彭蒙惠英语：Spreading the World… Silbo Style（在线收听）

Spreading the World… Silbo Style

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If you can’t blow, you must go!

Though the whistling language hasn’t reached the level of the early days, there’s no denying it’s making a comeback. The school hallways are alive with the sound of Silbo as students walk past their teacher and whistle. It is music to his ears.

“In the old days when there were no roads or telephones, Silbo was a simple necessity,” says Mendoza. “If a person didn’t know how to whistle, they had to walk.” He reminisces how islanders would whistle from mountaintop to mountaintop to send word about anything from a festivity to a funeral. La Gomera’s verdant gorges make the isle uniquely beautiful but hard to traverse. When African settlers brought Silbo to La Gomera over 2,500 years ago, it proved a great boon to the island. Whistling saved having to ramble the labyrinth-like trails up and down steep gorges to deliver a spoken message.

Vocabulary Focus

music to one’s ears (idiom) something that one is very pleased to hear

boon (n) [bu:n] something that is very helpful and improves the quality of life

ramble (v) [5rAmbl] to walk, especially in the countryside, often without a specific direction or following a winding path

Specialized Terms

gorge (n) 峡谷 a deep, narrow valley with steep sides, usually formed by a river or stream cutting through hard rock

labyrinth (n) 迷宫 a confusing set of connecting passages or paths in which it is easy to get lost

席尔波式的口哨传意

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如果你不会用嘴吹口哨，就得用脚走路！

虽然这个口哨语言尚未恢复到早期全盛时期的程度，但不可否认，它正在重整旗鼓。学校走廊上充满着学生们遇见老师，并用口哨跟他打招呼的席尔波语。对曼铎沙来说十分悦耳。

“在没有道路或电话的古老年代，席尔波语是最简单的必需品，”曼铎沙这么说，“如果有人不会吹口哨，那他们就得用脚走的。”他回忆起岛民是如何从山顶到山顶用口哨传送从庆典到丧葬的各种讯息。哥梅拉岛上的青翠峡谷让岛的面貌美丽得无与伦比，但却难以通行。大约2500年以前，非洲移民者将席尔波语带入哥梅拉岛，却发现这对小岛来说简直是一大恩惠。口哨语言节省了在像迷宫般山谷间上上下下的小径上缓行，以传送口说讯息的时间。