失敗的賭局

By+Christine+Mc+Cafferty

With their goal of “seeing the snow” achieved， Shannon and Christine， with Ian， head back to the little town of Blairgowrie1. They had had another great day with him， with lots of laughs. If you remember， our two backpackers met Ian when they were working at the pub at Henley-on-Thames in England，2 when they house-shared with him and two other young guys. The guys had been quite rude to the girls but， without his friends， Ian seemed very different. You could describe him as generous， friendly and fun.

He was British， taking them around Scotland. The girls couldnt help noticing the difference between English and Scottish people. It seemed to them that the Scottish were rougher and tougher3， but friendlier too. What were the reasons for the differences？

Who are the Scots？ “Nasty little Britons” is what the ancient Romans called the different tribespeople4， who lived in the area we call Scotland today， in the first and second centuries. These people were the Picts5. They struck fear in the hearts of the Romans. There are legends about the ancient Picts： they painted their bodies， and had bright red hair and long limbs. They used hand spears6 which they shook， making a terrifying noise. It is said that they often fought their battles naked， even in the cold； often attacking in winter. One Roman wrote， “They are able to bear hunger， cold， and all afflictions7.” The Romans， of course， came from the warm Mediterranean8， and the cold snowy land of Scotland was hard enough for them， without the terror of attack from the Picts！

The Romans had gained control of most of North Africa， the Middle East and Europe. By 84 AD the Romans had completely conquered southern Britain； they regarded what is England today as no more than one of their provinces.9 Then they planned to bring the rough “barbarian10” Picts under their rule. But the Picts put up serious resistance. When they were not winning， they would disappear into the mountains and forests of Scotland which the Romans called the “trackless11 wilds”—wild places that had no roads. From there， the Picts regularly launched surprise attacks on the Roman soldiers. As one Roman writer wrote about their campaign in Scotland，“And so disaster followed upon disaster， and the entire year was marked by destruction and slaughter12.”

The Romans gave up on Scotland， and instead built a wall as a barrier against the Scottish Picts right across the north of England， and this became the Scottish border. It is called Hadrians Wall13， and still stands today. It is something like the Great Wall of China， but not nearly as long. In this way two very different cultures and peoples developed Scotland and England.endprint

It is believed that the Picts spoke a form of the Gaelic14 language. This is the language that was spoken by people in the British Isles15 prior to the arrival of the Romans and the many other peoples who settled there over the past 20 centuries. In the 1800s， in most central rural areas of Scotland， many people still spoke Gaelic but all could speak English. However， today， only a very small number of people still speak Gaelic—and that is mostly only in the very isolated highlands and outer islands. So the reason for the strong Scottish accent is that the Scottish people actually spoke another language before they spoke todays English.

But， back to Blairgowrie. Ian had pulled up his car at the Brig oBlair Bed and Breakfast.16 The last time Shannon and I had travelled with him， he had paid for two rooms. We had very little money left so we were hoping he would pay again， otherwise we would have preferred to save our money and sleep in the car！ We entered the reception17 hesitantly， and the owner greeted us warmly and expectantly. She told us the rates18， and Ian answered， “Great. One room thanks.” He smiled at Shannon. Shannon and I looked at each other and scrambled for our wallets. We had no choice but to pay up to avoid embarrassing ourselves. We took out some of our last pounds. It probably was not a lot of money， but it certainly seemed to be to us！

The B&B， at least， was a lovely Victorian house19， and our room was super comfortable. Imagine how much we enjoyed the hot bath after a day in the cold wind on the ski slopes. We could see though that Ian was not happy with us two girls going into one room.

We met downstairs for dinner. I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I felt that he did not want me there... you know... spare part... third wheel...20 It was obvious that he wanted time alone with Shannon... maybe to convince her to rather move to his room. Shannon really liked him. Actually， she was quite crazy about him. I wondered what decision she would make. He had been very kind but， by taking only one room， he had made it clear that he had expectations of her. Maybe he was even getting impatient with Shannon...

