[GUO DU] James Tam's Bilingual Blog [过渡] 谭炳昌的双语博客: Faces of Iceland 冰岛面貌

Friday 16 December 2016

Faces of Iceland 冰岛面貌

Photogenic Iceland has been exhaustedly covered. Every visitor to Iceland has taken a picture similar to this. Perhaps I'll focus more on the faces of its fascinating people instead?

冰岛的美，举世闻名，已经被太多摄影大师全面覆盖了。但去年六月花了钱和了时间游冰岛，不展示几张相片又心有不甘。让我多放一点注意力在蛮有个性的冰岛人民吧。

I visited Iceland during the European cup, when their amateurish team beat some of the best footballers in Europe to enter semi-final. I too would have found that surprising had I not met its people forged by the ferocity of their enchanting landscape. In spite of the harsh climate, Icelanders remain defiantly warm at heart.

我在冰岛的时候，刚巧是欧洲杯高潮。人丁单薄的冰岛，不过几十万人。国家足球队由教练到前锋，守门到后备，都是业余分子，竟然败了足球王国英国，跻身四强，世人大跌眼镜。但到过了冰岛，接触过它强悍中带温淳，冷傲中洋溢着热情的人民后，

大大减少了我对这赛果的意外感。

A "dottir" contemplating the future of her country. Iceland was the only country who got rid of the crooked banksters after the financial tsunami, and recovered miraculously well -- so well that the mainstream media have to keep it a secret. Icelanders seem to have a mind of their own in each and every way. They still don't use family "surnames". For example, a hypothetical Eric, son of Gunnar, will be called Eric Gunnarson. His sister Grdrun will be Grdrun Gunnardottir (daughter of Gunnar)

一个冰岛女孩在考量国家前途。冰岛是唯一在金融风暴后把“银行流氓”收监的西方国家，结果复原得很快，所以被银行家控制的“自由传媒”都不作报道。冰岛人很多方面都我行我素，到现在仍然没有改变独特的姓氏传统。举个例：一个叫 Gunnar Sorenson 的儿子 Eric 会姓 Gunnarson （意为 Gunnar 的儿子），不是Sorenson。而他的妹妹 Grdrun 的名字是 Grdrun Gunnardottir （Gunnar 的女儿），与爸爸，妈妈和哥哥都不一定同姓。

Not many Icelanders look like him but he does look like an Icelander

冰岛人这个样子的可能不多，但他却挺像冰岛人

Father Patrick from Ireland chatted religion with me on a ferry ride. He was in Iceland not because he misspelled one letter on his way home. He was there to tend the souls of the large number of Polish migrant workers. Although churches are everywhere, Icelanders are not very religious. I often bump into and befriend religious folks wherever I go. Being a fundamentalist atheist, I'm not supposed to take that as any kind of an omen, right?

旅居冰岛的爱尔兰神父 Patrick 与我在渡轮萍水相逢，就现代宗教吹了一个多小时。冰岛有几万（冰岛来说很大量）信天主教的波兰外劳。Patrick神父的工作是照顾他们在异乡流浪的灵魂。冰岛虽然有很多教堂，但积极信教的人不多。我对信奉有个身穿睡袍不翼而飞的上帝的宗教一向抱有怀疑，却经常遇上神职人员或虔诚教徒跟我吹上帝的牛，难道是天意？！

Like their magical footballers, many Icelanders are part timers with more than one professional hat. Taciturn Gunnarson, a published writer, was our first tour guide. I enjoyed his company tremendously although he preferred writing rather than talking.

就像足球员一样，冰岛人很多都身兼几职。我们的第一个导游 Gunnarson 是个作家，兼职导游。他很有性格，废话不多。但不说废话做导游，又真的有些矛盾。

A driver wondering if what's in front of him qualifies for a traffic jam in China

冰岛司机心想：对中国人来说，这究竟算不算堵车呢？

A neighbourhood Witchcraft Store. The air-cons were powered by conventional electricity

街坊巫术店。不过空调用电发动，不靠咒语

An important sorcerer from the North highlighted yellow

来自北方的黄色巫师

The face of Iceland is incomplete without its magnificent horse.

There are 80000 of them in Iceland, and about the same number overseas. Once out of the country, they are never allowed back. Icelanders are 100% xenophobic when it comes to horses, and will not risk contamination of the equestrian DNA of their magical island, lest it interrupt the unique tölt

冰岛面貌当然不能缺了举世闻名的冰岛马。冰岛大概有8万头马。外面繁殖的也跟这个数目差不多。冰岛马一旦离境，便要与家乡永别。因为怕被乱种，冰岛绝对严禁止任何马匹进境