从和平到战乱

By Christine Mc Cafferty

Shannon and Christines time in Ireland was getting exhausting！ They had now had four nights of three hours of sleep each！ Dublin had been especially gruelling.2 It was crunch time in terms of achieving their goals： drinking Guinness beer—because no one can go to Dublin without drinking Guinness—and finding a job…3

W ell drinking beer would be a lot easier than finding a job. So， although it was just after 7 in the morning， we decided wed head for the brewery4 where Guinness is made. We got a free breakfast at the youth hostel， courtesy of the French tour group whose dorm room wed slept in the night before； put it this way， there were croissants and toast on the table... and they seemed unconcerned about us helping ourselves.5

We left with the group and went past the beautiful Trinity College which houses the Book of Kells， a book of the four gospels of the Bible calligraphed and illustrated， it is believed， in the 900s.6 It was written in Latin， the language of the ancient world of the Roman Empire， which was， in those times， the language of learning and books in Europe. The beautiful and detailed writing and pictures were done by Christian monks who lived in monasteries and had devoted their lives to building the church and spreading the gospel of Christ in what was then one of the remotest parts of the Europe.7 Virtually all books in those times were about the Christian religion.

Next we wandered past St. Stephens Green， a large park in the centre of Dublin. It had originally been a marsh8， used by the people of Dublin. In 1890， it was beautifully landscaped and donated to the people of Dublin by the owner of the Guinness brewery.

We parted ways with the French tour group， and went on to the famous Guinness Storehouse—the Home of Guinness. It is in the centre of the legendary St. Jamess Gate Brewery.9 Guinness beer has been produced there since 1759， when the founder， Arthur Guinness， signed a lease10 for 9，000 years—he must have believed in his product！ We could smell the hops11 that the beer is made of. How we longed to go into the seven-story building to learn about its 250-year history！ But we didnt. We couldnt. Even though entry came with a free Guinness beer， the fee was about 10 times the price of a beer in a pub. We didnt have the money； travelling on a shoestring12 isnt always fun！ We walked on and saw the ships on the River Liffley13 that take Guinness around the world.

The problem was that we could not afford a beer in a pub either. So， not to miss out， and to achieve at least one of our goals， we went into a liquor store and bought two bottles of Guinness. We sat down on a bench， beside the river， near the OConnell Monument14 to drink them. Oh how we must have looked！ But the truth is that neither Shannon nor I actually liked beer. But we had to try Guinness and， from the rich dark colour and creamy head we had seen， it was sure to taste just great. Wed heard it described as everything from mothers milk to chocolate… But one sip proved that wrong！ We looked at each other in horror， not sure where to spit. We dared each other to take a second sip…maybe it took some getting used to. Eeegh！ We found it bitter and horrible.

The OConnell Monument， where we sat， is in memory of Daniel OConnell， who died in 1847 and is often referred to as “The Liberator”. A lawyer and Irish political leader in the first half of the 1800s， he worked for the freedom of the Irish people from the oppressive English leadership， opposing the use of violence in the struggle for freedom. Dublin was a place of peace and， sitting there quietly along the banks of the river， you could actually feel it. The capital of Northern Ireland， Belfast15， on the other hand， was a place still in violent turmoil—and we wanted to go there.

We loved Dublin， but luck had not gone our way there. The previous two days job hunts had been a failure； wed had four nights with barely any sleep； and wasted precious money on two beers that we couldnt drink. There was only one thing to do and that was to hike off to the next place， which we had decided would be Belfast. Thoughts of safety were far from our minds. We went back to the hostel and got our backpacks， and started walking north on OConnell Road. We figured that it was the main road through Dublin， and Belfast was north of Dublin， so we had to be on the right road. We were right.

We had not gone far when we saw two young guys getting into a car. They had obviously stopped to get some food and cold drinks from a local corner shop. I felt sure that they were headed on a journey and， with their car facing the direction we wanted to go， I thought I should approach them. Frankie and Jamie were quite happy to take us with them to Belfast. Leaving Dublin， even though it was such a lovely city， seemed immediately to result in our luck turning！

It took just over two hours to drive to Belfast. Frankie and Jamie said it was a privilege to take us on our first visit to Belfast and agreed to take us past all the major conflict zones. First we went down Falls Road， a Catholic area where we saw large walls and sides of buildings painted with graffiti supporting the Irish Republican Army and “freedom” for Ireland from their rulers in London.16 Then we went to Shankill Road， which was a Protestant17 area. There， Frankie pointed out the pharmacy18 where a mother of three children had been killed in political violence. At that time， it was terrible. We were stopped by armed soldiers and police at least five times； probably because we were driving through some pretty dangerous areas. There were armoured19 cars everywhere. We were not allowed to photograph the soldiers， or anything else in these areas， but we did manage to get a few pictures. It was as bad as Id ever been told. It was very sad and scary， but exciting at the same time. I was frightened. I felt so for people who live in places of conflict. Jamie， who was driving， said it was time to go. We could raise suspicions and get into trouble. It seemed strange to us that our freedom of movement was curtailed20 in this way.

