手指湖

You may have heard about the Great Lakes in North America. Well， not far from the Five Great Lakes lies a pattern of beautiful smaller lakes in the west-central section of Americans New York. To be exact， they are between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. These 11 crystalclear lakes spread like fingers across the region， thus， they are known as the Finger Lakes.

As an old saying goes， beauty is in the eye of the gazer. I dare to say everyone who has visited the Finger Lakes will marvel at their tranquility and grace. I am one of these lake gazers. My recent visit to the Finger Lakes only deepened my love for this fertile land， which feeds acres of farmland， and mile after mile of vineyards. Centuries ago， Native Americans settled around these lakes. Their legend lives on in the names of these fresh water lakes： Conesus， Hemlock， Canadice， Honeoye， Canandaigua， Keuka， Seneca， Cayuga， Owasco， Skaneateles， and Otisco.

I spent two days exploring the biggest Finger Lakes—Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake. The Indian name Cayuga means “Boat Landing”， and Seneca means “Place of the Stone” or “Stoney Place”. These two big lakes are also the most visited ones. Tens of thousands of tourists and summer residents flood into the lake region starting from Memorial Day注1 weekend， which falls on the last Monday of each May. In May， the lake region is covered with lush greenery. From endless fields to rolling hills， from grape vines about a teenagers height in orderly rows to the towering trees that shade the mountain range， each and every perspective offers varied shades of green. The flickering leaves in the sun and the dancing branches in the breeze， together with the palette of flowers， get me every time.

Just when I am bathing in the sea of color， a silver belt in between two mountain ranges shines in front of me. The belt is actually the sparkling water from the lakes. The closer I get to it， the more it pulls me in. From the map you will see both Cayuga Lake （to the east） and Seneca Lake （to the west） are long and thin and next to one another. There is a canal in the north tip connecting both lakes. The Cayuga Seneca Canal connects these two lakes to the Erie Canal which runs through the Finger Lakes to the north. Each lake is connected by rivers ultimately leading into Lake Ontario， which lies on the border between Canada and the United States.

Well， in reality， the silver belt of water can be either Cayuga Lake or Seneca Lake， because both of them sit between two evenly moderate high grounds. However， the statistics show with 40 miles in length and 96 miles of shoreline， Cayuga is the longest of the Finger Lakes and the lowest to sea level; whereas Seneca is the deepest of the Finger Lakes at a maximum depth of 618 feet. Imagine that a 62-floor building could stand underwater！

To visit Cayuga Lake， you wont miss its largest city—Ithaca， which is home of one of the Ivy League注2 schools—Cornell University. And did you know that Connells campus overlooks Cayuga Lake？ As its Alma Mater sings， “Far above Cayugas waters， with its waves of blue， stands our noble Alma Mater， glorious to view. Lift the chorus， speed it onward， loud her praises tell. Hail to thee， our Alma Mater！ Hail， all hail， Cornell！” On this trip I happened to see the proud Cornell graduates in their redand-black caps and gowns， welcomed by joyous families and friends with bouquets in hand.

The Finger Lakes area is New York States largest wine producing region. In fact， the areas wine trails are very popular. These trails showcase local wineries and tastings are often not limited to just wine—beer， juices， ciders and mead can be sipped throughout the region. Its also notable that Seneca Lake seldom freezes in winter. Therefore， there are more wineries along Seneca Lake than any other Finger Lake. And if you need a break from numerous water sports on the lakes—fishing， swimming， canoeing， kayaking， you name it—the Wine Trail， Cheese Trail and Brew Trail may satisfy your sense of taste.

I finished my lake ride along the Y-shaped Keuka Lake. Keuka Lake is the only Finger Lake with an outlet into another Finger Lake—Seneca Lake. Gazing at the fresh water and hearing the waves rocking against the stony beach， I feel as relaxed and reflective as the lake. Lake effect weather is well known in the Finger Lakes area. Perhaps these lakes are as influential to the atmosphere as to humans. This lake gazer is truly hooked.

你可能已經聽過北美洲的五大湖。其實，在距離五大湖不遠的美國紐約州中西部，還有一個規(guī)模較小的美麗湖群。準確來說，它們位于安大略湖和伊利湖中間。十一個清澈見底的湖泊就像手指一樣散布于這個區(qū)域，因此得名“手指湖”。

有句老話說，情人眼里出西施。我敢說，去過手指湖的人都會驚嘆其寧靜與優(yōu)雅。而我就是凝視這些湖（并被吸引）的人之一。最近一次去手指湖，又加深了我對這片滋養(yǎng)了萬頃農田和綿延數里葡萄園的肥沃土地的愛意。早在數百年前，美洲土著就已經在這些湖邊定居。這些淡水湖的名字至今仍回響著關于他們的傳說。它們的名字是科尼瑟斯湖、漢姆萊克湖、卡那迪斯湖、霍尼歐耶湖、卡南代瓜湖、庫卡湖、塞尼卡湖、卡尤加湖、歐瓦斯科湖、斯卡尼阿特勒斯湖以及奧蒂斯科湖。

我花了兩天時間游覽其中最大的兩個湖——卡尤加湖和塞尼卡湖?！翱ㄓ燃印边@個印第安名字的意思是“船登陸”，而“塞尼卡”的意思是“石頭之地”或“多石之地”。這兩大湖泊也是游客最多的湖。從陣亡將士紀念日（每年五月最后一個星期一）的那個周末開始，就有成千上萬的游客和避暑住客如潮水般涌入手指湖區(qū)。五月的手指湖區(qū)郁郁蔥蔥，像蓋著一層綠色的毯子。從無垠的田野到起伏的群山，從十幾歲少年那么高的成排葡萄樹到樹冠遮山蔽谷的參天大樹——從各個角度望去，都可以看到深深淺淺各種不同的綠。在陽光下熠熠生輝的葉子、在微風中輕輕舞動的樹枝和如調色板般多姿多彩的花兒，看得我如癡如醉。

