Haw Par Villa: World's most unexpected theme park 虎豹別墅:世界上最讓人意想不到的主題公園
“If you steal, you'll be frozen into blocks of ice," the woman says.
「如果你偷東西,你會被冷凍在一塊冰塊裡」這個女人說。
"Lie, and your tongue will be cut. And -- this is very important -- if you cheat in an examination, you'll have your organs and intestines pulled out.”
「說謊的話,你的舌頭會被切掉,還有,這非常重要,如果你在考試上作弊,你的器官和腸子會被通通取出來。」
“So if I change immediately, can I go to heaven instead?” asked the seven-year-old girl.
「那如果我立刻改,我可以去天堂嗎?」七歲的小女孩問。
The source of this heart-warming exchange? A mother reading out exhibit captions to her daughter in the Ten Courts of Hell at Haw Par Villa, a Chinese mythology theme park in Singapore.
這個「溫腥感人」的故事來源是哪呢?一個媽媽在虎豹別墅的十殿閻羅裡,唸出展覽的標語給她的女兒聽,虎豹別墅是一個在新加坡的中國神話主題公園。
Built in 1937 by Burmese-Chinese brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par -- best known for introducing the pain-relieving ointment Tiger Balm to the world -- the park has more than 1,000 statues and dioramas vividly depicting Chinese folk tales, myths and Confucian beliefs.
於1937年由緬甸的華裔兄弟胡文虎和胡文豹建造,以推出舒壓藥膏萬金油到全世界而成名,這座公園有超過一千座雕像和透視畫館,生動地描繪出中國的民間故事和神話與儒家思想。
“What I have in mind will be unique, like nothing anybody has seen,” Aw Boon Haw said when he obtained the land in Pasir Panjang, where the park's located, in 1934.
「我心中的想法是獨一無二的,沒有人看過 」在1934年,胡文虎得到這塊在巴西班讓(新加坡地名)的土地時,他這麼說,這塊地是公園的的所在地。
“We shall call it after us, Haw Par Villa.”
「我們會用我們的名字來命名,虎豹別墅」
Well, the brothers certainly achieved something unique. Nowhere else in the world will you see a diorama of a woman breastfeeding an old lady -- one of the charming displays in Haw Par's hellishly popular underworld section.
而這對兄弟確實完成了獨一無二的東西,世界上沒有其他地方可以看到一個女人餵奶給一個老婦人的透視畫館,這是在虎豹別墅裡即受歡迎的陰間展區中,吸引人的其中一個展示。
The graphic, sometimes downright terrifying figures make the park a mutant mashup of Gaudi’s Parc Güell, in Barcelona, and a Madame Tussauds wax museum.
如此寫實的場景,有時候十分嚇人的雕像讓公園變成巴塞隆納奎爾公園(Gaudi’s Parc Güell)和香港杜莎夫人蠟像館 (Madame Tussauds wax museum)的突變混合體。
Its intended purpose? To educate visitors in morality. And maybe to freak them out just a bit.
這個公園有什麼目的嗎?目的就是要給參觀者道德教育,也或許是要嚇嚇他們。
The Singapore Tourism Board has been operating Haw Par Villa since 1988, and it's been free to the public since 2001. Even with free admission, however, the theme park's popularity has declined in recent years.
新加坡觀光局從1988年開始營運虎豹別墅,從2001年開始免費開放大眾參觀;然而即使是免費入場,這座主題公園的受歡迎程度近年來逐漸下降。
Locals were incredulous when this writer told them she was planning to visit such an apparently shabby old attraction. And the cab driver drove right past the entrance, assuming my destination was the residential area next door.
當這位作家告訴他們她正打算拜訪這個破舊的舊景點,當地人都表示懷疑,而計程車司機也向右穿過入口,並假設我的目的地是隔壁的住宅區。
A shame Haw Par's appeal has waned -- you really won't find attractions anywhere else in the world that include a granny being breastfed or demons pitchforking loan sharks in hell.
相形見絀的虎豹別墅的吸引力已經衰退了,你真的不會找到世界上有任何地方的景點有老奶奶被餵奶或是在陰間惡魔用叉子把放高利貸的人叉起來的展出。
原文網址:http://travel.cnn.com/haw-par-villa-058341?hpt=travel_hp_herobox