入夏以來，里約熱內盧氣候一反常態，時不時連降暴雨。今天整整一個早上，我們望着窗外發呆。到了中午，雨情絲毫沒有改觀，相反，雨點由鳥糞那點小驟變成高爾夫球這般大，天空依舊陰沉沉的，媽媽終於沉不住氣，打算豁出去就近走走看看。我覺得媽媽十有八九憋昏了頭，只要雨傘撐過頭頂，前方的路況休想看得清楚，因為烏雲早已搶先把餘暉擠出天邊。 

      This summer, torrential rain was extremely unusual in Rio de Janeiro. We spent the whole morning watching the rain pour on and on. By noon, nothing was improving unless somebody called raindrops the size of bird pellets growing to the size of golf balls as "improving". When a streak of sunlight came through the clouds, mom took the chance and set up the tone that we should explore. At the back of my head, I thought no way this was going to be good. I didn't know if I really saw the light with an umbrella. The clouds hid it well when we went out.

      Mom was particularly interested in National Library of Brazil. We borrowed an umbrella from our hotel and marched on pebble-paved streets to Cinelandia Square in downtown. When I entered the building, my breath got lost as the light came through the window on the top. There were 6 floors and about 9 millions of books for a country. Mom asked if any tours were available and the staff assembled one group for us in English right there. In the meanwhile, they took our personal belongings to the locks and didn't even let cameras past the stairs. I guessed that the place was super important. When the tour group gathered together, we began with the introduction about its history.

      媽媽對巴西國家圖書館饒有興趣，於是我們從酒店借來雨傘，沿着鵝卵石鋪就的街區，慢慢朝市中心西尼蘭地亞廣場方向走去。一走進大樓，只見光線從天窗射下來，全國九百萬圖書收藏在眼前這座六層樓高的建築內，我差點沒暈過去。媽媽打聽參觀事宜，工作人員很快幫我們組織，配上英語導遊，同時要求把隨身攜帶的背包甚至相機全部寄存起來，看來該圖書館級別非常。等遊客全部到齊，導遊開始對我們撫今憶昔。

      Back in Europe, a Portuguese man named Dom Joao VI organized the library in 1808 as the Royal Library of Lisbon. By the looks of 1 million 500 thousands books, the collection didn't seem as though it came easily. Floors of books stacked up endlessly.

      早在1808年，歐洲葡萄牙英國王室約翰六世開始籌集興辦里斯本皇家圖書館，經過千辛萬苦，收集了150萬冊圖書並搬到這裡，把樓道內外塞得滿滿登登。

      The library also had rare books like the first edition of the famous "Os Lusiadas" by Lus de Camoes, the Portuguese National Epic; the first edition of Mozart's scores; the Mainz Bible of 1462 by Gutenberg, the originals Carlos Gomes scores (a Brazilian foremost composer of the 19th century), and others. Since the older books came from Europe, I couldn't believe that I barely read anything when standing in the largest library in Latin America, the 7th largest national library in the world considered by UNESCO. I should learn a little of Portuguese before I came.

      圖書館收藏了不少罕世珍貴書籍，譬如：出自賈梅士之手的著名史詩《葡國魂》印刷頭版、莫扎特作曲手稿第一版印刷、1462年古登堡出版的《緬茵茲聖經》、十九世紀巴西最著名的作曲家卡洛斯•戈梅斯作品原稿等。雖說古書來自歐洲，可我簡直不敢相信，置身於拉美最大、聯合國科教文組織公認的世界第七大國家圖書館內，自己仍然讀不懂任何東西，真應該來前學點葡萄牙文。

      The building was built in an eclectic style, which fused art nouveau and neoclassical elements in 1910. Amid the main facade, there was a portico with 6 Corinthian columns flanked by allegories of the Press, Bibliography, Paleography, Cartography, Iconography and Numismatic. On the right side of the entrance, a bronze statue represented intelligence and another on the left represented the study. The materials made from all over the world, such as the Belgian chandeliers, German staircases, Italian granite, the British doors, etc.

      該圖書館建築汲取了新藝術流派及新古典風格之精華，門廳正面有6根哥林斯式高柱，兩側裝飾象徵出版印刷、書志目錄、古文書字、地圖製作、肖像圖解和錢幣徽章六項分類；入門口右側銅像代表智慧，左側銅像代表研究。建築材料來自五湖四海，譬如：比利時吊燈、德國樓梯、意大利花崗石、英國門欖等，不一而足。

      It made my ankles so painful when I walked in the rain with a pair of Croc sandals. After we got back at the hotel, I checked the weather and gloom settled over me. With no doubt, tomorrow it was going to rain again.

      穿着“鱷魚牌”涼鞋雨中長征，腳脖子累得酸痛。回到下榻之後，我查了一下天氣預報，陰霾不散，明天肯定繼續下雨。

(二O一三年一月十日)