又中又英|sweeping views

America’s West Coast has many quaint little towns with million-dollar views of the Pacific Ocean. One of my favourite sleepy little towns is Yachats on the Oregon coast. I went to Yachats many times when I lived in Seattle. It’s an eight-hour drive from Seattle in Washington State to Yachats in Oregon State. The drive has many million-dollar views of the ocean. Yachats has a quaint two-level hotel called the Fireside Motel with balconies with sweeping views of the ocean. I have stayed there many times. Watching the sunset over the ocean from the balcony with a glass of wine is beyond description, which means it is too beautiful to describe.

The word “quaint” can be used in several ways. Used this way it means attractive because it’s unusual and sometimes old-fashioned. Yachats is a sleepy little town because it has a population of less than 1,000 people. The word “sleepy” means tired and wanting to sleep. But it can also mean a quiet place without much activity or excitement. The expression “million-dollar view” means a very attractive or magnificent view. The word “sweeping” has many meanings but the expression “sweeping view” is similar to “million-dollar view”. It means a very wide view of something, such as an ocean. The pronunciation of Yachats, a Native American word, is interesting. You can hear my pronunciation in Popnews.

My relative took me to another quaint town overlooking the Pacific Ocean when I went to San Diego, California, for Christmas. This town is San Clemente, about an hour’s drive from San Diego. This is also a town beyond description but it is not sleepy like Yachats. Its population is 65,000 but it is a laid-back town, which means it is relaxed and easy-going. I had a huge lunch with wine at a restaurant with a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean. I will talk about why I had wine at lunch in my next column even though I don’t normally drink alcohol at lunch.
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美國西岸有許多古雅別致的(quaint)小鎮,擁有千金難買的太平洋景觀(million-dollar views of the Pacific Ocean)。其中一個我最愛的寂靜(sleepy)小鎮,是俄勒岡海岸的亞查茨。我以前住西雅圖時,就去過亞查茨許多遍。從華盛頓州的西雅圖駕車到俄勒岡州的亞查茨,要八小時的車程。這段車程沿路亦有許多千金難買的(million-dollar views)海洋景觀。亞查茨有一間古雅而特別的(quaint)兩層高汽車旅館名Fireside Motel,那裏有露台,遠眺海洋的風景一覽無遺(sweeping views)。我在那兒也住過不少次。坐在露台,邊喝酒邊觀賞日落大海,實在是beyond description——即美得無法形容。

Quaint一字可以有多種用法,這裏解作因為致或古樸而顯得迷人的。亞查茨是一個sleepy小鎮,因為它的人口少於一千人。Sleepy是指疲倦而睏,但它也可解作靜悄悄的,並無甚麼活動或刺激的事。習語 “million-dollar view”即醉人或壯觀的景致。Sweeping一字亦有多重意思,但習語“sweeping view”跟“million-dollar view”的意思相近,即開揚遼闊的景觀,例如可飽覽廣闊的海洋。亞查茨的英文Yachats發音也很有趣,它是一個美洲原住民的字,你可以到Popnews聽聽我的讀音。

我到加州聖地牙哥度聖誕時,一個親戚帶了我到訪另一個古樸別致的(quaint)小鎮,能眺望太平洋。這個小鎮是聖克萊門特,由聖地牙哥駕車過去約一小時車程。它也是美得難以言喻(beyond description),但它並不如亞查茨般寂靜(sleepy)。它的人口有六萬五千,但亦是一個laid-back的小城,意即它很悠閒寫意。我在那兒一間能一覽無遺地遠眺(sweeping view)太平洋的餐廳,吃了一個大大的午餐,還伴着酒吃。我一般不會在吃午飯時喝酒,在下一篇文章中再說說,我怎麼會在午膳時喝起酒來。
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Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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