我正沐浴在這片色彩的海洋之中，眼前的兩山之間忽然出現一條閃耀的銀帶。這道銀帶其實是波光粼粼的湖水。我越靠近，它越令我目眩神迷。從地圖上可以看到，（東面的）卡尤加湖和（西面的）塞尼卡湖形狀修長，彼此相鄰。在北端有一條運河連著這兩個湖。這條卡尤加——塞尼卡運河將兩個湖連接到了橫向流經各湖以北的伊利運河。每個湖最終都通過河流連接到位于加拿大與美國交界的安大略湖。

實際上，那道銀帶般的湖水可以是卡尤加湖或者塞尼卡湖，因為兩者均位于同樣中等高度的兩山之間。不過，統(tǒng)計數據顯示，最長處達40英里（64.4千米）、湖岸線達96英里（155.5千米）的卡尤加湖是手指湖當中最長、海拔最低的一個;而最大深度達618英尺（188.4米）的塞尼卡湖則是最深的——想象一下，水底可以放得下一棟62層的高樓！

去卡尤加湖旅游，一定不要錯過附近最大的城市——伊薩卡市，常春藤盟?？的螤柎髮W就位于此地。你知道嗎？康奈爾大學校園正好俯瞰著卡尤加湖。正如其校歌所唱：“卡尤加湖碧波蕩漾，高高站在湖面之上，是我們崇高的母校，華美榮耀。讓我們齊聲同唱，歌聲激越，將她大聲稱頌。向你致敬，我們的母校！致敬，向你致敬，康奈爾！”這次旅行，我恰好碰上康奈爾大學畢業(yè)生的親友團手持花束，笑容滿面地迎接穿戴著紅黑相間的帽子和長袍的驕子們。

手指湖區(qū)是紐約州最大的葡萄酒產區(qū)。事實上，該地區(qū)的葡萄酒之旅很受歡迎。這些路線展示了當地的酒廠，而品嘗也往往不局限于葡萄酒——在這里也可以品嘗到啤酒、果汁、蘋果酒和蜂蜜酒。值得注意的是塞尼卡湖即使在冬天也很少結冰，因此塞尼卡湖附近有比其他手指湖更多的酒廠。如果你在釣魚、游泳、獨木舟、皮劃艇等眾多水上運動之余需要稍事休息，那么，葡萄酒之旅、奶酪之旅和釀酒之旅或許可以滿足你的味覺。

我在Y字形的庫卡湖邊結束了這次旅行。在這些手指湖中，只有庫卡湖有出口通往另一個手指湖（塞尼卡湖）。凝視著清澈的湖水，聽著浪花沖刷著遍布石頭的湖岸，我感到如湖泊一樣寧靜澄澈。眾所周知，手指湖區(qū)有顯著的湖泊效應天氣。也許這些湖泊對大氣的影響與對人的影響不相上下。我這個凝視湖泊的人，深深地入了迷。

Rnow More

北美五大湖（Great Lakes）是世界最大的淡水湖群，是北美洲的蘇必利爾湖、密歇根湖、休倫湖、伊利湖和安大略湖等五個相連湖泊的總稱，有“北美大陸地中?！敝Q。五大湖除密歇根湖屬于美國外，其余四湖均跨美國和加拿大兩國。五大湖總面積24.5萬平方公里，其中美國占72%，加拿大占28%?？傂钏萘考s2.3萬立方千米，約占全世界淡水總量的五分之一。

法語小知識

夏洛蒂·勃朗特曾經在《簡·愛》里寫到“Beauty is in the eye of the gazer.”這句話中的gazer可以用beholder（觀看者）代替，意思是，不同的人對美的定義都不同，也就是我們常說的“情人眼里出西施”。例如：Personally， I cant understand why she finds him attractive， but they do say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.（就自己而言，我真搞不懂她為什么覺得他有魅力，但他們說，情人眼里出西施。）

Rnow More

康奈爾大學（Cornell University）是一所位于美國東北紐約上州伊薩卡市的世界頂級研究型綜合大學，另有兩所分校位于美國紐約市和卡塔爾教育城，是著名的常春藤聯(lián)盟成員，共有四十多位師生曾獲諾貝爾獎。

康奈爾大學由埃茲拉·康奈爾和安德魯·迪克森·懷特于1865年建立，為八個常春藤名校中唯一一所在美國獨立戰(zhàn)爭后創(chuàng)辦的大學。康奈爾大學的立校之本是任何人都有獲得教育的平等權利，是常春藤盟校中第一所實行性別平等的男女合校大學，招生錄取上不分地位身份，不分信仰和種族，并且其校訓的宗旨是創(chuàng)建學科齊全、包羅萬象的新型綜合性大學，因而該校一直被譽為美國歷史上第一所具有真正意義的全民大學。

注1：美國陣亡將士紀念日（每年5月的最后一個星期一）是美國悼念在各戰(zhàn)爭中陣亡的美軍官兵的紀念日。

注2：常春藤盟校指的是由美國東北部地區(qū)八所大學組成的體育賽事聯(lián)盟。它們全部是美國一流名校，也是美國產生最多羅德獎學金得主的高校聯(lián)盟。