By+Christine+Mc+Cafferty

Christine和Shannon瘋狂又冒险的旅行可谓是充满了戏剧性。在摘水果赚外快的计划泡汤之后，她们又陷入了囊中羞涩的困境。这一次，为了能够参观期待已久的斯特灵城堡，她们竟然当起了乞丐……

The two backpacking girls funds were low and their hopes of getting work picking berries on a fruit farm were dashed1. But at least they still had wheels and were headed for a day in Stirling2 with the hope of visiting the famous Stirling Castle.

We didnt have much choice as to where we were going but， in life， if you can “go with the flow”3， and take what comes your way， it makes life much easier. We had no idea though how far we would go that day. There is also the saying that “beggars cant be choosers”4. And with very little money left， and no jobs lined up， we had no option but to stay with Ian for at least another day. But little did we know how close we would come to being real beggars that day.

Ian， who we were travelling with， had house-shared with us in Henley-on-Thames when we had worked at the tavern near there.5 He still seemed happy to have us along but we both felt very uncomfortable with him. He now had work to do in Stirling so we headed west to the centre of Scotland once again. We did the trip in just over an hour and were happy to arrive in Stirling by mid-morning. Ian dropped us off and told us he would collect us again in three hours.

We had three hours to explore what had long ago been a medieval old town with a royal citadel on the River Forth.6 Stirling sits in the centre of Scotland and， while today is only a smallish town with the towns population being just under 50，000， it is important as a university town and popular tourist centre. But， even more important， it has a grand history. Many Scottish kings and queens were crowned here， including James VI who would become king of both Scotland and England in 1603， unifying and bringing peace to both countries.

Stirling Castle was built on a rocky hill as a fortress7 guarding the surrounding area. It is not enough to see it from the outside though because， in the late 1400s， James IV had transformed it into a stunning Renaissance court；8 he had wanted a palace as good as any of those in Europe. He undertook great building works and attempted to make it a centre of learning. He died young and his son James V continued his work using the money from his two marriages to rich French women. He married French women as he wanted to build a close link between Catholic9 France and Scotland. But James V also died young and the work was continued in grandiose style by Mary of Guise，10 his second wife， then a widow.

Mary of Guise was a charming， witty woman who is believed to have brought the fashion of wearing knickers，11 womens underpants， from France to Scotland for the first time. After the death of her husband， Mary of Guise stayed in Scotland and ruled the kingdom in her own right on behalf of their daughter Mary Queen of Scots who had been made queen of Scotland at only six days old， on the death of her father.12

Mary Queen of Scots was only five years old when she was sent to be raised in France， alongside the Prince of France， then three years old， who she was arranged to marry in an attempt to unite France and Scotland. She was sent along with companions that included four other little girls her age， who were also named Mary， and were daughters of some of Scotlands noblest families. She was raised as a Frenchwoman and did marry the Prince of France and even became the Queen of France. However， once her husband died， she was sent back to Scotland.

Mary Queen of Scots then ruled in Scotland but at that time there was a huge battle between Catholicism and Protestantism， with the Protestants dominating in England.13 Mary became known as Bloody Mary because she had many Protestants killed. She was involved in a plot14 to kill the Queen of England， Elizabeth， a cousin of hers， and so Mary was put to death. England was a protestant country， unlike France， and so Scotlands association with France had been a problem. Bloody Marys son James VI was a Protestant and eventually became king of England too. This led， largely， to peace and union between England and Scotland.

We were fascinated by the intrigues15 and stories of these people who had all lived and been a part of Stirling Castle. We were determined to get into the castle. The problem was that we were low on money and， with no hope of work and needing to part company with16 Ian， we could not afford to spend a penny！ On the other hand， how could we lose our probably one-and-only-chance to get into Stirling Castle？

So we begged. Well what is begging？ Something terribly embarrassing and that is going up to a complete stranger and asking for help. It took a fair bit of courage， and I cant remember which of us went up to the man sitting near us， and asked， please could he give us some money to enter the castle. He was quite taken aback17 by our request， as I guess people usually beg for things like food or alcohol， but he quite easily gave us a note.

