百節蜈蚣座登上金氏世界紀錄網站

The longest human centipede procession set a new Guinness World Record and has become the pride of Kinmen! Guinness World Records adjudicator (1) Anna Louise Orford, who traveled all the way from England, shared this amazing experience with the world by posting a blog on the official website of Guinness World Records. Besides letting people around the world discover this featured tradition of Kinmen, it has also helped Kinmen to make its appearance on the world stage.
　 金門的驕傲～百節蜈蚣座登上金氏世界紀錄網站！為了百節蜈蚣座認證工作，從英國遠道而來的金氏世界紀錄認證官Anna Louise Orford，將此次認證感想心得，發表在金氏世界紀錄網站上，透過網路世界的無遠弗屆，讓世界各國的人們認識金門特色的人力蜈蚣座，使金門推向國際舞台。

In her post, Anna said that she spent the most amazing three days in Kinmen during the execution of the adjudication (2) task. "Chen Huang is the city god who protects the city's residents, and the centipede procession is part of the Cheng Huang Festival. The significance of the centipede procession is rooted in ancient Chinese culture and historically has played an important military role. This year, the people of Kinmen were attempting to set a new Guinness World Record achievement for the longest human centipede formation in terms of (3) the number of people carrying the centipede in the procession."
　 Anna在文章中指出：來到金門認證的三天旅程，是我感到最驚奇（amazing）的旅行。城隍是守護城市居民的守護神，蜈蚣座不但是金門特有的陣頭文化，更能號召青壯人口集合聚會，進行團練、強健體魄，扮演軍事上重要的角色；金門人每年都舉辦盛大的迎城隍慶典，在今年的遶境遊行中，金門試著以「世界最長純人力肩扛蜈蚣座」，建立一個新的金氏世界紀錄成就。

"As we walk around the sleepy (4) streets, the host and my interpreter talked me through the landmarks and the history of the island. The route that the procession will take is exactly 1680 meters (1.04 miles) as measured by the Construction Engineering Department of the National Quemoy University."
　 當我們在沉寂的街道上走動，接待與翻譯人員正為我解說金門，這個充滿歷史痕跡的島嶼，經過國立金門大學營建系的測量，蜈蚣座遊行路線正是1680公尺（1.04英里）。

"Finally, the centipede procession is ready. The rain has kindly agreed to stop. All the children are seated and ... off it goes-the centipede is on the move. The children rise above the crowd, as the structure is lifted onto the shoulders of the army (5) of volunteers. The children dress up as ancient characters such as gods and emperors, but a few slightly more modern characters pop up, such as Batman, Superman and Spiderman."
　 當蜈蚣座準備就緒，雨勢也停止了，所有小孩安坐在蜈蚣座上，志工們將孩子緩慢抬起，並被以人力肩扛的方式，讓蜈蚣座慢慢移動著。蜈蚣座的孩子們被打扮成古代人物，如神明和皇帝等，也有以現代造型出現，如蝙蝠俠，超人和蜘蛛俠等。

"The centipede procession is 168 meters (176 meters if including the centipede head, tail, and all the connecting parts) long, transporting 200 children, with more than a thousand people taking it in turn to carry the structure. During the next three hours the centipede meanders (6) its way through the narrow streets, advancing with grace and majestic (7) beauty. The crowds gather to worship Chen Huang, the city god, and to celebrate this human achievement."
　 蜈蚣座全長一百六十八公尺長（加上龍頭、龍尾及各節連接布為一百七十六公尺），搭載二百名兒童，上千人輪流以人力肩扛的方式進行，在接下來的三個小時，蜈蚣座以優雅且壯觀的美麗姿態，通過狹窄的街道，人潮聚集朝拜城隍─城民的守護之神，也慶祝這項人類的成就。

【註解】
●1. adjudicator-(n)判決者、評判員。
●2. adjudication-(n)判決、宣告。亦即金氏世界記錄的認證。
●3. in terms of-就～方面而論；在～方面。
●4. sleepy-(adj)寂靜的；令人想睡的。
●5. army-(n)一般說來，army是指軍隊，但此處用來指「大批、大群」。
●6. meander-(vi)緩慢而曲折地移動；漫步。
●7. majestic-(adj)雄偉、莊嚴的；崇高的。

本文摘譯、改寫自《金門日報》2011年6月1日報導