盤點那些被誇大的世界著名景點
Life can be full of let-downs and disappointments - the first time you taste beer as a teenager and wonder what all the fuss is about; that feeling when you open a giant parcel to find a tiny gift and an awful lot of plastic packaging inside; that first date, soon abandoned, with the guy who, it transpires, looks nothing like his Tinder profile.
生活可能充滿失望：少年時第一次品嚐啤酒，你會奇怪這東西有什麼好喝的；當你打開一個巨大的包裹，發現都是大堆的塑料包裝，禮物只有一丁點兒大；第一次約會，很快就黃了，才發現那個男人和他在Tinder上的頭像判若兩人。The world of travel is not immune to such shortcomings. The breathless opinions of your friends and the hyperbole of glossy brochures might lead you to believe that such and such city/hotel/restaurant is the greatest thing in all eternity - only for your own experience to unearth a crime-ridden hellhole/rat-infested hovel/overpriced mess of posing hipsters, rude waiters and food which is as bland as the portions are miniscule.
旅遊的世界也不能免俗。朋友們的極力推崇和宣傳冊上過度美化的圖片可能讓你相信這座城市/這家酒店/這家餐廳是全世界最棒的，直到你自己親身體驗，你才發現這其實是一個犯罪猖獗的地獄/老鼠出沒的破房子/裝腔作勢、價格虛高、服務員粗魯、食物平淡無奇、菜量很小的地方。Then there are the landmarks which are very famous and very busy - but which, on close inspection, turn out to be rather smaller than legend has it. Not in terms of popularity or the number of other tourists clustered around, but in actual physical size.
有些標誌性旅遊景點非常出名，也非常繁忙，但近前一看會發現比傳說的小很多。我們指的不是知名度或聚集在周圍的遊客數量，而是該景點的真實體積。
Take Stonehenge as an example. There it is above, as postcards intended - the very image of Bronze Age Britain at its most romantic. It looks huge, seismic, a timeless temple assembled by the hands of neolithic giants. It is only when you see it in person - or when a load of Summer Solstice revellers are allowed to go goo-goo for the sun in the middle of the main circle - that you realise those colossal slabs are not quite as colossal as you might think. Each standing stone measures 13ft (4.1m) - roughly the combined height of two averagely tall men. Impressive but not gargantuan.
以巨石陣爲例。上面的這張巨石陣圖片是很多在明信片上看到的樣子，把英國青銅時代表現得要多浪漫有多浪漫。它看上去高大而富有震撼力，就像是新石器時代的巨人們用雙手搭建起來的超越時間的廟堂。只有當你自己親眼見到，或者一羣夏至狂歡者們齊聚在巨石陣中看日出時，你纔會意識到這些石柱並沒有你想象的那麼大。每根石柱高13英尺（4.1米），約等於兩個高個子男性的身高之和。令人印象深刻，但還不足以讓人驚歎。The Little Mermaid
小美人魚雕像Tourists flock in their thousands to this celebrated statue, which sits on the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen. A representation of the titular heroine of one of Hans Christian Andersen's most affecting fairytales, she sits a reasonable walk - about two miles - from the centre of town, but many visitors still make the hike in search of her.
成千上萬的遊客蜂擁去觀看這個坐落在哥本哈根長堤公園步行道上的著名雕像。這座雕像代表着安徒生最感人的童話故事《小美人魚》中的女主人公。雕像離市中心不遠也不近，大概兩英里，但很多遊客都徒步尋找到了她。It is only when they arrive that they realise the mermaid really is little. Specifically, she is about 4.1ft (1.25m) in "height". Better hope your camera has a decent zoom feature.
只有在到達以後，這些遊客才意識到小美人魚雕像真的很小。具體而言，她的“身高”是4.1英尺（1.25米）。你最好能有個變焦功能不錯的相機。Mannekin Pis
噓噓於廉/撒尿小童像Belgium keeps it mildly weird at the heart of its capital, where the notorious fountain of a small naked boy merrily urinating is a constant source of camera clickery.
比利時在首都市中心擺放這麼一個撒尿小童像是有點詭異，但是這個裸體小男孩歡樂撒尿的著名噴泉是人們爭相拍照的對象。How small? A mere 61cm of sculpted bronze. Don't plan a weekend in Brussels around it.
這個銅像有多小呢？只有61釐米高。如果你要去布魯塞爾度週末，行程安排不要以它爲重心。Mona Lisa
《蒙娜麗莎》By artistic definitions, Leonardo Da Vinci's 1503 depiction of silk merchant's wife Lisa del Giocondo is a Renaissance titan - a captivating creation on canvas so sizeable in impact, influence and fame that it practically has its own gravitational field.
按藝術的定義，達芬奇1503年的這幅絲綢商人妻子麗莎?喬康多的肖像畫是文藝復興時期的鉅作——這幅讓人着迷的油畫無論是影響力還是名氣都已經自成氣候。It is only when you try to gain a glimpse of that slight smile, pushing your way through the crowds in the Louvre, that you realise just how small "La Gioconda" is in the flesh. Specifically, the painting measures 77 cm × 53 cm. Watch where you're waving that selfie-stick, you almost had my eye out.
