I Founded My Own Country我的王國

by Renato Barros Joyce 譯

I Founded My Own Country我的王國

by Renato Barros Joyce 譯

My father wasn’t a king, he was a taxi driver, but I am a prince—Prince Renato II, of the country Pontinha, an island on1)Funchalharbour.It’s in2)Madeira, Portugal, where I grew up.It was discovered in 1419; Captain Cook has been here, and there are paintings of his visit.

In 1903, the Portuguese government didn’t have enough money to build a harbour port, so the king sold the land to a wealthy British family, the Blandys, who make Madeira wine.Fourteen years ago the family decided to sell it for just €25,000 (￡19,500).It was of no use to them.But nobody else wanted to buy it either.I met Blandy at a party, and he told me about Pontinha.He asked if I’d like to buy the island.Of course I said yes, but I have no money—I am just an art teacher.

I tried to find some business partners, but they all thought I was crazy to want to buy what is essentially a large rock: it has a small cave, a platform on top, and no electricity or running water.So I sold some of my possessions, put my savings together and bought it.Of course, my wife, my family, my friends—they all thought I was mad.

我的父親不是國王，他是個(gè)出租車司機(jī)，但我是個(gè)王子——龐蒂尼亞公國的王子雷納托二世。龐蒂尼亞公國是豐沙爾海港的一個(gè)島，位于葡萄牙的馬德拉群島——我長大的地方。1419年，庫克船長來到這里，發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)地方，這里還保有一些記錄他來到此處的畫作。

1903年，由于葡萄牙政府沒有足夠的資金修建海港，所以當(dāng)時(shí)的國王就把這塊地賣給了一個(gè)專門釀造馬德拉酒的英國豪門——布蘭迪家。十四年前，這家人決定以25000歐元（19500英鎊）的低價(jià)出售這塊地。這塊地對于他們來說沒有什么用處。但也沒有其他人想買下它。我在一個(gè)派對上遇到了布蘭迪，他跟我說了關(guān)于龐蒂尼亞公國的事情。他問我想不想買下這個(gè)島。我說當(dāng)然想，但是我沒有錢，我只是一個(gè)美術(shù)老師。

我試著尋找生意伙伴，但他們都認(rèn)為我瘋了，居然想買下一個(gè)根本就是塊大石頭的地方：里面有一個(gè)小洞穴，頂上是平地，沒有電力和自來水。于是我變賣了一些財(cái)產(chǎn)，加上存款買下了這個(gè)地方。當(dāng)然，我的妻子、家人、朋友——他們所有人都覺得我瘋了。

Captain Cook 庫克船長

詹姆斯·庫克，（James Cook，1728年—1779年），人稱庫克船長（Captain Cook），英國皇家海軍軍官、航海家、探險(xiǎn)家和制圖師，他曾經(jīng)三度奉命出海前往太平洋，帶領(lǐng)船員成為首批登陸澳洲東岸和夏威夷群島的歐洲人，創(chuàng)下首次有歐洲船只環(huán)繞新西蘭航行的紀(jì)錄。1779年，庫克在第三次探索太平洋期間，與夏威夷島上的島民發(fā)生打斗，遇害身亡。

庫克對航?？茖W(xué)和地理學(xué)方面的知識作出了極大的貢獻(xiàn)，他對后繼者的影響一直持續(xù)至20世紀(jì)。不過，他的探索成就卻也引啟了西方國家后來對太平洋地區(qū)的殖民化，使當(dāng)?shù)卦∶竦纳蠲婷埠头绞疆a(chǎn)生巨大轉(zhuǎn)變，這方面的影響長久以來都是政界和學(xué)術(shù)界的爭論焦點(diǎn)。

When the King of Portugal originally sold the island in 1903, he and all the governors signed a document, selling all the “possessions and the dominions” of the island.It means I can do what I want with it—I could start a restaurant, or a cinema, but nobody thought that someone would want to start a country.So that’s what I did: I decided that this would no longer be just a rocky3)outcropon the port of Funchal, it would be my island, about the size of a one-bedroom house.

When I bought it, I went to speak to the governor of Madeira.I introduced myself and explained that I was a Madeiran citizen and was also now the ruler of his neighbour state.He immediately asked to buy my island.Of course, I said no.He said that unless I sold it back to the state, he wouldn’t let me connect to any electricity.So now, as long as I don’t cause any trouble (for instance, trying to charge cruise ships that dock here) they will leave me alone.I have a solar panel and a small windmill, and maybe in the future I’ll be able to generate power from the ocean around Pontinha.I am a pacifst, and I don’t need any money.

