2014-10-09

【Aiden in English】

        The perfect place to travel to the past, well, without traveling to the past is the Renaissance Faire in PA. It's a place where the year turns to 1525 and everyone is doing what everybody would do in the 16^th century. Today, as a traditional 6^th grade field trip, I would venture to the past for a day and discover how different life looked like back then.

        To start, the Renaissance Faire is not present day and you wouldn't find Macy's in the fair. All the workers dressed in costume and had a role. While they played their parts, we had ours to play as well. So when a knight or baron saw us, he would welcome us formally as if we were royalty or something special. That's exactly how we were treated. It was the royalty.

        After all the excitement was over, I went to my group of five boys and began the dangerous journey to the Mud Pit where people frolicked in mud. For some reason, I thought it was a lot more gross than funny, probably because I was here before. However, everyone seemed to have a good time. But even so, the mud show still gave me a chuckle, and it also gave me a pair of pants covered in mud.

        My group and I then traveled across the whole fair in search for the games. After discovering four tents of fun games, our chaperone, Mrs. Burns, let us choose any we wanted. Obviously, the four games had to be interesting, cool, and violent for boys to be attracted to. They were: knife throwing, ax throwing, archery, and ninja-star throwing. Since I'd always wanted to be a ninja, I chose the ninja stars. After trying, my future became clear: I was not meant to be a ninja.

         So we went on roaming around, searching for things that interested us. Soon we were just wondering in circles, occasionally stopping for the washroom. I was just about finished when we went to the final show The Ultimate Jousting. But the show looked much more than a simple jousting. First two champions approached each other ready to fight. There were Sir William, the champion knight who battled for the good and Sir Corway, the evil knight. Sir William easily beat Sir Corway, but had mercy. And then, Sir Corway brought some men and attacked the castle. Cannons blasted the battlefield as fire was raging and knights were fighting. It was chaos. Finally, Sir William, King Henry III, and the knights killed Sir Corway. What spectacular ending!

        I enjoyed the Renaissance Faire even the second time around. In fact, I might come again if I had time down the road. And now, I know what life looked like 500 years ago.

【红霞译文】

        穿越时空，体验从未经历的过去，宾州“文艺复兴节”无疑为大伙提供了仰观天象回顾历史的最佳场所，让目光全部聚焦在十六世纪1525年人们的衣食住行。今天按照惯例，我参加初中一年级实地考察活动，借助一整天课外时间饱尝文艺复兴时期世情百态，并发掘不同时代的轶事趣闻。

        首先，“文艺复兴节”并非现代生活的写照，因此你根本看不到“梅西百货公司”之类的商店杂铺，所有的工作人员身着古装，分别扮演不同角色，各尽其职﹔我们有备而来，同样肩负着光荣使命。这下可好，每当看见大队人马到来，“骑士”或“男爵”便亲自出动热烈欢迎，好像我们是皇亲贵族或者身份特殊的贵宾，礼仪十分隆重。皇亲贵族待遇嘛﹗

        热闹了一阵子，我随小组一行五人共同踏上通往泥坑的危险旅程，在泥坑里人们摸打滚爬，无所顾忌。出于某种原因，我并不感冒黏乎乎的泥巴，也许由于先前曾来过一回，已体验过同样的经历。然而，其他同伴却个个情绪高昂。尽管如此，我还是非常欣赏泥人表演，自己的裤腿为之也沾满泥巴。

        过后，我们小组成员开始踏破铁鞋四处搜寻游戏，好不容易从四个帐篷里找出上手的游戏，领队伯恩斯阿姨允许我们由着性子撒野似地随意玩耍。毫无疑问，四个游戏不但有趣酷得要死，而且打打杀杀刺激非凡，否则有愧於哥儿们豪掷的宝贵光阴。这四个游戏分别为﹕扔刀、掷斧、射箭、 忍者飞星。由于一直胸怀“忍者”志向，我才选玩“忍者飞星”。经过小试牛刀，我敢保证将来自己绝非当忍者的料。

        接下来，我们东游西逛继续发掘吸引我们的东西，转过来转过去，间或跑趟厕所方便一下。等大家准备一起观赏最后一个节目《终极马上长矛比武》时，我正好基本浏览完全部游艺项目。《终极马上长矛比武》不是一般的打斗较量，两位挑战者先向对方逼近，做好应战准备。威廉是一位声张正义威武善战的爵士，而考维则代表邪恶。剧中威廉虽技高一筹，但却给考维留下一条生路。不料考维带上一班人马偷袭城堡，刹时间，战场上炮火轰鸣销烟弥漫，骑兵们展开殊死搏斗，一派混乱景象。最后，威廉、亨利三世国王及其骑兵同仇敌忾，终于将考维杀死，结局扣人心弦。

        尽管我两度登门造访，但依然对“文艺复兴节”兴致勃勃。事实上，若今后再有机会，我还会故地重游。在这里，至少我能了解到五百年前人们的生活背景。