兒童節懷舊：50件事讓50年前的孩子更幸福
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be but there are still plenty of things about childhood that many of us hold dear.
懷舊不似從前，但是童年的很多事依然被我們視作珍寶。
If you are in your 60s, chances are you remember staying out playing hide and seek until dark, fuelled by eating penny sweets.
如果你已年過六旬，或許會回憶起在外邊玩捉迷藏直到天黑、靠着吃便士糖保持體力的時光。
You probably knew all your neighbours, read Enid Blyton and loved Angel Delight puddings.
你那時很可能認識所有的鄰居，讀過伊妮德•布萊頓的書，還愛吃快樂天使牌的布丁。
These are just some of a list of 50 favourite things which, according to 82% of 2,000 British adults over 60, meant it was better being a child 50 years ago than it is now.
以上這些只是2000名60歲以上英國老人選出來的“50件最喜歡的事”中的一些，他們當中有82%的人認爲50年前做孩子比現在更幸福。
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And three-quarters of the over-60s reckoned childhood was the happiest time of their life.
這些60多歲的老人中，有75%都認爲童年是一生中最快樂的時光。
They look back fondly on playing music on record players, watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa and hitting a tennis ball against the back of the house.
他們飽含深情地回憶起往昔，那時候他們用電唱機播放音樂，在沙發背後偷看《神祕博士》，還對着屋後的牆壁打網球。
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Most were convinced kids today are missing out on all the fun they had. But, fortunately, 79% said they tried to pass on the practical skills and wisdom they picked up to their grandchildren.
他們大多數都深信，如今的孩子們全然錯失了當年的這些樂趣。不過幸運的是，79%的人努力將自己的實踐技能和智慧傳授給自己的孫輩。
Among some of the life skills they try to transfer are table manners, knitting, bread making, skimming stones, making toys from wood and planting seeds.
他們試圖傳授的生活技能包括餐桌禮儀、編織、做麪包、打水漂、用木頭做玩具、播種等等。
TV and radio host Gloria Hunniford, 76, said: “Being a grandparent is a truly wonderful and fulfilling experience.
76歲的廣播電視主持人格洛里亞•漢尼福說：“做祖父母真的很美好，讓人感到十分充實。”
“Passing on practical skills and sharing experiences that made my own childhood special has to be one of the most satisfying and enjoyable aspects of spending time with my grandchildren.”
“傳授實踐技能，分享經驗，是和孫輩相處中最令人滿足、最愉悅的時光，正是這些經驗技能讓我的童年顯得那麼特別。”
老人們選出的“50件最喜歡的事”完整榜單：
Playing outside until it got dark
玩到天黑
Respect for your elders
尊重長輩
Knowing all your neighbours
認識所有鄰居
Penny sweets
便士糖果
Making dens
打造“祕密基地”
Climbing trees
Playing marbles
玩彈珠
Playing conkers
串果戲
Hide and seek
捉迷藏
Trips to sweet shop
去糖果店
Music on record players
用電唱機放音樂
Owning a few toys and playing with them for hours
擁有幾個自己的玩具，樂此不疲地玩上幾個小時
Reading Enid Blyton
讀伊妮德•布萊頓的書
Collecting shells on the beach
在沙灘上撿貝殼
Sherbet dips
冰凍果子露
Swinging on ropes in the woods
在森林裏盪鞦韆
Skipping
跳繩
Playing hopscotch
跳房子
Hitting a tennis ball against the back of the house
對着屋後的牆壁打網球
Collecting stamps
集郵
Playing cowboys and Indians
玩牛仔和印第安人的遊戲
Playing Monopoly
玩大富翁遊戲
Daisy chains
雛菊花環
Grandma giving you money
外婆給錢花
Playing football in the park
在公園裏踢足球
Making paper airplanes
做紙飛機
Roller skating
滑旱冰
Building a go kart
造卡丁車
Watching black and white TV
看黑白電視
Angel Delight
快樂天使牌的布丁
Going to Sunday school
上主日學校
Music on cassette tapes
磁帶上的歌
Making balsa wood aeroplanes
用巴爾杉木作飛機模型
Watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa
在沙發後面看《神祕博士》
Scalextric
車模比賽
Watching the FA Cup final
看英格蘭足總盃決賽
Blancmange
牛奶凍
Running into the cold sea
跑進冰涼的海水裏
Water fights using old Fairy Liquid bottles
用神女洗碗液舊瓶子打水仗
Building tree houses
造樹屋
Playing soldiers
扮演大兵
Making things out of wood
用木頭做東西
Kicking freshly cut grass
把剛割下的草堆踢亂
Street parties
街頭派對
Playing kiss chase
玩追吻遊戲
Semolina
粗麪粉
Playing Etch A Sketch
蝕刻素描
Collecting coins
集硬幣
Playing Poohsticks
玩維尼棒遊戲
Playing Subbuteo
玩桌上足球
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My boyhood beat today's electronic wasteland
我的童年時代完勝今天的電子荒漠
By Paul Routledge
作者：保爾·盧特來基
The hot summer days and cold winter nights seemed to go on for ever, and there was a game for every hour.
