评论
打印
It was December 2022. The Pittenweem Fish Bar had burned down. The Popular in Dundee was closed.
2022年12月，皮滕威姆的“Fish Bar”烧毁了。敦提的“Popular”关门了。
The Wee Chippy clung on, though tourists would not visit the East Neuk in any sort of number again until the spring.
尽管直到春天之前，游客们都不会再来东纽克参观了，但“Wee Chippy”还是坚持着。
After about 5pm, the whole coast could seem abandoned, just the tide audible in the dark as well as the grumble of salt lorries as they gritted the roads in case of a freeze.
大约下午5点过后，整个海岸似乎是废弃之地，黑暗中只能听到潮水的声音，以及卡车在路上撒盐以防结冰时发出的隆隆声。
When I visited Fleming at his house on the outskirts of Anstruther, he opened his ledger to see how many haddocks they were getting through at the Wee Chippy in the offseason.
当我到弗莱明位于安斯特拉瑟市郊的家中拜访他时，他打开账簿，查看他们在旅游淡季为“Wee Chippy”餐馆通过了多少条黑线鳕鱼。
Not so many haddocks, he frowned, putting aside the book.
没有那么多黑线鳕，他皱起眉头，把账簿暂放一边。
“We’re telling ourselves that business is down because of the frozen roads. That might be denial.”
“我们告诉自己，生意不好是因为道路结冰。这可能是拒不承认。”
In Dundee, the Forbes family had stripped and emptied the Popular, selling off a fridge, a chest freezer, a bain marie, two menu boards, as well as their till and the small paper rolls that were meant for future receipts.
在敦提市，福布斯一家把“Popular”餐馆搬空了，卖掉了一台冰箱、一台冰柜、一个双层蒸锅、两块菜单展示板，以及他们的收银机和用于打印未来收据的小卷纸。
Tables 1, 2 and 3 were uprooted and taken away for use in a restaurant in Inverness.
1号、2号和3号餐桌被移出店内，搬到了因弗内斯的一家餐馆里使用。
Lindsay Forbes accepted a job with a wholesaler. Graham and Angela Forbes retired.
林赛·福布斯接受了批发商的工作。格雷厄姆和安吉拉·福布斯退休。
The next time Graham walked by the Popular, around Christmas, there was a “To Let” sign in the window.
圣诞节前后，格雷厄姆再次路过“Popular”餐馆时，窗户上挂着“出租”的牌子。
He could still see his own tacked-up notice to customers, explaining the closure.
他还能看到自己亲手固定的致顾客通知，内容是解释关店的原因。
“No other option,” Graham had written.
“别无他法，”格雷厄姆写道。
In Pittenweem, charred wood and plaster were heaped on the pavement outside the ruined fish bar.
在皮滕威姆，烧焦的木头、灰泥堆积在被烧毁的鱼餐吧外的人行道上。
Cones and metal fencing stopped passersby getting too close.
路障、金属围栏阻止行人别靠得太近。
The scene appeared frozen in time since the fire, even though months had passed, even though the Wyse family had written a message to customers saying they hoped to “rise from the ashes” if they could.
大火过后，时间似乎永远定格在了那个场景，尽管已经过去了几个月，尽管怀斯一家给顾客写了一条留言，说如果可能的话，他们希望可以“浴火重生”。
Murray Cameron, the mobile frier who travelled around the villages of the East Neuk in his van, had never once encroached on Wyse’s territory in Pittenweem.
移动做炸鱼的厨师穆雷·卡梅伦开着他的货车走遍了东纽克的村庄，从未侵占过怀斯在皮滕威姆的领地。
It was his tribute to Wyse, his show of confidence that one day Wyse would bring this business back.
这是他对怀斯的敬意，他对怀斯有朝一日会再干这一行满怀信心。
Behind the scenes, as a member of the Wyse family later told a local newspaper, Eck was taking the closure badly.
在幕后，正如怀斯家族的一名成员后来告诉当地一家报纸的那样，艾克对这次关店感到非常难过。
“Like losing a limb,” said his wife, Anna.
“就像失去了一条腿，”他的妻子安娜说。
As more and more weeks went by without the fire damage being cleared, Fleming began to doubt the prospects of a revival.
一星期又一星期过去了，火灾损害赔偿金没有获得通过，弗莱明开始怀疑复苏的前景。
