小牛游加西
在维多利亚，我们第一站是Butchart花园。那里有许多各种样式的小花园，包括：日本式、希腊式和地中海式。对我来说，最有意思的并不是花园，而是一 个喷泉。这个喷泉叫做罗斯喷泉。每一次它都喷出不同的图案来。图案有直射的，旋转的，双螺旋的等等。我在花园里还遇到一种非常奇怪的花，像喇叭一样倒挂在 树上。

Posted Tuesday, October 3, 2006

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我们很容易从各类报刊中读到各种各样的大人的游记。当我们带着小孩旅游时，孩子们看到什么，想到什么，又会记下什么呢？本文 “小牛游加西”是小牛随着他的父母游览了加拿大西部Vancouver、Victoria、Nanaimo、Clearwater、Jasper、 Banff、Drumheller 和Calgary等城市及国家公园后，用英文写成。小牛是一个十一岁的天才班孩子，他通过自己有限的视角，用稚嫩的笔记下了沿途所见、所闻和所思。希望读 者朋友们不仅看中文译文，而且读英文原文，但愿从中看到一些我们没有见过或不敢用的英文单词和句子，以及我们或许不知道的知识。

I．A glance of Vancouver 温哥华一瞥

Out of the window of a Boeing 767 the clouds slowly floated by. The white clouds were as dazzling as the Antarctic ice, while the patches of clear sky looked as blue as the Southern Ocean. This was going to be my first time actually reaching the main part of Vancouver. I expected a small city with not too much people and fairly organized communities, but I was far from right. As the rented car packed with me, my parents and three other fellow tourists, pulled away from the airport, I got my first glimpse of Vancouver, it is gigantic. The airport itself takes up a titanic portion of an island; the other parts of the city are spread out over many islands and a piece of the mainland. The ground far away from Downtown Vancouver is covered with apartments and houses. In short Vancouver is almost like a costal Toronto (without the CN tower of course).

透过波音767的窗户，云层在缓缓浮动。白云象南极的冰块一样耀眼；而点缀的晴空看上去像南极的海洋一样深蓝。我即将第 一次真正地踏上温哥华内 地。我原本期待温哥华是一个没有太多人口、并且社区规划良好的小城市；但我是大错特错了。随着租来的车，上面载有我和我的父母以及三位同行者，驶离机场， 我得以扫了扫一眼温哥华，它太大了。机场本身就占据了一个岛的大部分；城市的其它部分则分布在众多岛屿和一块陆地上。远离温哥华市中心的地方则遍布着公寓 和房子。总之，温哥华几乎就像一个海边的多伦多（当然，没有加拿大国家电视塔）。
The first stop in Vancouver is the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This bridge spans the canyon that was originally a trench filled with flowing water after the Ice Ages. The water cut deeper into the rock and eventually became the canyon it is today. On the other side of the bridge I saw another amazing sight: trees were growing from the trunk of a long dead tree! I later found out that the dead tree was called a nurse log. The log provides nutrition to the saplings and it is common in nature. Meanwhile high above my head a system of suspension bridges wound through the forest like a snake. This is the Treetops Adventure. The suspension bridges were attached to platforms on very thick trees. The platforms came at a regular intervals and each had a bit of information on the forest and the trees. The tallest tree in North America is a Douglas fir that was cut down in the 1800s.

在温哥华的第一站是Capilano吊桥。Capilano吊桥悬挂在峡谷上，峡谷在冰川 世纪后原本是条水沟。流水将岩石侵蚀，日积月累，最终演 变成现今的峡谷。在吊桥的另一端，我看见了一个令人惊异的景象：几棵树竟然长在一段死了的树干上！后来我得知，死了的树被称为滋养树干（nurse log），它专为小树苗提供营养。这在自然界很普遍。其间在我的头顶高处，一座座小吊桥缠绕在树林中，像蛇一样；这就是“树梢探险”。每座小吊桥的两端都 连着小平台。小平台是建在粗壮的大树上，隔着一定的距离，上面还有关于树林和树的简介。在北美地区最高的树是花旗松（Douglas fir），它在十九世纪被砍倒。

Another stop was at Stanley Park, a famous park that covered the area of a peninsula. When the first settlers arrived there they kept the area of Stanley as it is. This is because they needed wood for houses and the Stanley Park area contains a lot of high quality wood.

在温哥华的另一站是Stanley公园，一个很有名的半岛公园。当第一批移民者到达这里后，他们就将Stanley公园这一带保存下来。这是因为他们需要木材来建造房屋，而Stanley公园这一带拥有大量的高质量的木材。

The Stanley Park includes many interesting sights, for example, the hollow tree. The hollow tree is a hollowed out tree that serves as a nurse log for many other trees. Before people used to back their horse-drawn carriages in there for pictures! Another one of the attractions Stanley Park has to offer is the totems. Stanley Park has a good sized collection of tall totems. Totems were used by First Nations people to tell stories. The figures they used were both fictional and non-fictional. The fictional characters are human spirit, animal spirit, transformers or the thunder bird. The non-fictional characters are the bear, the wolf, the frog, the eagle, the raven, and the whale.

