爱尔兰的男孩们

By Christine Mc Cafferty

Getting back from that yachting trip cold and dirty made us even more grateful for the comfortable home that Frankie， Galways harbourmaster3， had given us. Frankie was so generous and kind； we had a bed， we had food… and Frankie had a telephone. Our financial situation remained bad. In fact it was so bad that we had not been able to afford to call home for weeks. Telephone calls to other countries were very expensive then. I must confess， we used Frankies phone to make some important calls. First， we phoned our mothers. Both Shannon and I were raised by single mothers， and had never found our fathers to be supportive so we didnt bother to call them.

Neither of our moms knew whether to be angry—or happy—to hear from us. First， they were angry because we hadnt called for such a long time. They had been communicating with each other， very very worried about us. Next， they were completely overjoyed to be hearing from their daughters—and could hardly believe where we were， and what we have been doing. We both had to cut short our conversations though as time was of the essence， using the phone secretively.4

香儂和克里斯汀，我们的两位背包客刚从遥远的爱尔兰西海岸回来，她们又冷又脏，浑身湿透。作为补偿，热情的东道主要给两人介绍英俊潇洒、风流倜傥的爱尔兰男孩！新的艳遇就在眼前，两人为此还特意去做了头发。结果如何？一起来看。

Next I had to call my Uncle Noel. If you remember， I nearly missed my flight to Europe because he had not returned home by the time I needed to go to the airport， and I had to hitchhike there！ Unbeknown to me， that would be the first of many hitchhike trips！5 I had gone out with him and his girlfriend the night before， they had an argument and he left the restaurant chasing after her in his car. He was overjoyed to hear from me too. He told me on the phone that while driving after his girlfriend， he had a serious car accident and would need to have follow-up plastic surgery6 soon.

I had one more call to make. It was an important call. While I was having all this fun， I still had thoughts of the boyfriend Ive said goodbye to a few weeks before my flight to Europe. Knowing I was leaving to travel and not knowing where I would study or live after that， or where he would be studying， we had to say goodbye. It was a sad goodbye， but at the same time our relationship had been volatile7 and unhappy in many ways. We were young， too young for a serious relationship. I had argued with him often； I think， because in my heart I was not ready for a relationship. I also had felt disappointed in him， because I thought that he had not supported me enough in following my dream of travelling. But he was just a young man with his own problems and feelings. I think we both hurt each other a great deal but this is what happens when two young people get serious before they are ready for it.

The times weve spent together seemed like a million years away at that point， though only a few weeks had passed. I guess that when you have to grow up fast， in some ways it puts distance between you and the past. On hearing his voice， I felt that I missed him—and I told him so. Again I felt attached to him， and wanted to know that he still loved me. He told me that he wanted to spend Christmas in England with me. I had hardly put the phone down when I felt a fear of getting caught in the painful trap that our relationship had been.8 I doubted that seeing each other again was a good idea. I thought to myself that I would decide later... and then put it out my mind. I dont think I had much trust and love in me towards men. Besides being single and free seemed a lot more fun. I certainly would not be having adventures like these with a boyfriend attached！ Yes， it was all about me. But sometimes you are allowed to be like that！

There was no more time for deep thoughts； we needed to hurry up. We had to get down town as Sean was going to pay for us to get a free hair cut and style！ We had not had anything like this for a very long time！ We thought he probably felt bad that wed had such an awful yacht trip， but most likely he thought we werent looking our best！

But there was another reason for the hairdo； Sean and Frankie were convinced that we should meet young Irish men before we left Galway to get an idea of how dashing9 and fun they were. They， of course， were way too old for us.

We dressed up for our last night in Galway， and armed with our lovely new hairdos， left with Frank and Sean to their local pub. There was only one young guy in the place and he certainly did NOT appeal to us. Sean and Frankie happened to know him. So they approached him， despite our protestations， and asked him to please take us out for the night to a place where young people would be having fun. He obliged and kindly took us by taxi to the “Oasis Nightclub” in a beachfront area known as Salthill.10 There was great music and crowds of young people were having fun on the dance floor. Shannon and I had a lovely evening. Shannon didnt meet anyone， but I met a guy called Mike. Alas， he was not Irish； he was a Londoner. His job was travelling all over the world selling sport， such as Wimbledon11 tennis， to sports shows. It was the highest-sounding12 job that Id ever heard of.

He was not that “good looking” but he was so intelligent and interesting to talk to. I didnt even mind when he kissed me on the dance floor and squeezed me tight. By then the guy who had brought us there， had disappeared. It was most likely because we werent giving him much attention. I know… not very polite， but I had only one person on my mind！ Mike was captain of a football team he had brought to play in Galway， and he had his own car. He drove us back and we finally got to Franks house at about 3am.

Shannon went to bed and I planned to walk Mike to the door. Instead， we somehow ourselves lay on the sofa together. He was so nice； I looked into his eyes and felt that anything could happen between us… but suddenly he pulled away. He told me that in fact he had a girlfriend in London， and was feeling too bad to let himself go. Wow！ I wondered how many men would be like that… so faithful and honest. He nearly restored my faith in mankind， but I could be swayed13 considering that， when he gave me a final hug goodbye， he told me that hed regretted changing his mind on the sofa…

The next day it was time to say goodbye to our Galway friends. Frank and Sean were disappointed that we had not met any handsome Irish lads， but they set us a new challenge： to visit Seans Bar in the town of Athlone， which has been in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest bar in Europe.14

It was sad to say goodbye， but I felt he knew we were making calls on his phone. I think his telephone account would have been very high. I really felt bad. Shannon did too and she wrote in my diary a promise that one day we would pay him back： “Seriously we must pay Frank back when we have money again， like sometime in the next 30 years.”Well thats how we felt about our dire15 money situation.

With no more than about 20 Irish pounds each in their wallets， the money they had earned cleaning Seans yacht， Shannon and Christine set off east together with three goals in mind： find Seans Bar （the name of the bar and a favourite place of Seans）； see the Shannon River which Shannon has been named after； and find a job in Irelands capital city， Dublin（都柏林）.

1. bedraggled：全身泥污的，滿身湿透的；yacht： 游艇，快艇。

2. Galway： 戈尔韦，爱尔兰一城市。

3. harbourmaster： 港务长。

4. 然而，我们都只能长话短说，因为在偷偷摸摸地用手机时，通话时间是很重要的（否则就会被发现）。

5. 那时我还不知道，那将是我日后众多搭便车之旅中的第一次。unbeknown： 未知的，不为人知的。

6. plastic surgery： 整形手术。

7. volatile： 不稳定的，变化无常的。

8. 我还没放下电话，就开始害怕再次陷入那段关系的痛苦困境之中。

9. dashing： 风度翩翩的，潇洒的。

10. oblige： 帮忙，效劳；beach-front： 海滨地区。

11. Wimbledon： 温布尔登，位于英国伦敦南部，因一年一度举办网球锦标赛（Wimbledon Championships，简称“温网”）而闻名于世。

12. high-sounding： 听起来很了不起的，虚夸的。

13 . sway： 说服，使相信。

14. lad： 少年，小伙子；Athlone： 阿斯隆，位于爱尔兰中部、美丽的香侬河畔；Guinness Book of Records：《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》。

15. dire： 极其严重的，危急的。