Deyue Tower and the western houses nearby were built by the local people who went to Southeast Asian countries and earned a lot of money before they returned here at the end of the Ching dynasty and in the beginning of the R.O.C. era.(1) One of the houses, Deyue Tower, was built in 1931 by a wealthy businessman whose name was Huang Huei-huang. In order to effectively prevent pirates and thieves from breaking into(2) the houses, Huang built a "gun tower" by the side of the houses. The tower has four stories and measures 11 meters in height. With such height, the tower was easily thought of(3) at that time as "fetching the moon in the clouds," so the tower was given the name "Deyue Tower" (a moon-fetching tower), referring to(4) an old Chinese proverb(5)-"Getting upon a tower near water, one can catch the moon first."
　　得月樓及附近的洋樓群，是在清朝末年及民國初年時期，居民遠赴南洋經商致富後返鄉建造的。其中，得月樓是在民國二十年間（西元1931年）由富商黃輝煌所蓋。黃氏為了有效防止海盜、海賊的侵襲，於是在洋樓的一側蓋了一座銃樓。這座銃樓共有四層，高約十一公尺，在當時這種高度看起來好像直入雲霄抓月一般，正如「近水樓臺先得月」的意義，因而取名為「得月樓」。
The roof of Deyue Tower is made of glazed(6) tiles, and its hallway is made of green stones and cement.(7) On the top floor and in the center there are many gun windows perfectly designed for placing firearms(8) for defending against pirates and bandits.(9) Other effective features for defense are the underground tunnels connecting to the adjacent(10) houses in case of(11) emergency. Even though the owner of Deyue Tower is gone, from its exterior(12) and appearance, people can still imagine the exciting stories of the good old days.
得月樓在屋頂的建材是採用琉璃瓦，而騎樓的部份則利用青石洋灰來建造。樓頂和樓身分別設有為了抵抗盜匪而設置槍砲的窗口，造型十分特別。另一個有效的防禦功能，就是得月樓的地下坑道可通往鄰近的洋樓，可因應緊急的需求。雖然現今的得月樓已經人去樓空，但其外觀依然顯露出往日的情懷與風華。

Tourist: These western houses look very unusual. Are they also traditional Southern Fujian style buildings?
遊客：這些洋樓挺別緻的，也是金門傳統的閩南式建築嗎？

Tour Guide: Not exactly. Most of the western houses nearby were built by people of earlier days who went to Southeast Asian countries and made a fortune(13) before they returned. When building the houses, they just blended in the western style they had learned from foreign countries and made such kind of mixture of eastern and western-style houses.
導遊：不完全是。這種洋樓大部份都是早期金門先民出外在南洋一帶經商致富後，回來建造的；在建造時將南洋的建築風味融入其中，所以，這種洋樓是中西合璧的房子。

Tourist: What are some of their unique characteristics?(14) And are there any stories about them?
遊客：這洋樓的建築有什麼特別之處嗎？或有什麼典故嗎？

Tour Guide: Yes. First, take a look at the clock on the roof of this house. Do you see any thing special?
導遊：有的，首先你看看這洋樓屋頂的時鐘，有發現什麼特別的地方嗎？

Tourist: Oh, yes. The clock hands are pointing at "12:40".
遊客：時鐘的時間是指著『十二點四十分』。

Tour Guide: Can you guess why?
導遊：你猜猜這個時間的用意何在？

Tourist: Mm…, could it be the time of its completion?
遊客：嗯…，難道這是房子的落成時間嗎？（二十八）


■1. era-(n)時代、年代，紀元。
■2. break into-闖入。
■3. think of A as B-把～看作。
■4. refer to-與～關連。
■5. proverb-(n)諺語、俗語。
■6. glazed-(adj.)像玻璃般的；上過釉的。tile則是「瓦」或「瓷磚」。
■7. cement-(n)水泥。
■8. firearm-(n)火器、槍枝。
■9. bandit-(n)強盜、土匪。
■10. adjacent-(adj.) 毗連的，鄰接的。
■11. in case of-如果發生，萬一發生。
■12. exterior-(n)外表、外觀。
■13. make a fortune-發跡；賺大錢。
■14. characteristic-(n)特性、特徵、特色。unique則是「獨特的」。

資料來源：金門縣政府
原書作者：陳建民、漢貴恩

【本系列及新聞英文解說，由金門技術學院Patti老師指導，本報編輯部提供，歡迎各界指正或提供建議】