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老外重走长征路 圣诞节得救
http://www.sina.com.cn 2003/01/16 10:49  北京青年报

  'Good King Wenceslas looked out On the Feast of Stephen, When the snow lay round about,

  Deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that night, Though the frost was cruel,

  When a poor man came in sight Gathering winter fuel.'

  Those lines had been much on our minds lately, and not just because we were practising our Christmas carols. Andy on descant with Ed on bass, forth we went together, marching through 'the rude wind's wild lament and the bitter weather'.

  In every village, morning and evening, we see people carrying bundles of firewood twice their size. In their homes heating is an unheard-of luxury - the best anyone does is a charcoal burner, which usually doubles as a cooker, around which family, friends, and two shivering foreigners huddle for warmth in the evening. Back home, we undress at bedtime; here, we put on more clothes - including woolly hats and gloves - before going to sleep. Don't even ask about going to the toilet.

  Christmas awaited us in the county town of Jianhe,swhereswe had asked friends to send a few special items to help us concoct some sort of celebration. The only question was: could we get there on time? In the seven days it took to cross Liping County and reach Jianhe, there were moments when it got darker, the wind grew stronger, and we both thought, 'I can walk no longer.' Only the fear of missing Christmas drove us on, over so many mountains we lost count, through freezing mist and dispiriting drizzle. The villages were mostly of the Dong minority, and we were often invited in to rest, eat or sleep - but each day we pressed on until we could go no further. Almost broken, we reached the market town of Nanshao late on Christmas Eve - 45 kilometers to go on the main road, 30 on the Red Army trail over the mountains.

  The guesthouse in Nanshao was the most pleasant we have come across, run by a welcoming Miao family who despite the lateness of the hour gave us hot water for our feet and hot food for our bellies. Outside our room was an open walkway, beyond that the Taiyong River. We made coffee, ate a bar of milk chocolate as a special Christmas Eve treat, put all our extra clothes on and went to bed.

  Some days earlier, Andy had posed a question: what was the best Christmas present ever? Ed struggles for an answer, but this Christmas Day he found it - Wang Fanghe, a 61-year-old Miao gentleman who led us over the mountain ridge to Jianhe before dark. The man who saved Christmas, indeed.

  A box of goodies was waiting in the Shengfa Hotel. We plucked out a bottle of Brown Brothers' Australian red wine and crossed the street for a cross-cultural Christmas dinner of gan doufu, peppery potato slices, spicy green beans and egg-fried rice. We bellowed our Yuletide toasts over the hail that had started pelting the corrugated iron roof. Under the table, a charcoal burner kept our knees warm. By the time we finished, hail had turned to snow. By midnight, the town was buried - Ed's first ever white Christmas. Our dream was a cosy hotel room from which we could telephone friends and family back home.

  Unfortunately, the Shengfa's telephones, like its hot water taps, were purely for ornamental purposes. We took turns shivering outside the shop next door to make IP card calls to England, Australia and California. Family got them, friends had to wait for a warmer opportunity (another seven days, as it turned out). So sorry. We had planned to hit the hotel karaoke bar, switch off the music and do a few carols a cappella, but the weather had closed the place early. Instead we hung up decorations and partied alone in Andy's room.

  What do you need for a Christmas party in a Jianhe hotel room? Well, something along the lines of:

  1 bottle of red wine

  1 box of crackers

  1 block of cheddar cheese

  2 Christmas cakes

  2 Christmas puddings

  2 red-and-white Santa hats (also useful for blocking the holesin the window pane before bed)

  assorted seasonally appropriate decorations

  cotton wool and sticky tape (enough for one Santa beard each)

  Most important, you need friends imaginative enough to buy all this stuff in Beijing and have it shipped on time and intact. Thank you all.

  It was the weirdest Christmas ever, but ultimately full of the right spirit. On the evening of the 27th, we were picking our way across the ice outside our hotel when we bumpedsintosour guide, Wang Fanghe. He had been stranded by the weather, which closed all roads around Jianhe for three days, and evidently had taken this chance (and his fee) to go on a festive bender around town. He gave us a big hug and said, 'Can I have some more money?'

  'Sure,' we said. Party on, Wang.

