斯塔福德郡韋斯頓公園 一個末代園丁的自白

A member of the Gee family has worked on the grounds at Weston Park in Staffordshire since 1803. I’ll be the last one, though, because I don’t have a son to take over and my daughter isn’t green-fingered at all. When I retire in a few years, it will be the end of a family tradition that stretches back more than 200 years.

從1803年起，吉家族(Gee)就開始打理斯塔福德郡韋斯頓公園(Weston Park)的園林。然而到我這兒將是最後一代，因爲我既沒有兒子來子承父業，我女兒也完全不擅長園藝。過幾年等我退休了，這份延續了兩百多年的家族事業就將宣告終結。

I’ll be very sad when I put down my spade for good because I’ve loved being a head gardener. I officially started working here when I left school at 15, more than 45 years ago. In those days, it was taken for granted that you would follow in your father’s footsteps.

當我要永遠地放下我的鐵鏟那一刻，我會非常傷心，因爲我熱愛園丁主管這份工作。我從15歲離開學校後就正式開始在這兒工作，至今已超過45年。那會兒人們認爲子從父業理所當然。

My dad, William, encouraged me to get into gardening, probably like his grandfather did with him. I helped Dad around the estate when I was a child and he taught me everything he knew. I had a toolkit and a little garden of my own to grow radishes and lettuce. Mum was the daughter of the head gamekeeper and she gardened too, so this was my world when I was a boy.

我父親威廉(William)鼓勵我進入園藝行業，可能他的祖父就是這樣鼓勵他的。我從小就幫爸爸打理這片園子，他把自己知道的一切都教給了我。我有自己的工具包，還有一個屬於我的小花園，我在裏面種了蘿蔔和萵苣。我媽媽是獵場看守主管的女兒，她也是名園丁，所以從我還是小男孩時起，園藝就已經是我的全部世界了。

There was never any question that I would take over from Dad, although at one point I did think about being a fireman. I told Mum what I was planning and she probably confided in him. It must have upset him but he never said a word. Fortunately, I changed my mind.

沒人懷疑我會接替爸爸的工作，雖然曾經有段時間我想當一名消防員。我將自己的想法告訴了媽媽，她可能也透露給了我父親，他肯定爲此煩惱過，但他從沒說過一個字。幸運的是，我改變了主意。

Weston Park house is set in more than 1,000 acres of parkland. Most of the tourists come here to see the pleasure grounds, which were landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century. Like Capability Brown, my first job was gardener’s boy. That meant doing all the duties nobody else wanted to do, such as cleaning flowerpots, weeding and sweeping up leaves. Then I did a spell in the glasshouses before taking charge of the walled kitchen gardens, growing all the vegetables and fruit.

韋斯頓公園的園林佔地超過1000多英畝。大多數遊客來這兒是爲了參觀遊樂場，這是在18世紀由著名園藝師“能人布朗”(Capability Brown)設計的。像布朗一樣，我的第一份工作也是園丁助手。這意味着所有沒人願意幹的雜活都要我來做，比如清潔花盆、除草、清掃落葉等等。後來我去溫室工作了一段時間，然後開始負責菜園，種植各種蔬菜水果。

It was my great-great-great-grandfather, John Gee, who first worked the land here. He was a champion ploughman and kept Suffolk Punch horses in the stables. There’s a painting of him at a ploughing match in the main house that I see from time to time.

我高祖約翰吉(John Gee)是第一個開始在這兒工作的吉家人。他是一流的農夫，他還在馬廄裏飼養薩福克矮馬。大屋裏有張畫，畫的是他參加一場耕作比賽的情景，我時不時會去看看這張畫。

He spent all his life here and was buried in the Weston Park churchyard. John had a son called William, who in turn had a son called George. His son was called Arthur, who was my granddad.

他在這兒度過了一生，過世後被安葬在韋斯頓公園墓地。約翰有個兒子叫威廉，威廉有個兒子叫喬治(George)。喬治給自己的兒子取名亞瑟(Arthur)，這就是我的祖父。

Of course, things have changed a lot since I first started. Man landed on the moon in 1969 but we were still using garden clippers to trim the edges of the formal gardens and leaf blowers with engines were unheard of.

當然，從我踏入這一行至今，世事有了很大變化。1969年人類就登上了月球，可當時我們仍在使用園藝剪，至於電動吹葉機則聽都沒聽過。

I still work with many of the spades and forks I used back then but the most useful piece of new machinery is the grass strimmer. It allows us to get to places where we used to have to hand cut with shears. The formal gardens take a couple of hours with a strimmer, instead of two days.

我現在做很多活時仍用的是以前的鐵鏟和叉子，新式機器裏最有用的是電動割草機。有了它，我們可以夠到以前只能用大剪刀去修剪的地方。電動割草機兩個小時就能修剪完整個園林，以前需要兩天。

Over the years I’ve had to prepare the gardens for several major events. We hosted leaders from the G8 summit in 1998, including Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Boris Yeltsin. That summer they drank Pimm’s and lemonade on one of my pristine lawns. The estate is also the venue for the annual V Festival.

這些年裏，我曾爲一些重大場合佈置園林。我們在1998年招待過出席八國集團首腦會議的領導人，其中包括比爾克林頓(Bill Clinton)、託尼布萊爾(Tony Blair)和鮑里斯葉利欽(Boris Yeltsin)。那個夏天，他們就站在我新修剪的一片草坪上，喝着Pimm's雞尾酒和檸檬水。這個公園也是每年V音樂節的演出場所。

I’m 61 years old now and naturally I’ve discussed what will happen when I retire with my wife, Suzanne. We live in the same estate house we’ve had since we were married 35 years ago. The property comes with the job and I have mixed emotions about leaving it when the time comes. I still feel fit and healthy and want to continue but it’s only sensible to plan for the future. Sometimes I think I will carry on until I drop.

我今年61歲了，自然而然地，我會跟妻子蘇珊妮(Suzanne)討論退休後會怎麼樣。我們從35年前結婚後就一直住在公園的一處房產裏，我們的住所是這份工作提供的，等我退休時我們就要告別這所房子，對此我心中百感交集。我覺得自己的身子骨依然硬朗，也想繼續工作，但爲未來打算纔是明智的。有時候我不禁會想，我要一直工作下去，直到倒下的那一天。

Our daughter, Felicity, has a career in textiles and I’m very proud of her. I can understand why she doesn’t want to work in the gardens.

我們的女兒費莉西蒂(Felicity)從事紡織業工作，我爲她自豪。我能理解她爲什麼不願意從事園藝工作。

So I’ll be the sixth and last generation of the family to work here. I’ll miss seeing the seasons change but I won’t miss cutting all the lawns.

所以，我將是第六代，也是最後一代在這兒工作的吉家人。我會懷念這裏四季變化的景色，但我不會懷念修剪這麼多草坪。