#11 EDINBURGH CASTLE
NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT
Edinburgh Castle was on a rock hill higher than almost entire city, and I loved to stay there for hours just trying to recognize all the buildings I knew.
The motto of Scotland on castle gate meant “No one can harm me unpunished” in Latin.
It was far from any motto that I’ve seen in my own culture; therefore, I was intrigued.
This sentence certainly reflected the history of this tough land. However, seeing it at the peculiar time of pandemic, I was caught by mixed feelings from the complicated contradiction in human nature.
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愛丁堡城堡在封城後不再擁擠,變成俯瞰城市的好去處,我總是一待數小時,使勁從遠處找出我認識的每一棟建築物。
望遠望得累了,我注意到城門上有一行看不懂的字,是以拉丁文寫成的蘇格蘭王國的格言,意思大約是「犯我者必受懲」。
由於與自身文化會出現的格言實在相去甚遠,我一開始有點錯愕;其實這句如同蘇格蘭國花薊花一般帶刺而強悍的格言,只不過是忠實地反映出這塊土地過去的艱難生活。
複誦著這句古老的話語,忽然使我對現今的混亂及人性的矛盾感到更加百感交集。