失望与新的冒险

Christine and Shannon， our two young backpackers， were having the time of their life， in Glasgow and then a drive up through the highlands of Scotland，1 with their new found Scottish friends： Ed， Alan and Terry. Ed， the boss man， had offered them the chance to join his team of poster sellers. The girls were thrilled about a job travelling around and earning money at the same time. They had noticed though that all the other team members were older men.

We bounced out of our comfy hotel bed.2 Oh how Ed was looking after us！ We had to be up early to head back to Glasgow with Ed and his men for a big meeting of new poster-selling recruits. We were looking forward to being told when and where we would start work. Soon the coins would be jingling3 in our pockets！ Selling posters seemed to us， at that moment， to be the most awesome job on earth！

We left the Rob Roy Hotel， and first stop was to check on the sellers in the nearby town of Aberfoyle. Alan drove as always. There we met more of Ed’s team： Jake and Fatman. Some of the sellers were quite “unusual”； it is hard to describe what I mean without seeming rude. Maybe I could say… they looked like people who had lived a rough life. But they all seemed sweet. They were rough and tough but， even on this cold morning， I noticed Fatman seemed a little chilly standing out on a drafty pavement， with his posters flapping in the wind.4 I wondered how I’d cope in the cold for hours when I was doing the same job…

We had to keep moving towards Glasgow for the big meeting. Once in the city， we stopped outside the Great Eastern Hotel on Duke Street. The building originally had been a cotton-spinning mill5 during the industrial era. It was converted， first， to a hotel and then a hostel，6 and eventually became a hostel for homeless men. Shannon and I didn’t know this at the time.

Our first cause for concern were all the men gathered on the steps. Nonetheless， we followed Ed in. It was a disgusting， dirty-looking mess of a place. We just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. We made the excuse that we wanted to get a cold drink and left. We waited on the opposite side of the road， both very quiet. I think for the first time Shannon and I were both wondering whether this really was all such a great idea. But we weren’t going to say anything. We were still hoping so much.

From there we all headed to a pub called The Right Half in George Street for a big meeting of new recruits―many from other parts of the country. There was a sign in the doorway： “We do not tolerate rowdy7 behaviour”. Ed was giving the group information about future plans and new posters coming out. We were listening intently8―this was about to be our career！ Ed certainly was a man who knew his business―and in complete charge. Alan， who had been outside， suddenly entered， walked up to him and whispered in his ear. Ed suddenly went quiet and looked concerned. He went from the big jovial boss to looking very sheepish，9 even a bit nervous. Then he looked at us. Something was wrong.

When the talk was over， he came up to us and took us aside. “I’m sorry，” he said in his strong Scottish accent， “but you two are causing me a lot of trouble. My wife wants to divorce me. I can’t give you a job， and you have to get going.”

We were speechless… another blow to our job prospects10. The excitement of a job travelling while working， even if it was only selling posters， had been smashed11. We wanted to say something like… But that’s not true. That’s not fair. But we’re going to have a job and travel. But we didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t either.

But talking wouldn’t help. Big boss Ed could not save us. It made me think of that saying， “Every man has a master.” Is it a saying？ No， I think I made it up. Maybe it was a life lesson. And we didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone， so we just prepared to say goodbye.

“Hey，” he said， “I’m sorry. Here’s ￡100.” We took that.

“It’s OK，” Shannon said， “Thanks. We had a great time.”

“Good luck with your wife.” I said， “Tell her we say she has a great husband.”

He laughed， “Good luck too. Maybe you want to get a ride with one of the boys somewhere. There are a few heading off different places.”

There is an old Scottish saying， “Whit’s fur ye’ll no go past ye.” This basically means that， “What is meant to happen to you， will happen to you.” Maybe the Scottish no-nonsense approach to life had already inspired Shannon and I because we immediately took this attitude.12 In addition， we had started to think about the job of poster selling in a new light13―standing on cold， windy streets selling posters； working with some rather unusual people， all of them older men； and where would we actually have lived anyway？ Somewhere like the dirty Great Eastern hotel that we had visited？

No， we were up for a new adventure.

As Ed had suggested we catch a ride with one of his “folk”， Shannon and I wasted no time； the meeting had ended and people were starting to leave. Alan， who had been driving us around， seemed the best option. We knew him and， right at that point， he came to say goodbye. He said that he would be heading home.

“Where is home？” I asked. “Well，” he said， “I live east， at the coast in a place called Ardrossan.”

We hadn’t been east yet， and being at the coast would be good. We decided we might as well go because， if we were unhappy there， we could always get a lift back to Glasgow with him in a few days， as he travelled to and fro dropping posters off.14

So it wasn’t long before we were headed to that unknown town of Ardrossan， with Alan.

“So，” we asked Alan， “What’s there to do in Ardrossan？”

“Oh， not much，” he replied.

We looked at each other―“Not much”！ That wasn’t promising15.

“There is a ferry from there though that goes to Arran Island.16 Oh Arran Island… what a bonny17 place to visit. I spend all my childhood holidays there hiking in the mountains， riding ponies18 and camping. It’s a beautiful， sweet place and as innocent as my childhood was. To get there， you have to cross the Firth of Clyde19.”

Shannon and I looked at each other， joy all over our faces， and turned back to him， saying at the exact same moment，“Well that’s exactly what we want to do！” We were tired of city life and failed job attempts and， with the money that Ed had given us， maybe we should go and enjoy a little adventure in the countryside―and on an island， even better！

Terry continued， “You two lassies20 will have a great time. You can climb Goat Fell21， the highest mountain on the island. You could also learn the history. The history of Arran goes way back―at least 10，000 years. There are the ancient standing stones； they stand double your height， and are super heavy. We don’t even know how those ancient people carried them. Usually they stand in a circle， and are near other prehistoric remains like burial cairns with flint stones and ancient bones in them.22 You could also see the pitchstone， which is a volcanic glass.23 All sorts of artifacts24 were made from the glass， and ended up all over the United Kingdom―traded by our ancient Scottish folk. Then there is Brodick Castle25. That’s close to Goat Fell…”

That was enough. We had heard everything we needed to. We were going. Alan invited us to stay the night at his house and first thing in the morning we would set off. History， geography， culture， ponies…awaited us. This is why young people travel！ To get an education and experience good wholesome26 outdoors life！

Next month， join Christine and Shannon as they set off with ideas of educating themselves and riding ponies out in God’s green nature. A little rural adventure， after all the city life…except the island is overrun with（D满）tattooed punks， hippies and motor bikers！

1. backpacker： 背包客；have the time of one’s life： 过得非常愉快，享受从未有过的快乐；Glasgow： 格拉斯哥，苏格兰最大城市，英国第三大城市；the highlands of Scotland： 苏格兰高地。

2. bounce out of： 跳出，弹出；comfy： 舒服的。

3. jingle： 发出丁当声。