In the subsequent blaze, unpeeled potatoes from the tattie lorry blistered and shrunk in their sacks.
随后大火熊熊燃烧,土豆卡车里一袋袋还没削皮的土豆被烧得起了泡,表皮也皱皱巴巴。
About 100 North Sea haddocks cooked inside a fridge. Jars of pickled eggs boiled and burst.
大约100条北海黑线鳕在冰箱里烧熟了。一罐罐腌鸡蛋也被烧得裂开了。
Lewis and Ian Fleming, who both live nearby, came running.
住在餐馆附近的刘易斯和伊恩·弗莱明跑了过来。
They watched from across the harbour road as the glass in the windows of their shop began to melt and pulsate.
他们隔着港湾路看着店铺窗户内的玻璃开始融化、跳动。
Jets of orange flame licked out the chimney pots.
一簇簇橙色火焰燎着烟囱管帽。
Fleming (he of the shark tattoo) had opened this fish and chip shop in 1999, in perverse defiance of the fact that there was already a popular alternative, the Anstruther Fish Bar, just a short way along the harbour road.
弗莱明(身上有鲨鱼纹身的那个人)在1999年开了这家炸鱼薯条店,不顾当时已经有一家很受欢迎的小店--位于安斯特拉瑟的“Fish Bar”,就在海港路上不远的地方。
After the 2018 fire, Fleming’s insurance claim was rejected.
2018年大火后,弗莱明的保险索赔被驳回。
“We were classed as having a flammable material behind the plasterboard,” he told me.
“我们被归类为石膏板后面有易燃物质,”他告诉我。
He talked it over with Lewis and they decided to spend their own money on a refurbishment, if only to give the insurance company as well as their rivals in Anstruther “a kick in the nuts”, as Fleming put it.
他和刘易斯商量了一下,他们决定用自己的钱进行整修,用弗莱明的话说,哪怕只是给保险公司以及他们在安斯特拉瑟的竞争对手“一记重击”也好。
Between them they spent nine months and a six-figure sum getting the Wee Chippy back open in summer 2019.
他们花了9个月的时间,总共花了6位数的钱,才在2019年夏天让“Wee Chippy”重新开业。
Now, in summer 2022, conditions were tougher than Fleming had ever known them.
2022年的夏天,情况比弗莱明所知道的还要艰难。
As consumers battled rising costs of living at home, they were eating out less.
由于消费者与不断上涨的家庭生活成本作斗争,他们减少了外出就餐的次数。
Because they were eating out less, proprietors were being forced to charge more, right when they could least afford to discourage custom.
因为消费者外出就餐的次数减少了,餐馆业主被迫收取更高的费用,而这正是他们无法负担费用,抑制顾客的时候。
There is a fish bar in Cardiff, John’s, that shut in 2001 and has never been bought or altered since.
卡迪夫有一家鱼餐馆,名为John’s,2001年关店,此后从未被收购或改造过。
A decaying menu at John’s still advertises a takeaway portion of fish and chips for the unthinkable price of 2.45 pounds.
John’s一份褪色的菜单上仍然刊登着炸鱼薯条外卖的广告,价格只有2.45英镑,便宜得令人难以想象。
Two decades later, the same meal cost 9.40 pounds at the Wee Chippy.
二十年后,同样的一餐在“Wee Chippy”要花9.40英镑。
Few proprietors dared breach the holy barrier of 10 pounds.
很少有店主敢突破10英镑的神圣壁垒。
In fact, the owners of a shop called Cafe Fish in Belfast had done some honest maths and concluded that, given prevailing costs, fish and chips ought to be selling for about 15 pounds per portion.
事实上,贝尔法斯特一家名为Cafe Fish的店主做了一些坦诚的计算,得出的结论是,考虑到现行成本,炸鱼薯条的售价应该在每份15英镑左右。
“Who would pay it?” Fleming wondered.
“谁会为此买单?”弗莱明很好奇。