英國母女撿到中國情侶七夕漂流瓶
A romantic message-in-a-bottle discovered by a mother and daughter at a Scottish beach has sparked a mystery about whether it could have travelled 5,000 miles across the seas from China.
Nicola MacFarlane, 41, and daughter Lucy, four, from Portobello, near Edinburgh, were scouring Portobello Beach when they came across an old glass bottle sticking out of the sand containing a note inside written in Mandarin.
Now the family are trying to work out if the letter has managed the extraordinary journey across the South China Sea, into the Indian Ocean and through both the South Atlantic and the North Atlantic Ocean's before washing up on the shores of Great Britain.
It is unclear when the letter was sent off, as it was written on Chinese Valentine's Day, or Qixi Festival as it is more traditionally known, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
While the letter bears the date in line with the lunar calendar - July 7, 2012 - it could have been sent off as recently as six days ago if it followed the modern calendar, which celebrated the occasion on August 23.
Whether the message has travelled thousands of miles from China or whether it was penned by a love-struck pair much closer to home remains a mystery.
But for Nicola it doesn't matter - she was still excited to read about the Chinese love story after having it translated.
She said: ‘I really do hope that it is from China but even it is from nearer to home, it’s still a lovely gesture and an inspiring find. It’s a love story regardless of where it came from.’
Nicola, who runs a beach art business in Portobello, added: ‘I’m always at the beach looking for bits of driftwood but I’ve never come across anything like this before.
Unable to read the Mandarin text, Nicola turned to the internet and her Australian friend, Julie Gould, whose daughter attended a Chinese school in Sydney.
Several hours later Julie returned with the news that it was in fact a love letter.
The translated letter reads: ‘Da Hai: Ocean, I hope no-one will get this bottle, as we just wish you can hear our voice, and get your blessing.
‘Today is the Chinese Valentine’s Day, we pray that our relationship will last forever and we will have a long happy life together.'英國蘇格蘭一對母女近日在海灘上撿到了一個裝有中文紙條的愛情漂流瓶。它是如何漂洋過海五千英里來到英國的也成爲謎團。
41歲的尼古拉•麥克法蘭和她4歲的女兒露西來自愛丁堡附近的波多貝爾，當時她們正在海灘尋找廢棄物，無意間發現有個半埋在沙中的舊玻璃瓶，裏面裝有一張中文紙條。
現在全家人試圖搞明白漂流瓶是不是從中國海岸出發，穿過南海、印度洋、南大西洋和北大西洋，最終被海浪衝上了英國海岸。
目前尚不清楚漂流瓶何時寄出，但瓶中信寫自中國的情人節―七夕（農曆七月初七）。
瓶中信的落款日期是2012年7月7日，日期和中國七夕節的農曆日期吻合，因此若按公曆推算，瓶子主人寫下這份宣告書是在8月23日，即拾到漂流瓶6天前。
漂流瓶在6天內漂洋過海到達英國？或者，這只是一對家住附近的情侶的傑作？答案不得而知。
但尼古拉並不在乎，在瓶中信翻譯成中文後，她對閱讀中國的愛情故事仍然十分激動。
她說：“我希望這個瓶子來自中國。但是如果它來自海灘附近，這仍然很有趣，而且是個激勵人心的發現。無論它來自哪裏，都是個愛情故事。”
尼古拉在波多貝羅做海灘藝術品生意，她補充說：“我經常在海邊撿廢棄物，但從沒見過漂流瓶。”
她看不懂中文內容，上網向澳大利亞好友朱莉•古爾德求助。後者的女兒在悉尼上中文學校。
幾小時後，古爾德告訴尼古拉，這的確是一封情書。
信上寫道（根據中文原文）：“大海：這個漂流瓶並不是希望讓別人來撿到，而是希望你能聽到我們的聲音，得到你的祝福。”
“今天是七夕情人節，我們向你祈福，保佑我們的感情長長久久，幸福甜蜜。”
