In 1949, Hu Lian was the first general commander of Kinmen. In his book, “Memoirs of Kinmen” he records an interesting anecdote. At the time, to encourage the morale of front-line soldiers, he treated them to white flour noodles, but found that this was not appreciated, as the soldiers were not used to eating wheat flour noodles.
Later officers told him, there were many snakes on Kinmen, and there were even pythons weighing up to a hundred catties (60kg), several meters long. The soldiers from Guangdong Province were addicted to eating them. They would be happy eating just steamed buns, if only they could have one meal of snake every three days. They didn’t realize that eating these snakes brought disastrous consequences. After three months, there was a plague of mice. The mice ate all the grain and there were orders for Guangdong soldiers to stop catching snakes and start catching mice, thus a mouse population explosion was averted.
Snakes are recorded in folklore. In 1950, the garrison on Little Kinmen found a python as thick as a bowl. When it was moved to Kinmen it was surrounded by onlookers and caused a sensation. Four years later, soldiers going through sweet potato fields suddenly heard a farm woman shouting “Big snake, big snake!” When they looked, it was a brown patterned python. Some people also saw pythons among the tombs, and in Tatan Island there were even rumors of horned snakes. All these folklore tales indicate that in the one hundred and fifty square kilometers of Kinmen Island, there were always pythons.
Photo: CNA
照片：中央社
Interestingly, from 1970s up to the year 2001, the big snakes seemed to suddenly disappear and there were no more traces of pythons in folklore.
In the early 2000s, there were once again sporadic reports of pythons in the area. In 2006, a member of the public caught a Burmese python and gave it to the Kinmen Livestock Research Institute. After this, there were reports of Burmese pythons swallowing lambs, chickens and ducks in farms on both Little Kinmen and Kinmen.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Clare Lear)
民國三十八年擔任金門首任司令官的胡璉將軍，在著作「金門憶舊」裡，記載一段有趣的小故事：當年為鼓勵前線官兵士氣，犒勞士兵雪白洋麵，卻遭官兵以「吃不慣麵粉」打臉。
後來有幹部回答，金門蛇多，且有蟒重可達百斤、長約數丈，粵兵嗜之如命，如能三天吃到一餐，就算配饅頭都能下嚥。沒想到吃蛇帶來嚴重後果：三個月後鼠疫發生，糧食農作受波及，直到下令限制粵籍士兵捕蛇並發動捕鼠，風波才告平息。
民間采風也有紀錄，民國三十九年小金門駐軍發現如大碗粗大的蟒蛇，海運到大金門時「觀者如堵」，引起轟動。相隔四年，又有軍人經過地瓜田，忽聞農婦高喊「大蛇、大蛇」，一看是黃褐色花紋的巨蟒；還有民眾看到蟒蛇在古墓出沒，甚至在大膽島看到「長角的蟒蛇」等傳說。凡此種種，說明一百五十平方公里的金門島，早就有所謂的「蟒蛇」存在。
有趣的是，從民國六十年代至九十年間，「大蛇」好像憑空消失，民間未聞「蟒」跡。
民國九十年代初期，金門又開始有零散蟒蹤，九十五年有人撿到一尾緬甸蟒交給金門畜試所。此後，大、小金門陸續傳出有農舍小羊、雞、鴨遭緬甸蟒吞噬紀錄。
（自由時報報導）
A: Hard rock band Guns N’ Roses is touring Taiwan tomorrow. What about pop diva Lady Gaga? B: Unfortunately, Singapore has once again exclusively secured Gaga’s concerts in Asia, just like Taylor Swift’s exclusive Asian shows last year. A: The Singaporean government reportedly paid up to US$2.2 million to secure Swift’s shows. B: And the shows did boost its economy and tourism. A: But I’m angry about this approach, so I’m not going to Gaga’s shows this time. A: 硬式搖滾天團槍與玫瑰明天即將來台，流行天后女神卡卡呢？ B: 真可惜，新加坡再度取得卡卡亞洲巡演的獨家主辦權，就像去年泰勒絲的亞洲獨家演出一樣。 A: 據報導新加坡政府付出高達220萬美元，取得泰勒絲的亞洲獨家主辦權。 B: 而她的秀也的確提振了該國的經濟和旅遊業。 A: 但我對此還是很不爽，所以不去新加坡看卡卡了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: Hard rock band Guns N’ Roses and pop diva Lady Gaga are finally touring Asia again. B: Are they also coming to Taiwan? A: The band will stage a show at the Taoyuan Sunlight Arena on Saturday. B: Wow, so this will be the band’s third visit. I really love its 1992 power ballad “November Rain.” The nine-minute hit was the Billboard chart’s longest song at one point. A: Let’s go celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release. A: 硬式搖滾天團槍與玫瑰、女神卡卡終於再度展開亞洲巡演了。 B: 他們也會來台巡演嗎？ A: 槍與玫瑰本週六即將在桃園陽光劇場開唱唷。 B: 哇這將是該團第三次來台演出，我超愛他們1992年強力情歌《November Rain》，全長近9分鐘還曾是告示牌排行榜最長神曲。 A: 那我們一起去慶祝該團出道40週年吧！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
Every May 1, Hawaii comes alive with Lei Day, a festival celebrating the rich culture and spirit of the islands. Initiated in 1927 by the poet Don Blanding, Lei Day began as a tribute to the Hawaiian custom of making and wearing leis. The idea was quickly adopted and officially recognized as a holiday in 1929, and leis have since become a symbol of local pride and cultural preservation. In Hawaiian culture, leis are more than decorative garlands made from flowers, shells or feathers. For Hawaiians, giving a lei is as natural as saying “aloha.” It shows love and
If you could nominate any toys for the Toy Hall of Fame, what would they be? Iconic playthings like yo-yos, toy cars, or video games seem like obvious __1__. Classic toys such as jacks, playing cards, and board games like Chess, Monopoly, and Uno have brought endless joy to generations. Overall, there are countless toys that __2__ in the Toy Hall of Fame. The National Toy Hall of Fame was __3__ in 1998 at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The Toy Hall of Fame aims to __4__ items that have been cherished for generations, and several
RSS