Stanley 公园有许多有意思的景点，如空心树。空心树是掏空了的树，为其它树木当作滋养树干。过去，人们还将马车推进空心树里来照相。 Stanley公园另一个吸引人之处是图腾。公园里收集了各种各样的高的图腾。图腾是原居民用来叙述故事的。图腾所用的图形有虚构的和真实的两种。虚构的 图形有人的幽灵、动物的幽灵、呼唤雷电者或雷鸟；真实的图形有熊、狼、青蛙、鹰、乌鸦和鲸鱼。

Colourful Victoria 多姿多彩的维多利亚

In the morning we drove to the Tsawwassen ferry which would ferry us over to Victoria. On the two hour ferry I learned a bit about whale watching. I learned three tips to be exact. They are: stay at least 100 meters away, turn your motor off to reduce noise pollution, and always stay parallel to the whales. Although we did not get a chance to go whale watching we will most likely go next time we visit Victoria.

清 晨我们开车到Tsawwassen码头，乘轮渡到Victoria。在两个小时的轮渡中，我学到了一点点，准确地说是三条观鲸鱼的小知识。它们是：观鲸 鱼至少要在100米远；要关掉马达以减少噪音污染；并且总是要和鲸鱼保持平行。虽然这次我们没有去看鲸鱼，相信以后会有机会的。

In Victoria the first location we visited was the Butchart Gardens. There were many gardens in many styles. The styles included Japanese, Greek and Mediterranean. For me the most interesting object was not a garden, but a fountain. This fountain is called the Ross Fountain. Every time it sprays different patterns come out. The types of sprays include jets, rotations, double helix etc. One of the very weird types of flowers I also met in the garden is a trumpet-like flower hanging down from a tree.

在维多利亚，我们第一站是Butchart花园。那里有许多各种样式的小花园，包括：日本式、希腊式和地中海 式。对我来说，最有意思的并不是花园，而是一 个喷泉。这个喷泉叫做罗斯喷泉。每一次它都喷出不同的图案来。图案有直射的，旋转的，双螺旋的等等。我在花园里还遇到一种非常奇怪的花，像喇叭一样倒挂在 树上。

We also visited Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria. Craigdarroch Castle was built for Robert Dunsmuir, the owner of a Nanaimo Coal Mine. Unfortunately, he died before it was build. His wife and children lived in it until 1908 when his wife died. Then the contents of the castle were auctioned off and the land divided into 144 lots. The castle then served as a hospital from 1919 to 1921, a university from 1921 to 1946, offices from 1946 to 1968, a conservatory of music / a historical museum from 1968 to 1979, and finally a historical museum from 1979 to present.

我们还参观了维多利亚的Craigdarroch城 堡，它是为Nanaimo煤矿井主人Robert Dunsmuir建造的。不幸的是，他在城堡建成之前就出世了。他的妻子和孩子们住在那里直到1908年他的妻子出世。随后城堡里的所有东西被拍卖，土地 也被分成144块。以后的岁月里，城堡在1919年到1921年被当作医院；1921年到1946年被用作大学；1946年到1968年成了办公地点； 1968年到1979年被当作音乐学院和历史博物馆；最终在1979年成了历史博物馆，一直到现在。

Later in the afternoon we visited Victoria’s Inner Harbour. The Inner Harbour is a very colourful place. Pots of flowers hang from every lamppost. The noise was just like that of a very busy city. Everywhere the sound of people bargaining with the street side sellers reached my ears. We kept on walking and after a while we reached Victoria’s Parliament Buildings. Perched at the very top is a statue of a person that looks like real gold.

当天的下午我们还参观了维多利亚内港。维多利亚内港是个多姿多彩的地方。每一个路灯杆子上都挂着一盆盆的 鲜花。维多利亚内港的噪音就像一个繁忙的大城市一 样，人们和街边商贩讨价还价的声音无处不在。我们走了一会儿就到了维多利亚省议会大厦。在大厦的最高点盘踞着一个人的雕像，看上去像真金一样。

The scattered around the city of Victoria are many bear models. Each of them is different in colour and design, but their shape stays the same. These bear models represent the white bear, a genetically modified bear related to the black bear. This bear has been made B.C’s provincial mammal. The model of this beer however has been named the ‘Spirit Bear’. These models will be auctioned off and the money will be donated to charities.

