愛爾蘭西行記

從北京車水馬龍的鬧市區(qū)來到愛爾蘭寧靜的鄉(xiāng)間，作者的生活仿佛經(jīng)歷一個猛剎，急停后是全然不同的世界。窗外不再是自拍的游客和鳴笛的汽車，而是連綿的山丘和散步的馬匹。作者此番西行還有一個目的：許多美國人都認為自己是愛爾蘭人的后裔。作者的愛爾蘭之行也是尋根之旅，去了解這個國度，也是為更加了解自己。

 

 

Recently, I moved from Beijing to a very small town on the west coast of Ireland, which is to say, I went from a bustling urban life with all kinds of things to see and do, to a quiet country life.

Every time I looked out of my living room window in Beijing, I would see shoppers, friends hanging out and taking selfies, and bicyclists and cars passing by with bells ringing or horns honking. Now, when I look out of my window in Ireland, I have a view of a mountain across the road and sometimes I see a horse or a donkey in the field leading to the mountain. The pace of life has come to a screeching halt; it’s like driving a Ferrari at top speed then suddenly slamming on the brakes.

People often think of Ireland as a place with friendly people, heartbreaking folk music, and green landscape. After all, it is known as the “Emerald Isle” because it is so green, which is the result of constant rain. The average number of wet days can range from 151 days a year in the east and southeast, to about 225 days a year in parts of the west. To avoid getting soaked, it’s best to carry an umbrella or at least wear rain gear at all times.

West Ireland is home to a region called Connemara. It abuts the Atlantic Ocean and has a distinctive landscape. There are vast stretches of mountains, in between which lie small fishing villages, coves and bays. Because Connemara is so close to the sea, the seafood is amazing. I’ve eaten delicious crab salad, fresh mussels steamed in a rich broth, tender smoked salmon, and creamy seafood chowder. Most meals are served with fresh slices of brown bread and generous lashings of butter.

 

 

To break up the monotony of small-town life, I often go for drives around the area. On any given day, these drives allow me to enjoy the breathtaking views of a mostly untouched landscape. Besides, you really can take your time driving around, because there are so many twists and turns around mountains, lakes and villages, that you have to drive pretty slowly.

The Connemara region is a part of the country where you can hear people still speaking the Irish tongue. In Ireland there are two official languages. First is Irish, or Gaelic as it’s known locally, and is one of the oldest written languages in the world. The other is English. Some Irish people also speak Hiberno-English, which is a mix of the two, blending the grammatical style of Irish with English words. Here is an example of Hiberno-English from the tourism website Ireland.com: “You never asked if I’d a mouth on me” means “You did not ask whether I was hungry” in English.

Because I have known many Irish people over the years who speak English as their native tongue, I had the impression that the Irish language was outdated and no longer used. But on arrival to Ireland, one can see the Irish language displayed everywhere, from café signs to road signs alongside the English words. Turn on the television or radio and there are broadcasts entirely in Irish.

For centuries, Irish was the most widely spoken language in Ireland, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, it gave way to English. That’s because opportunities for economic livelihood came mostly from Britain and the United States, both countries where English is spoken. Today most people in Ireland use English, though Irish is taught in primary and secondary schools. The country’s population itself is about 4.7 million, so preserving the Irish language and culture in this small country is important.

As an American, living in Ireland is like living in a second ancestral home. My grandmother died when I was young, but her sister told me that when they were growing up in New York State, they were sometimes called “the Irish” because of their surname, Ryan. Back then, people were often warmly identified by the country of their roots, and the majority of families where my grandmother grew up boasted German, Italian and Irish heritage.

While I have yet to pursue my genealogical history, tens of millions of Americans claim to have descended from the Irish. As a result, there has been a huge drive for Americans to visit Ireland and combine tourism with a genealogical “dig” into their ancestry. In fact, the Irish government has created a website dedicated to helping families do the research. People can search civil records (births, deaths, marriages), census records and church records to find out more about their family roots. Some people even go on “genealogy tours” to have an individually guided journey with an expert.

As I plan to stay in Ireland for the foreseeable future, something I like to do is read literature that describes local life. When I lived in England years ago, I loved reading Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë novels to get a “feel” for old English culture.

Recently I picked up the book Brooklyn, written by the Irish author Colm Tóibín. It’s a beautiful story about the journey of a young Irish woman named Eilis who emigrates to the United States. The book is set in the 1950s, and even though the story is based mostly in the U.S., Eilis’ story gives me a good insight into Irish life. Even though my own journey is the reverse of hers—that I moved to Ireland instead of from it—reading this wonderful book allows me to see through her eyes how rich Irish culture and traditional values were during that period of time.

Even though Ireland is a foreign country to me, there is some comfort knowing part of my own family came from this place. I often receive a lot of warm greetings from locals, because in a way we are like family.

Vocabulary

1. bustling: 熙熙攘攘的。

2. honk: (使汽車喇叭)鳴響。

3. 我的生活步調經(jīng)歷了一個急停，就像是開法拉利開到最快時突然剎車。screeching: 發(fā)出尖利刺耳聲音的;halt: 暫停，停住;slam on the brakes: 急剎車。

4. Emerald Isle: 綠寶石島，是愛爾蘭島的別名。

5. gear: 服裝，用具，rain gear指雨具。

6. Connemara: 康尼馬拉，位于愛爾蘭西部，是目前仍說愛爾蘭語的地區(qū)。這里自然景觀優(yōu)美，擁有眾多湖泊。康尼馬拉國家公園也是愛爾蘭最受歡迎的國家公園之一。

7. abut: 毗鄰，鄰接。

8. cove: 小海灣。

9. mussel: 蚌;broth: 肉湯;smoked salmon: 熏制鮭魚;chowder: 海鮮雜燴濃湯。

10. lashings of: 大量，許多。

11. monotony: 單調乏味，無聊。

12. twists and turns: 迂回曲折。

13. Gaelic: 蓋爾語，尤指蘇格蘭部分地區(qū)和愛爾蘭講的一種凱爾特語言。

14. Hiberno-English: 英語和愛爾蘭語的混合語。

15. ancestral home: 祖籍，老家。

16. 那時候，人們通常用自己的祖籍來辨明身份，我祖母成長起來的家庭多數(shù)都有德國人、意大利人或者愛爾蘭人的血統(tǒng)。boast: 有(值得自豪的東西)。

17. genealogical: [,d?in??'lɑd??kl] 宗譜的;descend from: 是……的后裔。

18. 作者注：I am playing on the idea of an archeological(考古學的)dig, where people dig in the ground for artifacts(手工藝品)of history. In this case people go to Ireland for a genealogical dig into their family history.

19. census: 人口普查。

20. Jane Austen: 簡•奧斯汀(1775—1817)，英國小說家，代表作有《理智與情感》、《傲慢與偏見》、《愛瑪》等;Charlotte Brontë: 夏洛蒂•勃朗特(1816—1855)，英國女作家，“勃朗特三姐妹”之一，代表作《簡•愛》。

21. Colm Tóibín: 科爾姆•托賓，愛爾蘭當代著名作家，兩部長篇小說《黑水燈塔船》和《大師》曾先后入圍布克獎決選名單，長篇小說《布魯克林》獲得2009年度布克獎提名，并獲得科斯塔年度小說獎。