How grateful we were！ But it was only enough for one. The good thing was that children could enter the castle for free； the problem was that neither of us were children. Terrible as this is， we did it in the name of our education， we went up to the ticket office， which luckily was quite high， and Shannon bent low and looked small and shy， and I asked， “Please can I have one ticket？”

The ticket lady replied， “That all？”

I answered， “Yes my little sister can go in for free.” She gave me a strange look and， with that， we walked in. As I have said before in this adventure story， please dont do as we did. But you can laugh.

Stirling Castle did not disappoint us and in three hours we met Ian with big smiles.

“Next up Stranraer18，” he said.

“Wheres that？” we asked.

“West and south，” he replied， “We go through Irvine and Maybole19 and then onto Stranraer.” “What are you going to do there？” we asked.

“I have got to see someone who works at the ferry that goes from there to Ireland.”“Ferry to Ireland？” we gasped20！ “You mean like the country， Ireland？”“Yes，” he said， “Of course. The ferry goes from there west over the sea to Ireland.” He said it as if we were a little stupid.

We looked at each other， our eyes lit up， and we both chorused21 at the same time： “Ireland， but that is EXACTLY where we want to go！”

How much better then when we got there early evening and discovered that a late night four-and-a-half-hour ferry could take us to Belfast22. And we did not need to spend any more time with Ian—or look for a job in Scotland anymore. Maybe we would have better luck in Ireland. After all， isnt there a saying about “the luck of the Irish”23， and Shannon did have Irish blood.

1. dash ones hope： 使某人的希望化為泡影。

2. Stirling： 斯特灵，英国苏格兰中部城市，曾是苏格兰王国的首都与政治、商业与工业中心。

3. go with the flow： 顺其自然。

4. beggars cant be choosers： 要饭的哪能挑肥拣瘦，意思是没有选择权就只好满足于能得到的东西。

5. Henley-on-Thames： 泰晤士河畔的亨利小镇，位于英格兰牛津郡南部；tavern： 酒馆。

6. medieval： 中世纪的；citadel： //（旧时的）城堡，要塞；River Forth：福斯河，发源于斯特灵郡的山区，是英国苏格兰地区的主要河流之一。

7. fortress： 堡垒，要塞。

8. stunning： 极具吸引力的，极漂亮的；Renaissance：（14—16世纪欧洲）文艺复兴时期（艺术、建筑等）的风格；court： 王宫。

9. Catholic： 天主教的。下文Catholicism是天主教。

10. grandiose： // 华而不实的，浮夸的；Mary of Guise： 玛丽·德·吉斯（Marie de Guise， 1515—1560），苏格兰国王詹姆斯五世的第二位王后，苏格兰女王玛丽一世（Mary Queen of Scots）的母亲。

11. witty： 言辞诙谐的，风趣的；knickers：女用内裤，短衬裤。

12. 在她丈夫死后，出生仅六天的女儿玛丽成为了苏格兰女王。玛丽·德·吉斯留在苏格兰，代替女儿执政。

13. Protestantism： //新教；Protestant： 新教徒。

14. plot： 密谋，阴谋。

15. intrigue： n. 阴谋，诡计。

16. part company with： 与……分手，与……分道扬镳。

17. take aback： 使吃惊，使吓一跳。

18. Stranraer： 斯特兰拉尔，位于苏格兰东南部沿海的小镇，靠运营从斯特兰拉尔到北爱尔兰贝尔法斯特的渡船而闻名。

19. Irvine and Maybole： 尔湾和梅博尔，分别是苏格兰艾尔郡北部和南部的两个城镇。

20. gasp： （尤指由于惊讶或疼痛而）大声喘气，倒抽气。

21. chorus： v. 异口同声地说。

22. Belfast： 贝尔法斯特，北爱尔兰首府。

23. the luck of the Irish： 爱尔兰人的幸运，指运气特别好。