2014-10-28

【Aiden in English】

        My Chinese history teacher has literally driven this one phrase into my brain. She would always say that the future comes from the past, and that the past determines the future. Today, the entire sixth grade would be going to our past and to see the long journey we humans have made. So, we went to the one place where the past lived on. Here came the Renaissance Faire.

        The day prior to the trip, my anxiety was already out of control. The night before, I was about to explode because tomorrow wouldn’t come any faster. It seemed like eternity, but finally, my brain shut down and allowed me to sleep. The next day, I woke up with a jolt in the morning, knowing that today was the big day. I was so excited that I bounded down the stairs like a rabbit with coffee, and wolfed down my breakfast as fast as my mouth could chew. Then I took my bags, yelled at mom for being too slow, and bolted out the door, not wanting to be a second late. I arrived just in time before everything left without me. I barely gave my friends a greeting before the classes left. As we exited the building, I took a real good look at our buses. They weren’t the plain, horrible, dull yellow school buses we took in the mornings. No, these were the legendary Hagey Coaches, the ones all sixth graders get to ride and the ones that we were all told about from other sixth graders since first grade, and finally seeing it in first person confirmed that every single sixth grader were telling the truth. The Hagey Coaches were enormous compared to the regular school buses. They seemed like the double decker buses that tourists rode on. Inside, the coach was even more spectacular. Rows upon rows of seats filled the coach, and each was as soft as a pillow stuffed with feathers. They were so soft that I almost thought that I was still in bed at home. As I sat down, all I wanted to do was to close my eyes and relax. But then, the TV screens turned on, and the movie Shrek played. This was going to be a long ride, so I might as well enjoy the movie.

        When you watch a movie, the climax is obviously your favorite part. The climax is also when we decided to stop the movie because we had reached our destination. The Renaissance Faire was huge, even on the outside. It looked like a huge town in the colonial times, with large sounds emanating from inside. The class proceeded off the heavenly coaches, stretched our cramped muscles, got with our groups, and went with the giant crowd. We continued to go in the direction of the crowd, which led to the main entrance. When I took my first step onto Renaissance Faire property, I was absolutely blown away. There was a maze of streets heading in all directions, each with shops selling all sorts of things. Some sold food, others sold souvenirs. I even saw a store selling costumes and hats, and a stand selling… …sticks? Even cooler was that everyone that worked at the faire was in costume and character. They treated us like royalty, which I thought it was pretty amazing. There were even famous places and stages like the Globe. The Renaissance Faire really gave me the feeling that I was no longer a student at Montgomery Elementary on a field trip in the 21^st century, I was a person in the 1500’s doing my daily business, roaming the streets and looking at what people had to offer in their stores. I went straight to asking our group’s chaperone what time the first show was at. It turned out it was in 20 minutes, so we slowly took our time to get to the stage. The show’s title was the Mud Show, so I made a prediction, just like the school taught us. If the name was the Mud Show, the show would probably be about mud. As a result, I was correct, just that I didn’t expect to have people jumping in mud, splashing the substance all over my favorite shirt. Other than that downside, the show was pretty spectacular. There were three people that did all kinds of crazy stuff in a giant pit of mud. Yes, it was real mud, because the three people on stage even chose a volunteer to take the mud test. I felt sorry for the victim, because she had to touch some mud, smell the mud, and taste the mud. To me, looking at the mud was already enough to throw up, but tasting the mud would be like eating cabbage stew. Luckily for the volunteer, one of the three performers shoved the mud into his mouth instead. In the end, everyone knew that the mud was real. Then came the part where mud started to rain down on us. The three performers did belly-flops and splashed mud, splattering the audience with the disgusting brown substance. Unfortunately for my clothing, there was just mud all over my pants and shirt. I thought it was a great show, seeing people getting themselves dirty. But when it finally came to an end, I felt slightly grateful that the show was over.

        My group and I then roamed the huge streets of the Renaissance Faire, searching for entertainment. After going in circles for so long, we managed to find a few games that interested us. Now, what in the world would influence a bunch of boys’ attention to spend a dollar bill on? It was probably violence and weapons, and that’s exactly what we found. There were four tents, each with a different game. One was knife-throwing, another was ax-throwing, and archery. But the one that separated itself from the others was the Ninja star tent. When I was a small, immature little boy, I dreamed of myself one day becoming a Ninja. Now that I experienced the real world, my dreams were crushed. In fact, I had never seen a real Ninja star in my entire life. At that moment, I looked at the shiny, sharp lethal weapon that I was holding in my hands. I wondered if it wasn’t too late of becoming the Ninja I’d always wished to be. There was only one way to find out. I paid a dollar for three tries. I handled the weapons with precious care, then drew my arm back, and threw the Ninja star. It went way high of the target. So did the other two. It looked as if I knew what I was not going to be when I grew up.

