“Hundred Horse Chestnut”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Hundred-Horse Chestnut ({{lang-it|Castagno dei Cento Cavalli}}; {{lang-scn|Castagnu dê Centu Cavaddi}}) is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world.^[1]^[2] Located on Linguaglossa road in Sant'Alfio, on the eastern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily^[3] — only {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the volcano's crater — it is generally believed to be 2,000 to 4,000 years old (4,000 according to the botanist Bruno Peyronel from Turin).^[4] It is a Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa, family Fagaceae). Guinness World Records has listed it for the record of "Greatest Tree Girth Ever", noting that it had a circumference of 57.9 m (190 ft) when it was measured in 1780. Above-ground the tree has since split into multiple large trunks, but below-ground these trunks still share the same roots.

The tree's name originated from a legend in which a queen of Aragon and her company of one hundred knights, during a trip to Mount Etna, were caught in a severe thunderstorm. The entire company is said to have taken shelter under the tree.^[3]^[5]

Literary allusions

The tree and its legend have become the subject of various songs and poems, including the following Sicilian-language description by the Catanese poet Giuseppe Borrello (1820–1894):

Sicilian

English

Un pedi di castagna

A chestnut tree

tantu grossu

was so large

ca ccu li rami so' forma un paracqua

that its branches formed an umbrella

sutta di cui si riparò di l'acqua,

under which refuge was sought from the rain

di fùrmini, e saitti

from thunder bolts and flashes of lightning

la riggina Giuvanna

by Queen Giuvanna

ccu centu cavaleri,

with a hundred knights,

quannu ppi visitari Mungibeddu

when on her way to Mt Etna

vinni surprisa di lu timpurali.

was taken by surprise by a fierce storm.

D'allura si chiamò

From then on so was it named

st'àrvulu situatu 'ntra 'na valli

this tree nestled in a valley and its courses

lu gran castagnu d'i centu cavalli.

the great chestnut tree of one hundred horses.^[6]

Another Catanese poet, Giuseppe Villaroel (1889–1965), described the tree in the following sonnet (written in Italian):

Italian

English

Dal tronco, enorme torre millenaria,

From the trunk, huge millenary tower,

i verdi rami in folli ondeggiamenti,

the green branches in mad waves,

sotto l'amplesso quèrulo dei venti,

under the chattery embrace of the winds,

svettano ne l'ampiezza alta de l'aria.

lance into the air's tall expanse.

Urge la linfa, ne la statuaria

The sap rises in the statuesque

perplessità de le radici ergenti,

astonishment of erect roots,

sotto i lacoontei contorcimenti,

under Laocoön-like contortions,

dal suolo che s'intesse d'orticaria.

from a nettle-woven soil.

E l'albero - Briareo lignificato -

And the tree - wooden Briareus -

ne lo spasimo atroce che lo stringe

in the throes of the invisible

con catene invisibili alla terra,

fetters that bind it to the earth,

tende le braccia multiple di sfinge

strains its many limbs as a sphynx

scagliando contro il cielo e contro il fato

hurling against the sky and against fate

una muta minaccia ebbra di guerra.

a voiceless threat sodden with war.

References

1. ^{{1911|wstitle=Chestnut|volume=6|pages=112–113}}
2. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.barillaus.com/Chestnut_Dinner__Intro.aspx |title=Chestnut Dinner in the Mountains of Italy |work=Barilla online |date=2005 |accessdate=2006-12-22 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018214824/http://www.barillaus.com/Chestnut_Dinner__Intro.aspx |archivedate=2006-10-18 |deadurl=yes |df= }}
3. ^¹{{cite book|author = Senna, Luciana|url = https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN8836534031|title = Authentic Sicily|publisher = Touring Editore|year = 2005|isbn=88-365-3403-1|page = 112}}.
4. ^{{cite book|author = Lewington, Anna|author2=Edward Parker|url = https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1855859742|title = Ancient Trees: Trees That Live for 1,000 Years|publisher = Sterling Publishing Co.|year = 2002|isbn = 1-85585-974-2|page = 92}}
5. ^The Chestnut tree of Mount Etna, detailed account of the tree, its state and its surroundings, written by Wm. Rushton on June 29, 1871.
6. ^¹{{cite web |url = http://www.dipbot.unict.it/ctnatura/flora/LIR_100.html|title = Poesie sul Castagno dei Cento Cavalli|work = (Sicilian) Catania Natura. Dipartimento di Botanica, University of Catania|accessdate = 2006-12-22}}

External links

{{cite web|url=http://www.comune.sant-alfio.ct.it/stampe.htm |title=Various illustrations of the tree throughout history |accessdate=December 22, 2006 |deadurl=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509023642/http://www.comune.sant-alfio.ct.it/stampe.htm |archivedate=May 9, 2006 }}

5 : Castanea|Flora of Sicily|Individual trees in Italy|Italian folklore|Tourist attractions in Sicily