只有當你在盧浮宮的人羣中艱難前行，只爲看一眼那若有若無的笑容時，你才意識到“蒙娜麗莎”的真容原來這麼小。具體來說，這幅油畫尺寸爲77釐米*53釐米。你可別亂揮你的自拍杆，小心打到我的眼睛。The Sphinx
獅身人面像The companion-piece to the pyramids of Giza was hewn from the limestone of ancient Egypt by the gods who oversaw this early civilisation. They created a figure of size and splendour, part human, part lion, to inspire awe and devotion through the ages.
吉薩金字塔旁邊的這座獅身人面像是見證了古埃及早期文明的衆神用石灰岩鑿出來的。他們創造了一個龐大壯觀的半人半獅像，讓人們世世代代心生敬畏，永遠忠誠。Well, that's roughly the spiel. In fact, Cairo's most notable cat-man hybrid is significantly smaller than the fabled tombs it loiters next to. Its statistics - 238ft (73 m) long, 66ft (20m) high - mean it is big, but nothing like as large as many imagine. Oh, and it was made by mortal craftsmen some time between 2558 and 2532 BC.
好吧，剛纔那些都是誇張的宣傳說辭。事實上，開羅最著名的這座獅身人面像比它旁邊的金字塔要小得多。從數據來看——寬238英尺（73米），高66英尺（20米）——獅身人面像並不小，但也絕不像很多人想象的那麼大。還有，獅身人面像是在公元前2558年到2352年間由凡人工匠造成的。Christ The Redeemer
救世主基督像Never has one statue dominated a city's skyline as much as Cristo Redentor - soaring above the beaches, bars and barrios of Rio de Janeiro, the crowning glory atop the swarthy jungle-clad peak Corcovado.
從來沒有哪座雕像如救世主基督像這般鮮明地刻畫出一個城市的天際線，它高高地聳立在叢林密佈的科爾科瓦杜山上，俯瞰着里約熱內盧的海灘、酒吧和貧民區。What do you find when you reach the top of the mountain? The slightly deflating truth that this particular Christ is a "mere" 98ft (30m) in stature. To put this in context, the Eiffel Tower prods the clouds at 1,063 ft (324m). Now that is an urban giant.
當你到達山頂的時候你看見了什麼呢？這座基督像真實的身材“只有”98英尺（30米）高，比想象中的略有縮水。作爲對照，直插雲霄的埃菲爾鐵塔的高度爲1063英尺（324米）。那才稱得上是都市巨人。The Statue of Liberty
自由女神像The same case of slight return perhaps applies to the most famous American lady who is carved from copper and lives on an island opposite the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan.
同樣的縮水也發生在最著名的美國女士身上。這位用銅雕成的女神像位於下曼哈頓區摩天大樓對面的一個島上。Again, it is not that Liberty is tiny. The statue, to the tip of the torch, measures 151ft (46m). The whole construction from ground level up is 305ft (93m). And yet, all those representations in films, TV shows and American mythology leave you expecting just a little more.
話說回來，自由女神像並不小。從火炬的頂端開始計算，雕像本尊高達151英尺（46米）。從地面開始計算，雕像高305英尺（93米）。但是，電影、電視劇和美國神話呈現出的自由女神像會讓你對她的期待更高一些。Niagara Falls
尼亞加拉大瀑布It is not that this feature is determined to lambast America's most noted landmarks. "You call that big? That's not big. I should have gone to Russia."
本文並非志在抨擊美國最著名的地標。“你管那叫大瀑布？這根本不算大。後悔了，我應該去俄羅斯的。”It's just that, for all its image as a Grand Canyon of the US north-east, all frothing water and clouds of spray, Niagara Falls is not really in the top league of waterfalls. At least, not when it comes to height. Consider these numbers. The Horseshoe Falls segment of Niagara Falls drops 188ft (57m). Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe manages a plunge of 355ft (108m). Angel Falls in Venezuela goes the whole hog at 3,212 ft (979m).
只不過，雖然位於美國東北部大峽谷的這個瀑布拍出的騰霧濺珠的照片很壯觀，但尼亞加拉瀑布真不是最大的瀑布。至少，不是最高的。來看看下面這些數字。尼亞加拉大瀑布三大分支當中最大的一支瀑布——馬蹄瀑布高188英尺（57米）。贊比亞和津巴布韋的維多利亞瀑布高355英尺（108米）。委內瑞拉的天使瀑布最高，達3212英尺（979米）。
The Blue Lagoon
藍色礁湖No visit to Iceland can be complete without a dip in this well-named attraction about 25 miles outside Reykjavik. With good reason. The water is indeed blue (or appears to be). It is also warm. People bathe in its soothing heat and feel happy - seemingly ensconced in a steaming inland ocean. Look at the picture above for proof.
藍色礁湖距離冰島首都雷克雅維克大概25英里。去冰島不去藍色礁湖是不完整的。理由很充分。湖水確實是藍色的（或者看起來是藍色），而且很溫暖。在湖裏泡澡的人會感到熱水的溫度很舒服，心情很愉快，彷彿身處於冒着蒸汽的內陸海之中。上面的圖就是證明。This is all fine and dandy. It is only when you see a wider photo of the lagoon that you realise it is a) not huge and b) an off-shoot of the adjacent Svartsengi geothermal power plant.
這一切都很好。只不過當你看到藍色礁湖的全景圖時，你會意識到：第一，這個湖不大，第二，它只是附近的史瓦特森吉地熱發電廠的衍生物。