They took us back to their house in an area west of Belfast， called Bangor， to have a shower and leave our bags. Once again we were experiencing the spontaneous and warm hospitability of the Irish people.21 The local pub was full and we had a few drinks. They bought us each a Guinness beer， but with raspberry syrup in it.22 Like this， we could drink it！ It was amazing how the Irish remained happy and friendly， despite the political tension they lived in. Frankie and Jamie then took us out for a great Chinese meal. What a treat after eating bread in Dublin for days. Maybe Shannon ate too much because she was sick all night. But me， I slept like a baby！

Shannon and Christine decided they had less chance of work in Belfast than in Dublin， and should head back to England where at least Shannon might have a job again. Jamie and Frankie kindly dropped the girls at Larne（拉恩，北爱尔兰安特里姆郡的一个镇）to catch the ferry back to Scotland. Ian， Shannons late love， had agreed to collect them. There was only one problem—they were running late and might miss him...

1. turmoil： 骚乱，混乱。

2. Dublin： 都柏林，爱尔兰共和国的首都和最大的城市，靠近爱尔兰岛东岸的中心点；gruelling： 艰苦的，折磨人的。

3. crunch time： 关键时刻；Guinness beer： 吉尼斯啤酒，爱尔兰吉尼斯公司生产的一种黑啤酒，是闻名世界的啤酒产品。

4. brewery： 啤酒厂，酿酒厂。

5. 我们在青年旅舍享用了早餐，这是法国旅行团出于好意为我们免费提供的，我们前一天晚上还在他们的宿舍睡觉。这么说吧，桌子上有牛角面包和吐司……我们大吃大喝他们也毫不在意。courtesy： 礼貌，好意；croissant： 牛角面包。

6. 我们离开了旅行团，路经美丽的圣三一学院，学院里存放着《凯尔经》，这本书是《圣经》四部福音书的手抄本，据说是在10世纪抄写并配图的。Trinity College： 都柏林大学圣三一学院，爱尔兰国内排名第一和最古老的大学，拥有超过400年的历史；Book of Kells：《凯尔经》，附有华丽装饰文字的《圣经》福音书手抄本；gospel： 福音书，以记述耶稣生平与复活事迹为主的文件、书信与书籍。

7. 这些美丽且细致的文字和图画是由住在修道院的基督教僧侣所编撰和绘制的，他们倾其一生建造教堂，并在当时欧洲最偏远的地区之一传播基督福音。monastery： 修道院。

8. marsh： 沼泽，湿地。

9. legendary： 傳说中的，传奇的；St. Jamess Gate Brewery： 圣詹姆斯门啤酒厂，是吉尼斯最初的制造工厂，已成为都柏林标志性的景点之一。

10. lease： 租赁，租约。

11. hop： 啤酒花。

12. shoestring： 小额资本，零星资金。

13. River Liffley： 利菲河，流经都柏林市中心的一条河流，供给都柏林城市大部分生活用水，沿河道有大量休闲、娱乐的空间。

14. OConnell Monument： 奥康奈尔纪念碑，矗立于繁华的奥康奈尔大街的十字路口，为了纪念19世纪爱尔兰民族领袖丹尼尔·奥康奈尔（Daniel O Connell）而建造。

15. Belfast： 贝尔法斯特，北爱尔兰首府，位于爱尔兰岛东北沿海的拉干河口，是北爱尔兰最大的海港及爱尔兰岛上最大的城市。

16. graffiti： 涂鸦；Irish Republican Army： 爱尔兰共和军，曾为爱尔兰独立，后为统一北爱尔兰而战斗的组织。

17. Protestant： 新教，源于16世纪神学家马丁·路德等人所领导的宗教改革运动，与天主教、东正教并列为基督宗教三大分支。

18. pharmacy： 药房。

19. armoured： 装甲的，武装的。

20. curtail： 减少，限制。

21. spontaneous： 自然而然的；hospitability： 热情好客。

22. raspberry： 覆盆子；syrup：糖浆。