1-9 1月25日——彭斯之夜

January 25 Burns Night

 

Robert Burns¹, the eighteenth century “common man’s poet” who wrote of humble¹ matters in his brash² “Lallans³” dialect⁴, remains² Scotland’s favorite native son. Here his birthday is celebrated³ as he himself would have liked it. Partyers assemble in the banqueting hall, where they tuck into⁵ such dishes as wind dried cod⁴ with horseradish⁶ and egg sauce and finnan toasties⁷. But these are merely the whets⁸. The main event, of course, is the Scottish national dish: haggis⁹, a sheep’s stomach stuffed with chopped mutton, oatmeal, offal¹⁰, and spices, sealed up tightly and boiled to a shiny brown. Flanked by bagpipers¹¹ in full regalia¹², the cook enters the hall, holding the platter aloft¹³.

 

With a sharp knife, the master of ceremonies carves an X into the top --the “paunch¹⁴.” All recite a Scottish grace¹⁵ as the haggis is served. At night’s end, the celebrants rise arm in arm to sing Burns’s most famous work of all: Auld⁷ Lang Syne⁸¹⁶.

 

注释：

1.Robert Burns 罗伯特·彭斯(1759～1796，苏格兰诗人，主要用苏格兰方言写诗，曾长期搜集、整理民歌，并为著名曲调撰写歌词，优秀诗作有《自由树》、《一朵红红的玫瑰》等)

2.brash [brAF] adj. 粗犷的；浮华的

3.Lallan [5lAlEn] n. 苏格兰低地

4.dialect [5daiElekt] n. 方言，土话，地方话

5.tuck into〈俚〉痛快地吃喝，大口地吃喝

6.horseradish [5hC:srAdiF] n. [植]辣根；辣根制成的调味品

7.finnan toasties 熏鳕鱼

8.whet⁵ [(h)wet] n. 开胃小吃(如酒等)

9.haggis [5hA^is] n. 肉馅羊肚，香(羊)肚，羊肉杂碎布丁(系苏格兰传统食物)

10.offal [5CfEl] n. 下水，杂肉

11.bagpiper⁶ [5bA^paipE] n. (苏格兰等地的)风笛手

12.in full regalia 身着盛装

13.aloft [E5lCft] adv. 在(向)高处，在上面

14.paunch [pC:ntF] n. 肚子

15.grace [^reis] n. (饭前或饭后的)谢恩祷告

16.Auld Lang Syne (=Old Long Since)〈苏格兰〉《友谊地久天长》，又译为《美好的往日》

 

1月25日——彭斯之夜

 

用粗犷的苏格兰低地方言，专写老百姓事情的18世纪“平民诗人”罗伯特·彭斯永远是苏格兰人最钟爱的儿子。这里的人以他本人也会喜欢的方式来庆祝他的生日。参加聚会的人聚集在宴会厅，大吃特吃加辣根和鸡蛋沙司的风干鳕鱼和熏鳕鱼。不过这些都还只是开胃小吃。主食当然是苏格兰的本地风味菜：肉馅羊肚，就是在羊肚里填满切碎的羊肉、燕麦片、杂碎以及香料之后将羊肚封紧，然后煮成油光发亮的棕色。厨师进入大厅时，手中高举着椭圆形的大盘子；走在他两侧的是身着盛装的风笛手。

　　司仪用一把锋利的刀在“肚子”的上部划一个叉儿。上菜时，大家齐声朗诵苏格兰的谢恩祈祷文。到长夜结束时，参加庆典的人手挽着手，齐声高唱彭斯最著名的歌曲：《友谊地久天长》。

1 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

4 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

5 whet   

v.磨快，刺激

参考例句：

• I've read only the fIrst few pages of her book,but It was enough to whet my appetIte.她的书我只看了开头几页，但已经引起我极大的兴趣。
• A really good catalogue can also whet customers' appetites for merchandise.一份真正好的商品目录也可以激起顾客购买的欲望。

6 bagpiper   

n.吹风笛的人，风笛手

参考例句：

• Maybe I'll follow the sweet sound of the bagpiper playing along 16th Street. 也许我会顺着16街吹奏出的风笛甜美的声音走过去。 来自互联网

7 auld   

adj.老的，旧的

参考例句：

• Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind?怎能忘记旧日朋友，心中能不怀念？
• The party ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Sync.宴会以《友谊地久天长》的歌声而告终。

8 syne   

adv.自彼时至此时，曾经

参考例句：

• The meeting ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.大会以唱《友谊地久天长》结束。
• We will take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne.让我们为了过去的好时光干一杯友谊的酒。