炎熱的夏日和寒冷的冬夜年復一年，似乎永無盡頭。那時候我們每個鐘頭都在玩遊戲。
Under the gas lamp at the bottom of Railway Terrace we played hide and seek, though we never called it by that posh-sounding name. It was more like “yerrout”!
火車站月臺下面，我們在煤氣燈下玩捉迷藏，但是那時候我們不用這個時髦的名字稱呼這個遊戲，我們叫它yerrout！
Far better was “kick-out-can”, which also involved a lot of running and hiding. Best days? Certainly better than today’s electronic wasteland for kids.
“踢罐子躲貓貓”更好玩，我們會邊跑邊躲。最好的時光？絕對比現在孩子們的電子荒漠好玩。
In school holidays, we played out all day until it got too dark or we were too hungry. We played English v Germans, with home-made tommy guns. Rat-at-at-at! The war was a recent memory.
學校放假的時候，我們會玩上一整天，不到天黑或肚子餓絕不回家。我們玩“英國人對抗德國人”，拿着自制的衝鋒槍。“叭叭叭叭！”那時候二戰纔過去不久。
The girls played hopscotch and skipping – lasses’ games that it was a boy’s delight to interrupt.
女孩們玩跳房子、跳繩，男孩最喜歡給她們搗亂。
Grandma never gave me any money. In any case, what would we have spent it on? Everything was still on the ration, including pear drops, my favourite sweets.
祖母從來不給我零花錢。不過就算給我錢，我也沒地方可花。那時所有物資都是定量發放，包括我最喜歡的梨形糖果。
I went to Sunday school but got expelled for trying to tie the teacher’s shoelaces together. When I got home, I found out why my parents wanted me out for the afternoon.
我上過主日學校，但是我總想把老師的鞋帶系在一塊，所以被開除了。到家後，爸媽整個下午都不讓我進門。
Reading Enid Blyton was for cissies. It was Captain W. E. Johns and Biggles.
娘娘腔纔會看伊妮德•布萊頓的書，我看W. E.約翰斯上尉寫的《消失的戰線》。
Go karts hadn’t been invented. We made trolleys, out of old pram wheels from the tip, held together with boards. Lethal, they were, down the muckstacks.
我們還在垃圾堆刨東西做成雷鳴戰機。那時還沒有卡丁車。我們把舊嬰兒車的一端和木板合起來，就是一個手推車。
Good times, simple pleasures, still strong in the memory. Collecting shells on the beach was never as satisfying as making castles of sand and driftwood, then watching the tide destroy them.
那些美好的時光，簡單的快樂，都在記憶中揮之不去。沙灘撿貝殼絕對比不上用沙子和浮木做城堡，然後看潮水將其摧毀。
Growing older, there was collecting and swapping cigarette cards of footballers and engines, and graduating to three-card brag.
長大一些後，我們喜歡收集、交換印有足球運動員和軍械的香菸卡片，再後來，我們愛玩三張撲克遊戲。
Then you realised girls were more interesting than trainspotting. The big boys’ game arrived, and innocence departed.
後來，你會發現女孩子比猜火車更有趣。大男孩的遊戲就此展開了，童真也從此遠去。
注：electronic wasteland（電子荒漠）指人們沉迷於電子產品，導致情感和文化荒漠化。
