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Woman startsouthouse collection 收集戶外廁所的女子
Sunday, May 21, 2006,Page 14
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The outhouse's most modern descendant, the high-tech Brondell Swash 600 toilet seat. 戶外廁所革命性產品:Brondell Swash 600高科技馬桶座。
PHOTO: AP
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They were once a staple in rural America, a necessity of daily life.
Today outhouses, which are outdoor toilets, are mostly gone -- but not if you walk into Janie Peel's backyard. She already has three and might have two more on the way. One is coming all the way from Texas.
``This is my newest one,'' she said, gesturing toward a vintage outhouse with two seats that was moved to her backyard without being taken apart.
``It took three men to lift it,'' she said. ``But if we hadn't (taken it), it would have been torn down.''
Peel has always thought that outhouses are really interesting. She lives in the US state of Georgia, where she works in the real estate industry. In her free time she collects old outhouses.
``I can't stand to see old buildings torn down,'' she said.
Her favorite is an ancient outhouse that has two seats, a metal roof and crude wooden posts for corners. The rusted metal on one side has holes in it from where somebody shot it with a shotgun. The bullet holes are just where people using the outhouse would have been sitting.
Peel is not sure why the outhouse was shot. It could have been vandalism, assault or perhaps somebody's way of creating holes to let air come in and out more easily.
``It has a lot of character,'' she said. ``You have to wonder about the conversations that might have taken place in there.'' (ap)
它們一度是美國鄉村地區不可或缺的日常必需品。
時至今日，戶外廁所幾乎已消失無蹤，但走進珍妮．皮爾的後院才發現其實不然。她已經有三個戶外廁所，還有兩個正在運送途中，其中一個更遠從德州托運過來。
她一邊指著一間雙馬桶座的老式戶外廁所，一邊說：「這是我剛買的。」這個戶外廁所沒經過拆卸就被搬到她的後院。
她說：「要三個人才搬得動它。如果我們沒買下來，它就會遭到拆除。」
皮爾向來對戶外廁所很感興趣。住在美國喬治亞州的她服務於房地產業，閒暇之餘，喜歡收集老式戶外廁所。
她說：「我沒辦法眼睜睜看著老式建物被拆除。」
她最愛的是一個有雙馬桶座、金屬製屋頂和簡陋木角柱的老式戶外廁所，在其中一面生鏽的金屬牆上還有獵槍留下的彈孔，這些彈孔的位置剛好都在如廁者蹲坐的高度。
皮爾不確定這些戶外廁所為何遭到槍擊，有可能是遭人蓄意破壞、攻擊，也可能是有人為了讓空氣更容易流通而穿鑿的洞。
她說：「它很有特色。你一定很想知道那裡面曾出現過什麼樣的對話。」 （美聯社／翻譯：林倩如）
| TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 |
1. staple/ n.
日常必需品 (ri4 chang2 bi4 xu1 pin3)，主食 (zhu3 shi2)
例：Rice is a staple of the Chinese diet.
（米飯是中國人的主食。）
2. gesture v.i.
用動作示意 (yong4 dong4 zuo4 shi4 yi4)
例：I couldn't hear Jane at the party because the music was too loud, so she gestured to me to go outside to talk.
（派對上音樂太吵，我聽不見珍說話，所以她示意要我到外面去聊。）
3. vintage adj.
老式的 (lao3 shi4 de5)，古色古香的 (gu3 se4 gu3 xiang1 de5)
例：Hank prefers repairing vintage cars to buying new ones.
（漢克寧願修理古董老車也不願買新車。）
4. crude adj.
簡陋的 (jian3 lou4 de5)
例：The tools doctors used 100 years ago seem crude when compared to today's advanced medical technology.
（和時下先進的醫療技術相比，一百年前醫師們使用的工具似乎簡陋了些。）
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| Reading Comprehension 閱讀測驗 |
1. Today, outhouses are ...
a. common in rural America.
b. only found in museums.
c. hard to find in rural America.
2. Peel collects outhouses for all of the following reasons EXCEPT ...
a. she finds them fascinating.
b. she makes money selling them in real estate.
c. she appreciates old things.
3. Why was one of the outhouses shot?
a. To let more air in.
b. It was attacked.
c. Peel isn't sure.
4. Why is that outhouse Peel's favorite?
a. It has a lot of personality.
b. She can sell it for a lot of money.
c. She likes to have conversations in it.
Ans: 1.c 2.b 3.c 4.a |
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