1-9 1月25日——彭斯之夜（在线收听）

January 25 Burns Night

Robert Burns¹, the eighteenth century “common man’s poet” who wrote of humble matters in his brash² “Lallans³” dialect⁴, remains Scotland’s favorite native son. Here his birthday is celebrated as he himself would have liked it. Partyers assemble in the banqueting hall, where they tuck into⁵ such dishes as wind dried cod with horseradish⁶ and egg sauce and finnan toasties⁷. But these are merely the whets⁸. The main event, of course, is the Scottish national dish: haggis⁹, a sheep’s stomach stuffed with chopped mutton, oatmeal, offal¹⁰, and spices, sealed up tightly and boiled to a shiny brown. Flanked by bagpipers¹¹ in full regalia¹², the cook enters the hall, holding the platter aloft¹³.

With a sharp knife, the master of ceremonies carves an X into the top --the “paunch¹⁴.” All recite a Scottish grace¹⁵ as the haggis is served. At night’s end, the celebrants rise arm in arm to sing Burns’s most famous work of all: Auld Lang Syne¹⁶.

注释：

1.Robert Burns 罗伯特·彭斯(1759～1796，苏格兰诗人，主要用苏格兰方言写诗，曾长期搜集、整理民歌，并为著名曲调撰写歌词，优秀诗作有《自由树》、《一朵红红的玫瑰》等)

2.brash [brAF] adj. 粗犷的；浮华的

3.Lallan [5lAlEn] n. 苏格兰低地

4.dialect [5daiElekt] n. 方言，土话，地方话

5.tuck into〈俚〉痛快地吃喝，大口地吃喝

6.horseradish [5hC:srAdiF] n. [植]辣根；辣根制成的调味品

7.finnan toasties 熏鳕鱼

8.whet [(h)wet] n. 开胃小吃(如酒等)

9.haggis [5hA^is] n. 肉馅羊肚，香(羊)肚，羊肉杂碎布丁(系苏格兰传统食物)

10.offal [5CfEl] n. 下水，杂肉

11.bagpiper [5bA^paipE] n. (苏格兰等地的)风笛手

12.in full regalia 身着盛装

13.aloft [E5lCft] adv. 在(向)高处，在上面

14.paunch [pC:ntF] n. 肚子

15.grace [^reis] n. (饭前或饭后的)谢恩祷告

16.Auld Lang Syne (=Old Long Since)〈苏格兰〉《友谊地久天长》，又译为《美好的往日》

1月25日——彭斯之夜

用粗犷的苏格兰低地方言，专写老百姓事情的18世纪“平民诗人”罗伯特·彭斯永远是苏格兰人最钟爱的儿子。这里的人以他本人也会喜欢的方式来庆祝他的生日。参加聚会的人聚集在宴会厅，大吃特吃加辣根和鸡蛋沙司的风干鳕鱼和熏鳕鱼。不过这些都还只是开胃小吃。主食当然是苏格兰的本地风味菜：肉馅羊肚，就是在羊肚里填满切碎的羊肉、燕麦片、杂碎以及香料之后将羊肚封紧，然后煮成油光发亮的棕色。厨师进入大厅时，手中高举着椭圆形的大盘子；走在他两侧的是身着盛装的风笛手。

　　司仪用一把锋利的刀在“肚子”的上部划一个叉儿。上菜时，大家齐声朗诵苏格兰的谢恩祈祷文。到长夜结束时，参加庆典的人手挽着手，齐声高唱彭斯最著名的歌曲：《友谊地久天长》。