维多利亚市分散着有许多熊的模型。虽然每一个熊的颜色和设计不同，但形状是一样的。这些熊模型代表着一种由黑熊进化过来的白熊。这种熊已经被定为BC省的省哺乳动物。这些熊模型将被拍卖，所得款项会捐给慈善机构。

Also near the Inner Harbour are people performing. Some people were juggling and eating fire; they were sometimes very humorous and received a lot of money for their daring acts. Other people were singing and playing a guitar; they only got a smaller audience but occasional passer-by dropped a coin into their cup.

另外在内港有不少街头艺人在表演。一些人在玩杂耍和吞火把。他们有时非常幽默，并且他们为自己的勇敢行为收到了不少钱。另外一些人在唱歌和弹吉它；他们只赢得了少量观众，时不时有过路的人扔一个硬币到他们的杯子里。

Suddenly the sound of chimes reached my ears. Looking up I saw a tall tower with bells in it. This is the Carion Bell Tower, the largest in Canada. It has 68 bells, some big, some small. You can play the bells by pressing the keys with your fists and changing the tempo by pressing the pedals. The largest bell tower in North America has 77 bells and is located in Michigan。

突然悦耳的钟声飘进了我的耳朵。向上看我发现了一座高的钟塔。这就是加拿大最大的Carion钟塔，有68个大大小小的钟铃。你可以用你的拳头摁键来演奏，也可以踩脚踏板来调节音速。 北美最大的钟塔有77个钟铃，位于密西根。

III．Artistic Cowichan area艺术化的Cowichan地区

In the morning of the third day we made our way north, went through the Cowichan area to Nanaimo. Along the way stopped at a trailhead to hike. The trail was easy in some parts because of its flatness. Halfway along the trail we came upon a pine tree that stretched across a river. The branches of the pine stuck out on the bottom side and therefore looked like as if they were supports, supporting the log. At the end of the trail there is a falls. The falls looked like a white snake winding through the rocks. The water was clear and very cold. My feet felt like a block of ice when I lifted it from the water. A gnarled old tree stuck out to the middle of the water. The tree looked like as if it was from a fairy tale.

第三天早上我们驱车向北经过Cowichan地区到Nanaimo。途中我们停在一条山道的起点准 备远足。山道的有些部分因为平坦比较容易。在半 道上，我们发现一棵松树横跨在一条河上。松树树枝倒插在河底，看上去像是树枝支撑着树干。在山道的终点有一个瀑布。瀑布像一条白色的蛇穿绕在岩石中间。水 很清澈但非常凉。当我把脚从水里拿出来时，我感觉我的脚像一块冰一样。在水中间还冒出一棵老朽的枯树，像是来自一个童话故事。

The highway through the Cowichan area passed through Ducan, the city of totems. I heard a totem story from a guide in Ducan. A chief wanted to thank another chief, but he didn’t know what to do. In a dream he had he saw a beaver deliver a log and a raven carry a totem pole, so he told his son to carve a totem pole in thanks to the other chief. The symbols on a totem pole have a special meaning too. The symbol was usually an animal or a mythical creature. The First Nations believed that the thunder bird was the transformer, and it was the most powerful spirit. They also believed that the raven was the one who brought the sun and the moon to earth.

穿过Cowichan区的高速公路经过图腾之城Ducan。我从当地一个向导口里 听到一个有关图腾的故事。一个酋长想要感谢另一个酋长，但他不知 道做什么。在他做的一个梦里，他看到一头海狸正在运送一段木头，一只乌鸦正扛着一个图腾柱；所以他告诉他的儿子去雕刻一个图腾来感谢那个酋长。图腾柱上图 符也有其特殊的意义。通常图符是动物或神话人物。原居民相信雷鸟能呼唤雷电，因而是最强大的灵魂。他们还相信是乌鸦将太阳和月亮带到地球。

The next stop in Cowichan area was Chemainus, the town of murals. All around Chemainus were murals. These murals differed in size, colour, and subject. Some were about Inuits; others were about the early settlers. That would make Cheminaus like an outdoor gallery of art. One mural is to memorize a Chinese Boy. It tells how the Chinese boy’s family store served as a place for people waiting for the ferry to Thesis island or Kuper island.

Cowichan区的下一站是Chemainus，壁画之镇。 Chemainus到处都是壁画。这些壁画大小不等，颜色各异，并且主题也不同。有 些是关于因纽特人的，有些是讲早期定居者的。这些壁画将Chemainus变成了一个露天艺术画廊。有一幅壁画是纪念一个中国男孩的。它描述了当年男孩家 的店铺是如何当作过客的落脚点，这些过客是前往Thesis岛或Kuper岛的。

IV．Green water and red trees 绿水红树

On day four of my vacation we took the ferry again over to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver，then drove up to Clearwater. On the ferry there was a city staff who talked about why rivers in British Columbia are green. The green colour comes from micro-organisms and nutrition in the water, not from pollution as many people think. Once the nutrition gets down to the ocean they get eaten by Orcas (a species of whales).