1 ) Funchal [f?n'?ɑ?l] n.豐沙爾（北大西洋中東部葡屬馬德拉群島首府）

2 ) Madeira [m?'d??r?] n.馬德拉群島

3 ) outcrop ['a?tkr?p] n.露出地面的巖層

葡萄牙的國王在1903年賣出這個(gè)島時(shí)，他和所有的官員簽下了一份文件，表示賣出島上所有的“財(cái)產(chǎn)及領(lǐng)土主權(quán)”。這就意味著我可以用它來做任何事——我可以開一家餐館，或者一家電影院，但沒有人想到會(huì)有人想建立一個(gè)國家。我就這么干了：我決定它不再只是豐沙爾海港上一塊突出的巖石，而是我的島——大概有一間一居室那般大。

當(dāng)我買下這個(gè)島后，我去找了馬德拉的總督說明情況。我做了自我介紹，解釋說我是一名馬德拉公民，但現(xiàn)在同時(shí)也是他鄰國的統(tǒng)治者。他馬上要求買下我的島。當(dāng)然，我拒絕了。他說除非我把這個(gè)島賣回給葡萄牙，否則他不會(huì)給我供電。所以現(xiàn)在，只要我不惹出什么麻煩（比如，向停在那里的輪船收費(fèi)），他們就不會(huì)管我。我有一個(gè)太陽能電池板和一臺(tái)小風(fēng)車，也許將來我可以利用龐蒂尼亞公國周圍的海水發(fā)電。我是個(gè)和平主義者，我也不需要錢。

I have both a Portuguese passport and a passport for Pontinha (where my passport number is 0001).There are four citizens: me, my wife, my son and my daughter.I am the police, the gardener, everything.I am whatever I want to be—that’s the dream, isn’t it? If I decide I want to have a national song, I can choose it, and I can change it any time.The same with my fag—it could be blue today, red tomorrow.Of course, my power is only absolute here, where I am the true sovereign.

The Portuguese4)gastronomicspeciality is5)bacalhau.But we are running out of6)codin our oceans now, and we buy it from another country.So my gastronomy, my country’s speciality, is takeaway.

I don’t live in my country full time, but I am there quite often.My family sometimes drops by, and other people come every day because the country is free for tourists to visit; I never close for bad weather.Sometimes I am alone, on the days I feel more troubled by the excessive power of the Portuguese state.Sometimes I come here when I’m feeling lively, after a few drinks.

Madeira is surrounded by water, but for some reason we all have to pay to swim in the ocean now, at the swimming spots.How did that happen? Still, I have my island, which means I can go swimming whenever I want—it’s as if someone has given me the key to the waters.

Our lives are gone in a fash.My son is 27 and if I were his age, I would probably sell the island and buy a Ferrari.But I am 56 years old, and I want to enjoy everything I have.Pontinha means “a point”.All change in the world begins with something very small, and this is my country—just a little point.

我同時(shí)擁有葡萄牙和龐蒂尼亞公國的護(hù)照（我的龐蒂尼亞公國的護(hù)照號碼是0001）。龐蒂尼亞公國有四個(gè)公民：我、我妻子、兒子和女兒。我是這個(gè)國家的警察、花匠，任何身份。我想當(dāng)什么就當(dāng)什么——這是所有人的夢想，不是嗎？如果我決定要一首國歌，那我就可以選一首，還能隨時(shí)換一首。國旗也是——今天它可以是藍(lán)色，明天它可以是紅色。當(dāng)然，我只有在這里才享有絕對的權(quán)利，在這里我是真正的君主。

葡萄牙的國菜是馬介休。但現(xiàn)在我們海里的鱈魚都吃光了，我們就從另一個(gè)國家購買回來。所以，我的美食，我的國菜是——外賣。

我并不是每天都住在我的國家里，但我經(jīng)常在那兒。我家人有時(shí)會(huì)過來，每天都會(huì)有其他人過來，因?yàn)檫@里是對游客免費(fèi)開放的。我從來也不會(huì)因?yàn)閴奶鞖舛P(guān)閉這里。有時(shí)只有我一個(gè)人，在那些我被葡萄牙過大的權(quán)力所困擾的日子里。有時(shí)，當(dāng)我感到愉悅飄然時(shí)，在我喝了一些酒后，我也會(huì)過來這邊。

馬德拉四面環(huán)海，但出于某種原因，我們現(xiàn)在必須得付費(fèi)才能在海里的游泳區(qū)游泳。怎么會(huì)這樣的呢？但如今我有了自己的島，這就意味著我可以隨時(shí)過來這里游泳——就像有人給了我一把通向大海的鑰匙。

我們的人生如白駒過隙。我兒子今年27歲，如果我在他這樣的年紀(jì)，那么我很可能會(huì)把這座島賣掉，然后買一輛法拉利。但我今年56歲了，我只想享受我擁有的一切。龐蒂尼亞是“一個(gè)點(diǎn)”的意思。世上所有事物的變化都始于某些很小的事物，這就是我的國家——只是小小的一個(gè)點(diǎn)。

4 ) gastronomic [,g?str??'n?m?k] adj.美食的，烹任的

5 ) bacalhau 馬介休（葡萄牙傳統(tǒng)美食，由一種非常特別的 黑色銀鱈魚腌制而成）

6 ) cod [k?d] n.鱈魚