老外重走长征路 圣诞节得救

  (两个英国人,安德鲁麦克尤恩(安迪)和埃德蒙乔斯林(埃德)于去年10月16日从江西省于都出发,开始重走当年红军长征的路线。他们此行全部靠双脚,行程6000英里(约2万里),穿越8个省与两个自治区,预计368天走完。本文是他们日前发给本报的第三篇电邮。)

  在纪念圣徒斯蒂文的庆典上,善良的国王文瑟斯拉斯看着外面,

  此时雪花飘落四方

  积得很深,很脆,很平。

  那晚月光皎洁,

  然而严寒袭人,

  此时一个穷人出现了,

  他正在捡拾过冬的柴禾。

  近日来,这几行歌词总是出现在我们心中,但这并非仅仅是因为我俩正在演练圣诞歌曲。安迪唱高音部,埃德唱低音部,我俩一起边唱边走,迎着那“狂风的呼号与恶劣的天气”。

  在每个村子,无论是早晨还是傍晚,我们都看到人们背着有他们身体两倍大的柴捆。在他们家里,取暖是一种我们闻所未闻的奢侈——不管是谁,他所能有的就是个炭炉,同时用来烧饭。晚上,围着这个炭炉,一家人,朋友,还有我们这两个冷得发抖的老外挤在一起取暖。在英国的时候,上床时要脱掉衣服;在这儿,睡之前要穿得更多——包括戴上毛线帽子和手套。至于去上厕所,那冷得就更别提了。

  圣诞节在贵州省剑河县等待着我们,我们已经让朋友们把几样圣诞节物品寄到了那里,那些物品能帮我们安排一些庆祝仪式。唯一的问题是:我们能不能按时赶到那里?在走过黎平县到达剑河县的7天之中,有很多次,当天越来越黑,风越刮越大,我俩都想过“我再也走不动了”,仅仅是因为怕错过圣诞节,我们才有了动力继续赶路,走过了不计其数的山峦,穿行在冰霜与烦人的雨中。村子里的人多数是侗族人,我们常常被邀到他们家里歇脚、吃饭或睡觉——但每一天我们都拼命赶路,直到我们再也不能往前走。就在几乎垮了的时候,我们在圣诞节平安夜赶到了商业城镇南哨镇——离目的地若是走大路还有45公里,走当年红军走过的山路是30公里。

  南哨的旅馆是我们遇到的最友善的旅馆,由一家好客的苗族人经营。尽管那天已经很晚,主人还是为我们的双脚提供了热水,为我们的肚子提供了热饭。我们的房间外面是一条敞开的步行道,道后面是太拥河。我们喝了自制的咖啡,吃了一条牛奶巧克力,作为对自己在圣诞节平安夜的特殊款待,然后穿上携带的所有衣服上床睡了。

  几天之前,安迪曾经提了个问题:以往最好的圣诞节礼物是什么?埃德苦苦想着答案。但是在这个圣诞节他找到了答案——王方和,一位61岁的苗族老人,他带着我们翻过山脊,在天黑之前到了剑河县。是这位老人挽救了我们的圣诞节,千真万确。

  一箱糖果饮料正在剑河县的升发旅店等着我们,我们拿出一瓶澳大利亚布朗兄弟公司产的红葡萄酒,跨过街道去吃跨文化的圣诞节晚餐:干豆腐、辣土豆片、拌青豆和蛋炒饭。我俩高喊着为圣诞节干杯,声音盖过了敲打着波浪形铁皮屋顶的冰雹声。在桌子底下,一个炭炉暖着我们的双膝。吃完饭的时候,冰雹已经变成了雪,到了半夜,整个县城都被雪罩住了——这也是埃德有生以来的第一个白色圣诞节。我们的梦想就是有一间舒适的旅馆房间,从那儿我们可以给国内的朋友和家人打个电话。

  遗憾的是,升发旅馆的电话像它的热水龙头一样,纯粹是个摆设。我俩轮流哆嗦着到隔壁商店的外面用IP卡给英格兰、澳大利亚和加利福尼亚打了电话。家人们接到了电话,朋友们还必须等我们有一个暖和点儿的时机再给他们打(事实上,他们等了7天),真是对不起。

  我们曾计划去旅馆的卡拉OK酒吧,关掉音乐唱几支无伴奏圣诞歌曲,但是恶劣的天气让那儿早早关了门,我们便在安迪的房间里挂上圣诞饰物独自开起了派对。

  在剑河县旅馆的房间里开圣诞派对需要些什么呢?嗯,是这类东西:

  一瓶红葡萄酒

  一盒硬饼干

  一大块查达奶酪两块圣诞节蛋糕

  两块圣诞节布丁

  两顶红白相间的圣诞老人帽(睡觉前还可以用来堵住窗户框上的洞)

  一些搭配得当的圣诞节装饰物

  脱脂棉和胶带纸(足够我们每人做一个圣诞老人的胡子)

  最重要的是,你需要有足够想象力的朋友在北京把这一切东西买好,并且准时寄到这里而且完好无损。谢谢大家了。这是我们所过的最奇特的圣诞节,但最终还是充满了友善慷慨的圣诞精神。在27日的晚上,当我们在旅馆外小心翼翼低头走过一层冰时,一头撞上了向导王方和。他因天气原因被困住了,三天来剑河地区所有的路都被雪天封住了。显然,他利用了这个时机(也利用了我们付给他的向导费)在城里尽情痛饮。他张开双臂拥抱了我们,说:“能不能再给我点钱呀?”

  “没问题,”我们说,接着乐吧,老王。




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