Iceland, it seems, is full of hidden poets.
When they’re not at their day jobs, many of the island’s 330,000 inhabitants express themselves through verse, including politicians, businessmen, horse breeders and scientists who study the genetic isolation of the island in pursuit of medical breakthroughs.
Kari Stefansson, one of the world’s leading geneticists and the founder of Decode Genetics, recalled a poem he wrote in 1996, a few months after the birth of Dolly, the cloned sheep.
Photo taken from NASA
照片:美國太空總署
“I was a little bit depressed,” Mr. Stefansson said in his office, which, with its slit windows and computer screens, looked a bit like the interior of a spaceship. “One of my ways to deal with that was to write a small poem,” he said, before proceeding to recite it:
Where do I find, lost in the brightness of a sunlit day,
The happiness of an unhappy man
Fortunate only to be just one copy of himself.
Everything else stinks.
Poetry is a national pastime, but not a particularly “specialist activity,” said Sveinn Yngvi Egilsson, a professor of Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland. “It’s part of being an Icelander,” he said. “Yes, it’s charming, isn’t it?”
In earlier times, verses were an integral part of social gatherings and were often improvised, he said. Poetry contests were held, with the prizes going to the wittiest, sharpest verses. The most popular verse form, he said, is called ferskeytla, four rhymed lines that can be divided into two parts.
The cold oceanic climate and long winter nights may also have something to do with it. “People usually get bored, and they try to humor each other,” Professor Egilsson said. “One of those ways is poetry.”
(New York Times / Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura)
冰島似乎到處都是隱藏的詩人。
在從事正職工作之餘,島上三十三萬居民中有許多人會寄情文字,其中有政治人物、商人、馬匹育種師,也有為了追求醫學突破而鑽研該島嶼遺傳隔離性的科學家們。
卡里·斯特凡松是世界頂尖的遺傳學家之一,也是基因解碼公司的創始人。他回憶起一九九六年複製羊桃莉誕生幾個月後他寫下的一首詩。
「當時我有點鬱悶,」斯特凡松在自己的辦公室裡說,狹長的窗子配上室內的電腦螢幕,讓這裡看起來有點像太空船的內部。「我處理這種情緒的一種方法,就是寫一首小詩,」他說完便背誦起他的詩作:
明媚的日子裡灑滿了陽光,
不幸者的幸福卻無處尋覓。
幸運只是他的一份複製品,
其餘的一切全都散發臭氣。
詩歌是一種全民休閒活動,不是什麼特別的專業活動,冰島大學冰島文學教授斯溫·伊格維·埃吉爾松說。「這是冰島的特色,」他說,「這很迷人,不是嗎?」
他說,在早年間,詩歌是冰島社交聚會不可或缺的一部分,經常是即興創作的,還會舉行詩歌比賽,最風趣、最犀利的詩歌會獲得嘉獎。他說,最流行的詩歌形式名叫「ferskeytla」,它有四句押韻的詩句,可以分為兩部分。
冰島的詩歌風氣也可能同當地寒冷的海洋氣候與漫長的冬夜有關。「人們常常會覺得無聊,於是就想要相互逗個樂,」埃吉爾松說,「而其中一種方式就是詩歌。」(紐約時報/晉其角譯)
Like people in many other countries, Taiwanese are fond of delicious fried snacks. For example, Spain is known for its churros, and in Taiwan there is a traditional fried dessert made of sticky rice called beh teung guai. The snack consists of sticky rice flour that is mixed with water, kneaded into a dough and shaped into small pieces. Once fried, the sticky rice balls are coated in crushed peanuts and sugar mixture. 世界上有許多國家愛吃炸甜點,台灣也不例外。舉例來說,西班牙有吉拿棒,台灣人則有油炸糯米的點心──白糖粿。作法先將糯米粉和水混合揉成糰,再捏成小塊,炸好後裹上花生糖粉。 knead (v.) 揉(麵糰、黏土),捏;捏製;揉捏形成 Beh teung guai is a traditional snack that has been enjoyed by many senior citizens since
WHEN ARE THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES? The Paris 2024 Olympics will run from Friday to Aug. 11, while the Paris 2024 Paralympics will be held from Aug. 28-Sept. 8. WHERE WILL THE GAMES TAKE PLACE? In September 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Paris the 2024 Games when its only remaining rival, Los Angeles, agreed to wait another four years to be the host city. Paris has hosted two Olympics and will stage the event 100 years after its last Games in 1924. The Games will be staged in 35 venues across Paris, Ile-de-France, on both mainland France and overseas. Some notable venues
A: The 2024 Paris Olympics is set to open tomorrow (Saturday Taiwan time), and will run until Aug. 11. B: How many Taiwanese athletes will compete in the Olympics? A: About 60 Taiwanese athletes will participate in 16 sports. B: I’ve heard some Olympic gold medalists, such as weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun, and badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, will compete in the Olympics again. A: Asian tennis star Hsieh Su-wei, who is the World No. 1 in women’s doubles, is also on the Taiwan team. Let’s give our support to the Taiwanese players. A: 巴黎奧運自7月26日(台灣時間27日),至8月11日要登場啦。 B: 台灣有多少選手參賽? A: 台灣有60名選手參賽,將參加16項運動種類。 B: 這次奧運金牌舉重名將郭婞淳、羽球男雙李洋/王齊麟都會參賽。 A:
You might have seen athletes gracefully bending and leaping in rhythm with melodies. This is “rhythmic gymnastics,” a sport often mistaken for artistic gymnastics. However, the two are distinct in focus and presentation. Artistic gymnastics focuses on strength, flexibility, and balance, with athletes performing solo on various equipment. They are scored based on the difficulty of their movements, their execution of certain skills on each apparatus, and their ability to combine multiple skills into different movements. Rhythmic gymnastics, on the other hand, emphasizes style and presentation, with athletes often performing in teams. Moving in harmony with music, they use