城镇 - I want to take you to the Island



印象最深的就是爱尔兰城镇那些五颜六色的低矮房屋，及每家每户涂的色彩鲜明的大门。在灰头土脸的钢筋混泥土城市里长大的我开始还很不习惯，觉得那些颜色很土气，不明白为什么要花那么大的力气去装饰外墙，而且每两三年还要重新粉刷一次。时间长了才觉得那些颜色很美，尤其是在阴雨连绵的日子里开车，看着那些五颜六色房子和门在雨点里不停的闪动，不由自主地感受到了爱尔兰人一股对生活的热爱。

爱尔兰的老房子都只有几个很小的窗子，那是17世纪末英国为了在爱尔兰和在欧洲大陆上的战争而向英国和爱尔兰征讨的窗户税（Window Tax),按照窗户的大小多少征税，所以当时的人民支付不起宽大明亮的窗户，以至旧时的房屋都是那么低矮和阴暗。“苛政猛于虎”，这也是爱尔兰人对英国耿耿于怀的另一个原因之一。

在爱尔兰的四年里，我们一直住在科克。科克被评为2005年度欧洲文化之都（European Cultural Capital ）。它位于爱尔兰的最南端，所以不象其他地方那么多雨，甚至还有少见的阳光。虽然号称是爱尔兰共和国的第二大城市，其实只有40多万的人口。因为与都柏林首都南北对峙，加上口音，文化背景相差甚远，当地人喜欢自称为一个独立的共和国--P.R.C.(People's Republic of Cork)。

科克有一条小河River Lee横穿城市，我们就住在李河的边上，头一两年上学的日子里，我总是沿着李河边的一条小路Lee Road,穿过一座小桥去科克大学上学，时间久了，对李河边的一草一木自然产生了眷恋。这里是三文鱼每年回游产卵的地方，经常看见人们在桥下钓鱼，每到夏天，许多孩子都光着身子从桥上跳到李河游泳。劳工下班后，只要天气好，我们都会沿着李河上游散半个小时的步，看人们在河里划Canoe，看一对天鹅在茂密的河岸边教小天鹅游水，看对岸的一只Crane中立于水上。。。那一路看不完的风景。

李河一路东流就到了科克郡的最东部小镇Cobh(同cove).这个小镇据说是还是世界上第二大的天然海港，仅次于Sydney Harbour。海轮可以沿着harbour开进很深的地方停靠，当年的泰坦尼克号就是最后从这里出发的。从这里出海谋生的人很少能再返回故里，几个月的海上飘零，能活着到达彼岸的淘金城市已是寥寥无几，所以人们又称小镇Cobh为Goast Town.

科克附近还有一个小镇Blarney，最有名的是Blarney城堡顶端的一块石头，据说亲吻了这块石头的人会变得口齿伶俐，巧舌如簧，如果你碰到一个特会说话谄媚的人，你可以这么说：you must kiss the Blarney stone,或者用英女王伊丽莎白的话来说：no more Blarney talk.这块石都并不是那么好Kiss的，城堡顶端专门有一人帮助排长队的游客，他面对面地抱住你的腿或腰，然后你要用后弓翻的姿势伸到城墙外去亲吻那块。我当然是亲过这块石头，不止一次，效果当然好，不再那么笨嘴笨舌的了。

我这里都是歪史，你要去爱尔兰当然还是要看都柏林和高威Galway这两个城市的。

老公听说我在写Ireland,就介绍了这首Paul Brady的Island,爱尔兰也是一个饱经沧桑战乱的国家，这首平静却充满激情的歌曲下蕴含着爱尔兰人民对生活的热爱，对和平的渴望。



Written 20 years ago, the lyrics of Paul Brady's "The Island" ring even more true today. In this song with additional commentary, Brady expresses the devastation and emotions that engulfed the people of Ireland in the early eighties. However, the wars, bombing, and fighting that are happening around us today, remind us of the mindset Brady was addressing. "If you are not with us, you are against us. Turning your back on your own." In this powerful piece, Brady truly does pierce through the emotional flak from an ordinary man's perspective, to touch the heart of the human soul


They say the skies of lebanon are burning
those mighty cedars bleeding in the heat
they're showing pictures on the television
women and children dying in the streets
and we're still at it in our own place
still trying to reach the future through the past
still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone

but hey don't listen to me
this wasn't meant to be no sad song
i've sang to much of that before
right now i only want to be here with you
till the morning due comes falling
i want to take you to the island
and trace your footprints in the sand
and in the evening when there's no one around
we'll make love to the sound of the ocean

they're raising banners over by the markets
white-washing slogans on the shipyard walls
witch doctors praying for a mighty showdown
the way a holy flag is gonna fall
up here we sacrifice our children
to feed the worn out dreams of yesterday
and teach them dying will lead us into glory

but hey don't listen to me
cos this wasn't meant to be no sad song
we've had too much of that before
right now i only want to be here with you
till the morning dew comes falling
i want to take you to the island
and trace your footprints in the sand
and in the evening when the sun goes down
we'll make love to the sound of the ocean

now i know us plain folk don't see the bigger picture
and all this peace and love's just copping out
and the young boys dying in the ditches
is just what being free is all about
and how this twisted wreckage down on main street
will bring us all together in the end
as we go marching down the road to freedom,freedom


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