        Soon came what everyone was waiting for, the Joust. Out of all the friends that went to the Renaissance Faire, all of us had said something about a joust and awesomeness and things exploding. Hearing this, I was excited to see what made everyone so amazed. It turned out they were right to be amazed, because the Joust was just absolutely stunning! It was about an evil knight, Sir Corway, hoping to conquer England by killing the King. He challenged England’s finest knight, Sir William to a joust to the death, knowing that the king will spectate. A joust was where two knights would charge at one another on their horses, holding a shield and a long pole. They fought hard, but in the end, Sir William disarmed Sir Corway, but gave mercy to him. In a blink of an eye, Sir Corway ordered cannons to fire, and explosions blasted the field. Suddenly, all the normal people on the stage drew swords and knives concealed in their clothing, and attacked the throne. The knights that protected the King drew their mighty broad swords and engaged the enemy. A battle began, and Sir Corway stood up and dueled with more skill than he had used in the match. The cannons continued to blast away, blowing up barrels and even sent a person flying off the roof of the palace were the King hid. Swords clashed, shouts rang across the battlefield which was chaos. Then, as quickly as it started, a cannon blasted the center of fighting, ending the battle. The King and most of the knights were safe, and surprisingly, so was Sir William. That was probably the best way a field trip could have ended.

        The past we come from seems like another world to ours. It’s hard to imagine we humans once used to be so different than us now. The knights and kings, merchants and nobles, the past feels so fanciful. Here I am now, in the 21^st century, on the Hagey Coach, returning to Montgomery Elementary, hoping to come back again one day. As I really think about it, we will one day become a part of the past too, just like the Renaissance Faire.

【紅霞譯文】

        中國歷史老師字斟句酌的話語給我留下了深刻印象，她曾反覆強調“未來從歷史中走來，又向歷史中走去”。時下我們初中一年級全體師生藉助回首往昔探索人類所走過的漫長征程之際，正準備一同前往肩負承前啟後歷史使命的文藝復興節所在地。

        臨行前一天，我已經按捺不住自己內心深處期盼之情，晚上激動得幾乎夜不能寐，恨不能第二天即刻到來，可時間卻好像變成了永恆，直到腦袋瓜好不容易冷靜下來，我才得以進入夢鄉。第二天清晨我猛然醒來，意識到今天將是一個非同尋常的日子，興奮得像只磕過咖啡的兔子上竄下跳，狼吞虎咽吃完早餐，然後拎起書包，扯開嗓門催促媽媽趕緊帶自己上路，不大工夫車子便駛出門外。我按時抵達集合地點，尚未來得及跟其他哥們打聲招呼立馬列隊出發。當走出教學樓，我一眼就瞧見等候已久的汽車，它們不是通常早起上學我們所乘坐的那種單調恐怖老掉牙的黃包車，而是富有傳奇色彩的哈吉大巴，可以說這些運載初中一年級學生的專車是我們自打進入小學一年級起夢寐以求、被歷屆乘坐者倍感驕傲的御駕坐騎。與普通校車相比，哈吉大巴寬敞清爽，看上去堪比上下兩層座位的旅遊豪車；其內部設施更加新穎，一排排座位井然有序，椅墊極富彈性，靠背內塞滿羽毛，坐下去感覺如同躺在家裡質地鬆軟的席夢思床墊上一般，現在我唯一想做的就是閉上眼睛放鬆身心，可就在此刻，電視機開始播放電影《怪物史萊克》，既然離終點站還有很長路途，趁機享樂一番未嘗不可。

