2015-07-02

【Aiden in English】

        Everyone has heard of Mt. Vesuvius. It’s famous for the powerful eruptions that leveled cities. When it comes to Mt. Etna which towers almost 3,329 meters/10,922 feet above the sea level in Sicily, everyone goes “huh?” Well, you don’t have to destroy cities to be famous.

        Compared to Mt. Vesuvius, Mt. Etna is the tallest and most active volcano in Europe, and has much more sites to explore. All Mt Etna needs to surpass Mt. Vesuvius in fame is a cool sounding name and a stupid civilization that settles within a 16 km/10-mile radius. Most different of all, Mt. Vesuvius is a dormant volcano, while as Mt. Etna had put on a great fireworks show just last month in June of 2015. Yeah, it came just a few weeks ago! It didn’t make a confident builder, considering that’s where we were going on the unbearable hot day and perfectly organized, really. The bus was dropping the tourists in board off at 2,000 meters/6,562 feet, and I pulled out a jacket I thought that I was never gonna use again. It was in the 50F’s/10C’s, and seemed really refreshing. Throughout our slow drive up the slope, signs of ancient and recent lava flows scarred the mountain side. Terrifying moments passed though history here and there, at one point the lava even reaching inside a 30-meter/100-foot radius from a village. It was freaking out even to think about how the people lived so close by. Nowadays, lava to the civilians is a free firework show. What left behind was a flurry of natural activity. The Galapagos Islands are volcano, and so that’s just an example for the benefits of volcanic soil. Flowers grew on the mountain side, in cracks, on rocks, and everywhere imaginable. They were startling colorful with bright yellows to Sicilian green. At one point, a patch of area looked as if it was growing algae. What seemed to be an amazing natural phenomenon was simply a group of small green buds blooming in numbers like soapworts. This provoked a question of mine: was this a start to a wondrous place of nature like the Galapagos? Volcanic rock and soil is very fertile for farming, but more importantly, fertile for certain wild plants that grow. Was the only missing ingredient to the equation time?

        At 2,000 meters/6,562 feet, the volcano started to take shape. The fascinating Silvestri Spent Craters were splitting off the main mountain after erupted in 1986, and unfortunately that was the only thing we could explore. We were given a tiny 30 minutes! How are you supposed to explore an entire volcano in 30 minutes?! Nevertheless, we focused on a single crater with a great view of the countryside. What seemed odd about this particular volcano was that the area around it was pretty much flat. A plain surrounded the volcano, and to be honest, I think that the volcano more dangerous. If there aren’t any slopes to stop the lava flow, then you’ll have a very modern version of Pompeii.  Another odd thing was a change in the rock color. Some were red, others were black, and some in regular shade of gray (not the TV show). The crater, at the bottom, was filled with red rocks, and my uncertainty to this different scenario was confirmed by the guide. When lava cooled, it hardened. (Let’s start out easy.) Pressure built in the rock that lava transformed into the tubing. (It’s getting a bit harder.) The rock then had two options: to burst or to contain the pressure. It the pressure kept contained, the gas in the lava was trapped inside, therefore making it gain weight and became a gray color. If the gas were released, the lave tubing would have light cracks with holes, and the color depended upon the chemical reactions to air when the gas was released.  (It’s a little too hard, isn’t it?) Whatever the reason, Mom absolutely went crazy and picked some rocks to bring home. If you wish to see them, tickets are on sale now for $5 each. We are open from 10 am to 5 am. Season passes are available for $50 a person and come in the next seven days, and you’ll receive a free rock-of-year choice from our backyard!

    Although Mt. Etna has a deceiving name, it is a really amazing place to see. Volcanoes are a sign of destruction, but this mountain has many natural beauties of its own. So come and see some rocks at my house today!

【紅霞譯文】

        人人都聽說過維蘇威火山，其威力超強並將周圍幾座全部夷為平地。西西里島埃特納火山海拔3329米／10922英尺左右，大家頂多疑惑地發出“嗯“的一聲，這麼說吧，火山完全不必靠有無毀滅性來一鳴驚人。

        比起維蘇威火山，埃特納火山素以歐洲最高峰最活躍著稱，至今很多地方頻有爆發。埃特納火山單憑聲譽美貌及方圓16公里／10英里內鄉鎮林立，足以超越維蘇威火山。當然兩者之間最大區別在於，維蘇威火山屬於休眠火山，而埃特納火山上個月也就是2015年6月份剛剛噴發了一次，說得一點沒錯，正好在今天親臨現場之前幾個星期。鑑於這種情況，炎炎烈日下，我們一行誠惶誠恐地跟着導遊奔赴景地。旅遊大巴停靠2000米／6562英尺，所有遊客從這裡開始徒步前行。我拿出久壓箱底的外套，想不到在這沒它不成，此時外面氣溫僅有華氏50／攝氏10來度，涼氣襲人。登山途中，舊時乃至新近生成的熔岩流隨處可見，景觀十分恐怖，有些岩漿竟然流到離村莊3米／10英尺以近的地方，簡直不敢想象老百姓怎麼膽敢住到火山跟前。如今當地人近水樓台，可以第一時刻免費觀賞煙花表演，身後難免留下滿目瘡痍。與達爾文島火山島相似，由火山灰形成的土壤肥沃，山坡旁、裂縫裡、岩石上百花齊放，令人激動不已，黃色西西里綠色明亮奪目，看上去有時倒覺得像苔蘚植物，這些嫣紫奼紅的肥皂草冒出綠芽競相開放，讓我禁不住捫心自問：難道這真是另外一個猶如達爾文島奇妙的地方嗎？火山岩層和火山泥土有助於農耕，重要的是如此豐富的養份足以扶植奇花異草，不正是植物生長所必需的要素嗎？

        從2000米／6562英尺開始，埃特納火山地貌發生顯著變化，西爾維斯特里·斯班特火山口自1986年爆發以來算是出盡風頭，因為時間緊迫，我們別無選擇地只能抓住它不放，卅分鐘算個啥！怎麼可能用這麼短的功夫光顧其它地方？！既然如此，我們集中精力探尋這個被鄉村環抱的單一火坑。奇怪的是，火山口周圍非常平緩，我本以為周邊空地同樣比較危險，要不是山坡上凸起的部分擋住熔岩流，這裡恐怕要變成另一個龐培古城。令人不解的還有岩石顏色，有的紅，有的黑，有的灰暗（別跟電視播放的東西混為一談），火山口底部為紅色岩石，導遊很快詮釋存在我心底的疑慮，原來岩漿冷卻後變硬（先從簡單的入手），只要內部壓力加大，熔岩就會轉化成熔岩管（稍微難理解一點）。接下來岩石面臨兩種選擇：要麼破裂要麼頂住內壓，如果壓力不減，熔岩便產生氣體，但氣體滯留在熔岩里，重量就會增加，顏色相應變灰；一旦氣體釋放出來，熔岩管出現裂縫，並伴有各種大小的窟窿，自身光澤則根據空氣氧化後所形成的化學反應來定。（太難了，對嗎？）不管出於什麼動機，媽媽順手牽羊，當即撿了幾塊火山石帶回家來，因此假如你有興趣，歡迎購票前來參觀，票價五美元一張，我們早上十點開門，下午五點打烊，同時還出售五十美元一張的季節性聯票，未來七天恭候光臨，你會免費收到一份來自敝舍後院精心挑選的石子禮物。

        儘管埃特納火山名聲不太好聽，但絕對叫你大飽眼福，火山無疑給人類帶來危害，不過埃特納火山自然風景優美，現在先來我家看一看火山石再說！