Apparently inspired by the ancient Chinese proverb about an old man moving a mountain, for more than a year a group of elderly miners have been weeding, moving stones and paving roads to uncover an old mine railway, which was buried for the past 26 years in the former gold mining town of Jinguashih in New Taipei City’s Ruifang District. The group is urging the government to classify the area as an official historic site or historic building under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act. The government is currently in the middle of the review process.
Cheng Chun-shan, an old Jinguashih miner, says that Taiwan Metals Mining Co shut down operations in 1987, and the railway fell into disuse, while the mine trolleys were auctioned off for scrap metal and the abandoned tracks were gradually overtaken by weeds and the wilderness.
Starting in October last year, four seniors — Cheng Chun-shan, Chen Shih-cheng, Lin Cheng-hsiung and Chang A-hui — along with dozens of other septuagenarians, commenced their project of “finding the road they once traversed.” With sickles and hoes in hand, they have walked the desolate hillside, chopping down weeds taller than themselves and clearing away boulders that fell down the hillside during typhoons. “We don’t have any particular agenda. We just want to locate the road again, which is part of Jinguashih residents’ collective memory,” Cheng says.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者俞肇福
The hard work of the seniors has gradually received recognition from the government. Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai organized a team to survey the area on April 9, the New Taipei City Culture Affairs Department invited experts and academics to survey the area at the end of July, and an evaluation meeting was held on Dec. 6. A decision is expected to be made in the coming days as to whether the Jinguashih mine railway will be protected under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
金瓜石一群老礦工，用愚公移山的精神，歷經一年多的除草、清石、鋪路，讓消失廿六年的索道重見天日，呼籲官方依據文化資產保存法公告為「古蹟」或「歷史建築」保存，官方也進入審查程序。
金瓜石老礦工鄭春山說，一九八七年台金公司歇業，索道停止使用，台車被當廢鐵拍賣，而索道逐漸被荒煙蔓草覆蓋。
Photo courtesy of Cheng Chun-shan
照片由鄭春山提供
自去年十月開始，鄭春山、陳石成、林政雄、張阿輝四位及其他數十位平均年齡逾七十歲的老礦工，開始發起「把路走回來」行動，挽袖拿起鐮刀和鋤頭，走在荒煙蔓草的斜坡索道上，沿途割除比人還高的芒草，並整理因為颱風崩塌的土石；鄭春山說：「我們沒有甚麼特別的目的，只是想要找回這條路，找回屬於金瓜石人的記憶。」
老礦工的努力，逐漸被官方看見，今年四月九日，文化部部長龍應台率員探勘，七月下旬，新北市文化局也邀請專家學者實勘，本月六日召開評估會議，預計近日公告金水台車道是否納入文化資產保護範圍。
（自由時報記者李雅雯、俞肇福、賴筱桐）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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