I stood up and walked over to the warm fireside. I stared at the flames and thought deeply. I realised that sometimes we have to leave the people we love to make their own choices.

I told Shannon and Ian that I was not feeling that well （well I wasnt） and Id be going up to the room.

I was very tired and lay down to sleep. I thought of Shannon and I wondered how she felt. I was half asleep， my head might have been on the pillow about an hour， when she came in and lay on the bed. She stared at the ceiling， not saying a word.endprint

“You OK？” I said. She was quiet. “Hey what happened？”

“Oh，” she said， “I liked him so much... I... I dont even know how to tell you this...” She breathed in deeply. “OK... After you left， we chatted a while and I went to the ladies room. I met the owner in the passage， and she took me inside her office to give me some info about a fruit-picking job near town. While I was inside， I heard Ian on the phone in reception. Maybe he was talking to one of the guys we lived with in Henley because I heard him say， clearly，“Im going to win our bet21. Ive nearly got her.”

“What！” I said. “Those guys were just idiots. For all their airs and graces， they are sleazebags！22 So， what did you do？ What did you say？” I asked.

“What was there to say？” she said. “I just turned around and walked away， straight up here.”

I looked at her. She looked angry， but sad too.

I started laughing.

“Whats so funny？” She asked.

“Hell be sitting in the lounge23 for ages waiting for you. Hell think you werent interested in him. And best of all， he just lost a bet.” With that we burst out laughing and laughed for a very long time！

“He wont be happy with us tomorrow， but hes stuck with24 us，” I said. We laughed again. “Yes， but well get him to drop us somewhere，” she replied.“Maybe at the fruit-picking job！ Ill tell you all about it in the morning！”

We went down for breakfast， bright and early， acting as if we were in the best of moods. Ian asked what had happened to Shannon the night before； why she had disappeared. “Oh”， she said， smiling sweetly， “I wanted to check on Christine.” I just smiled.

1. Blairgowrie： 布萊爾高里鎮(zhèn)，位于蘇格蘭珀斯。

2. backpacker： 背包客，通常指錢不多、背著背包徒步或乘坐公共交通工具旅行的人；Henley-on-Thames： 泰晤士河畔亨利鎮(zhèn)。

3. rough and tough： 粗野的，粗暴的。

4. tribespeople： 部落成員。

5. Picts： 皮克特人，蘇格蘭北部和東部地區(qū)的先住民。

6. spear： 矛。

7. affliction： 病痛。

8. Mediterranean： // 地中海地區(qū)。

9. 公元84年，羅馬人完全攻占了英國南部，如今的英格蘭在當時只被他們當做一個省份而已。

10. barbarian： // 野蠻人。

11. trackless： 無路的。

12. slaughter： 殺戮。

13. Hadrians wall： 哈德良長城，位于英格蘭北部，是羅馬帝國為阻止蘇格蘭部落襲擊而建造的防御工事。

14. Gaelic： // 蓋爾語，一種凱爾特語，尤用于蘇格蘭部分地區(qū)和愛爾蘭。

15. British Isles： 不列顛群島，指歐洲大陸西北海岸的島群，由大不列顛、愛爾蘭和六千多個小島嶼組成。

16. pull up： 停下；Bed and Breakfast： 提供住宿和早餐的小型住宿機構(gòu)（簡稱為B&B或BnB），通常是民居。

17. reception： 接待處。

18. rate： 價格，費用。

19. Victorian house： 維多利亞式房屋，是指英國維多利亞女王在位時期（1837—1901）出現(xiàn)的特殊住宅風格，一般有尖屋頂、尖塔、圓形或方形立柱、精美裝飾、帶有欄桿和屋頂?shù)淖呃群完柵_等。

20. spare part： 備用零件，比如汽車的備用輪胎；third wheel： 兩人約會時陪伴在旁的一個多余的人，即我們所說的“電燈泡”。

21. win ones bet： 賭贏。

22. airs and graces： 裝腔作勢，擺架子；sleazebag：（俚語）卑鄙小人。

23. lounge：（旅館等的）休息室。

24. be stuck with...： 被迫與……待在一起。endprint