        看電影的時候，扣人心弦的鏡頭莫過於劇情發展到高潮的地方，可偏巧在這個節骨眼上高潮戛然而止，因為我們到了目的地。文藝復興節氣勢非凡，外景場地宏大壯觀，酷似殖民時期繁華小鎮，裡面熙熙攘攘好不熱鬧。同學們依次下車，伸伸胳膊撂撂腿兒，與各自劃分的小組成員一起迅即淹沒於茫茫人海之中，我們小組則繼續前行，徑直來到大門口。一踏進文藝復興節地域，我一下子驚呆了，馬路縱橫交錯，商店層出不窮，招呼吃飯的，推銷紀念品的，兜售衣帽的，甚至叫賣……棍子的？不一而足。還有更為來勁的玩意，工作人員全副古裝打扮各具特徵，把咱哥們索性當成皇親貴族加以侍奉，令我好生驚喜。文藝復興節打造出若干名勝古蹟，譬如環球劇場，更讓我覺得本為廿一世紀蒙哥馬利小學校外見習生，搖身一變成為十六世紀出入集市熱衷討價還價的生意人。之後我向陪同參觀的家長詢問幾點鐘開始舞台演出，哪知仍需等上廿分鐘，於是我們慢慢朝戲台方向走去。即將上演的節目叫“泥巴表演”，憑藉學校灌輸的常識，不難推斷肯定與泥巴有關，我雖猜得八九不離十，但萬萬想不到這是一場真人秀。演員跳進泥巴池時，隨身飛濺出來的泥巴把我心愛的衣服弄得污七八糟，不過除此而外，這個節目表演得相當精彩。三位演員分別在泥巴里摸打滾爬，沒錯，這裡指的確是泥巴，因為他們曾邀請觀眾上台驗證其真實性。我非常同情那位自願者，她要動手去摸，用鼻子去聞，親自張開大口去舔，而我一看到粘糊糊的泥巴就想吐，何況啃泥巴猶如喝菜湯味同嚼蠟。值得慶幸的是，自願者不必親口品嘗泥巴，而由其中一位演員出面擋駕，他主動吞下蒯來的泥巴。趕在演出結束之前，大家都相信泥巴貨真價實。接下來到了該往我們身上潑澆泥巴的時候，三位演員先在泥巴里打滾，然後使勁拍打泥巴，以致觀眾身上濺滿爛泥，我也未能倖免，襯衫褲子到處都是。看到大家被折騰得灰土狗臉，我覺得整個節目有它成功的方面，不過一旦節目進入尾聲，心裡還真有點求之不得。

        打那以後，我和同組其他哥們一道滿世界尋找娛樂項目，大家兜了一圈又一圈，消磨掉很長時間，最後好歹發現幾個好玩的遊戲，試問當今天底下究竟有沒有僅靠幾塊錢就能讓咱這幫男生上杆子的東西？要麼暴力要麼兇器，但這些玩藝都不能打動我們。整個文藝復興節總共設有四個娛樂帳篷，每一個帳篷提供不盡相同的遊藝項目，扔刀、擲斧、射箭挨在一起，而“忍者飛星”則孤處一方。記得年幼無知的時候，我恨不能要當“忍者”鬥士，隨着閱歷漸長，兒時的夢想早已煙消雲散，實際上，迄今為止我從未親眼見過真正的“忍者飛星”，然而當我手握鋥明瓦亮鋒利無比足以致人於死地的神器時，忍不住幻想是否來得及實現往日抱負，現在擺在面前的唯一機會就是上繳一塊大洋試身三回。我小心翼翼地拿起利械，胳膊向後移動，奮力投出“忍者”飛星，第一次因扔得太高而偏離目標，後面兩次同樣如此，看來從今往後，我毫無可能成為“忍者” 終極人物。

        不久，大夥終於盼來了《終極馬上長矛比武》，所有參加文藝復興節的朋友都夸這種騎馬鏖戰既有激烈的打鬥場面，又有刺激的爆炸聲響，聽到這裡我情緒振奮，真想親眼領教一下到底有何了不起，事實果真如此，《終極馬上長矛比武》絕對精彩！劇情大意是，代表邪惡的騎士考維爵士妄想暗殺國王以達到統治英格蘭的目的，他不惜挑戰本土首屈一指的驍將威廉爵士，希望在國王面前決一死戰，於是便上演了一出《終極馬上長矛比武》。兩位騎士一手持盾一手握長矛，騎在馬背上較量武藝。彼此你爭我奪打得難解難分，最終威廉爵士緊逼考維爵士繳械投降，勝者大發慈悲，並沒殺死敗者。說時遲那時快，考維爵士下令開炮，爆炸聲起，突然戲台上所有演員從衣服里拔出劍、刀攻擊國王，騎士們紛紛舉起巨型長劍迎戰來犯敵寇。雙方交戰開始，考維爵士親自督戰，拿出剛才比武從未使用的看家本領。炮火繼續猛烈發射，把水桶炸得稀巴爛，中彈的士兵從國王躲藏的宮殿頂上飛了出去，戰劍狂舞，吶喊聲充斥整個沙場，周圍陷入一派混亂。接着，一枚炮彈擊中敵方指揮部，從而結束了戰鬥。國王和多數騎士都保住了性命，出乎意料地，威廉爵士安然無恙，結局皆大歡喜。

        對我們來說，先輩們所經歷的時代儼然是另一個世界，後來者很難想象與當代生活反差極大的過去，騎士與國王、商人與貴族，歷史為他們蒙上一層怪誕的面紗。如今適逢廿一世紀，我坐在返回蒙哥馬利小學的哈吉大巴上，心中暗自希望有朝一日能夠重訪故地。相信不久的將來，我們終將成為過去，正如文藝復興節所展示的歷史風貌一樣。