在我度假的第四 天，我们再次乘轮渡回到温哥华Horseshoe码头，然后一路开往Clearwater。在轮渡上，有一个政府工作人员讲解了为 什么BC的河水是绿色的？绿色是来自水里的微生物和营养物，并非许多人认为的污染。一旦水里的营养物流进海洋，就会被一种逆戟鲸吃掉。

Along the way to Clearwater I noticed that some patches of forest were red like pokadots. This is because of pine beetle, a type of beetle that eats the bark of mature pine trees (80 years and over). They are spreading because of effective fire fighting over the past few years.

在去Clearwater的路上，我注意到一块一块的树林是红色的，像设计好的红点一样。这是因为一种松树甲虫，专吃成年树（80年及以上）的树皮造成的；并且由于过去几年森林防火很有效，松树甲虫一直在传播着。

When we reached Kamloops it was time to head north. Just before we left for the final leg of our day trip we fuelled up. The person who sold the fuel told us that the next mountain was badly burnt by a forest fire in 2003. Sure enough when came to the next mountain all that remained of the trees were black poles that looked like tooth picks stuck in the ground, even some telephone poles were blackened.

我们到达Kamloops后要转 头向北。在完成我们一天旅程的最后一段行程之前，我们加满了油箱。加油站的一个员工告诉我们，即将路过的山脉在 2003年被严重烧毁。一点都不错，当我们路过时，树林所剩下的仅仅是黑色的树桩，就像许多牙签插在大地上；就连一些电话亭也被熏成黑色。

V. Guess who will get home first? 猜猜看谁先到家？

On the morning of fifth day we began our road trip to Jasper. On the way we visited Spahats Falls. The valley in which Spahats Falls is located was made by volcanoes, glaciers and water. A long time ago there was a valley; then the volcanoes erupted again and again filling up the valley with layer upon layers of hardened lava; after that the glaciers formed. Day after day the glaciers forced down the filled up valley, until finally the glaciers retreated leaving layers of volcanic rock on one side and the bare valley floor beneath. Eventually the water came. In the wake of the retreating glacier water rushed through the land seeking a path. This particular river sank into a cavern and burst through the opening; then it fell into the valley to form the falls, and it still does today.

第五天的早上开始我们到Jasper的行程。在途中我们参观了Spahats瀑布。 Spahats瀑布所在的山谷经由火山、冰河和水形成的。很久 以前，这里是一个山谷；随后火山不断地喷出，一层层坚硬的火山岩堆满了山谷；再后来冰河形成了。日复一日，冰河一点点冲刷堆满了火山岩的山谷使之变矮，直 到最后冰河退缩，留下了火山岩石在一侧，而岩石下面是裸露的谷底。最终水来了，尾随退却的冰河，流经陆地，形成河流。这条特殊的河流落入一个洞窟，并且从 洞窟的开口处喷出，然后落入山谷形成瀑布，一直到今天。

The next stop for the day was at Green Mountain Tower. There I clearly saw many mountains, among which Pyramid Mountain and Table Mountain are with totally different shape. Pyramid Mountain was a volcano long time ago and erupted under the glacier; the lava didn’t get to the top therefore it became a pointy mountain. Table Mountain erupted under a glacier and the lava did reach the top so it became a flat topped mountain.

这一天的下一站是Green Mountain塔，在那里我可以清楚地看到了很多山。在这些山中，Pyramid山和Table山具有完全不同的形状。Pyramid山很久之前是一座 火山并且在冰河下面喷发；但火山岩并没有喷到冰河顶部，因而形成了很尖的山。Table山则是在冰河下面喷发并且顶到冰河表面，因而形成了很平的山。

Before we continued on the road to Jasper we stopped at a small community to buy lunch. At a post office I decided to send a post card home and see who would get home first. This is what I wrote “Hi me, we are somewhere between Clearwater and Jasper. I’m hungry. I’m waiting for pizza. It is foggy outside. It looks like it is going to rain. Guess who will get home first?” Surely enough when I got home, the post card was waiting silently for me in the mailbox.

在我们继续到Jasper的行程前，我们在一个小社区停了停买午餐。在 一个邮局我决定寄一张明信片回家并看看谁先到家。我是这样写的：“咳，我自 己，我们在Clearwater和 Jasper之间的某个地方。我饿了。我正在等比萨饼。外面雾朦朦的，看上去像要下雨。猜猜看谁先到家？”很肯定当我到家时，明信片已经在信箱里静静地等 着我。

（来源：大中报）