn who ran back to his wife Oonagh in Ireland, asking for help. He was then dressed as a baby, and when Benandonner arrived, he saw the child. Benandonner, seeing how large a baby was, wondered at the height of the father, and fled. On his way back to Scotland, he let the bridge collapsed. And now, we just witness the remains. Believe what you want.

【紅霞譯文】

        請注意我開始稱呼“北”愛爾蘭了，實際上它屬於另外一個國家，有着獨立的政體和領導班子，但仍歸英國管轄。愛爾蘭脫離大不列顛統治之後又分成兩個部分，由於四分之一的人口主張反對農民當權，於是北愛爾蘭應運而生。除了貝爾法斯特城外的巨人堤道獨放異彩，愛爾蘭與北愛爾蘭之間說來並無根本區別。

        茫茫宇宙氣象萬千，寒來暑往四季交替，三九天罕見桃花盛開，正因如此，許多人才以為這種稀奇古怪的事情從不會發生。再仔細考慮一下，大千世界偶然事件時有發生，況且地球已運轉了上億年，該發生的事情遲早都要發生，尤其那些順應自然的東西，換句話說這是不以人的意志為轉移的。當然並非每個地方都有大自然打造的撼世傑作，一旦閃現在眼前，無不令人嘆為觀止，這正是巨人堤道給我留下的印象。

        巨人堤道是大西洋上一小片大約由四萬根連鎖狀玄武岩石柱組成的海岸，為什麼要來看這些玩意呢？原來參觀形狀迥異國際知名的岩石現已成為旅遊時尚，從莫測的山脈至離奇的石頭再到神秘的……岩柱，其特殊硬質構造看來不過是巧合而已，但我錯了，自然造化的奧秘無異於與眾不同。大約60萬年前，該地區恰好處在火環之中，火山噴發的熔岩幾經冷卻凝固，與之接觸的岩石出現裂縫甚至破碎，稍微深層的岩石則形成五邊形、六邊形、七邊形等不同形狀，憑藉內力向上隆起，暴露在外的表面日久風化，這就是為什麼巨人堤道被列為聯合國教科文組織世界遺產。現在人們可以登上這些海邊由六邊形岩石形成的自然碼頭進行察訪，它們實際上都是石柱，足有四十米高，飽經風化的山崖也能發現類似的結構，大自然鬼斧神工，真是人間勝景。當然了，哪裡有科學理論，哪裡就有神話傳說……

        從前有一位名叫芬·麥庫爾的愛爾蘭巨人生活在該島上，魁梧高大，強悍無比，天底下只有一人敢跟他較勁，那就是住在對面蘇格蘭島的巨人之最貝南德納。芬想要弄清誰是最厲害的巨人，於是就順手撿起這裡的石頭搭成一座被後人稱為堤道的橋梁。事實勝於雄辯，蘇格蘭境內確有另一端堤道，只是規模大小遠不及愛爾蘭這頭。貝南德納的個子讓芬驚奇萬分，芬火速跑回愛爾蘭告訴太太烏娜，然後按照吩咐打扮成嬰兒模樣，等貝南德納來到愛爾蘭時，眼前出現的竟是滿臉稚氣的小屁娃，心想既然孩子都長這麼大，要是真到孩他爹那把年紀，塊頭不定得大出多少倍，隨即逃之夭夭。在趕回蘇格蘭途中，貝南德納故意拆斷堤道，因此我們現在看到的不過是剩下的那段而已，信不信由你。