世界最小的國家：塔沃拉拉島

　　Just south of Sardinia’s world-famous Costa Smeralda, thelonely island of Tavolara rises wildly from the cerulean sea like ajagged mountain. There are no roads or hotels, and the onlyinhabitable stretch is a white-sand tongue that’s best measuredfrom end to end in steps.

　　塔沃拉拉孤島如一座鋸齒狀的山峰，從蔚藍的海面升起，坐落于撒丁島舉世聞名的翡翠海岸南部。這里沒有道路，也沒有酒店，唯一適宜居住的地方就是一個白沙舌，測量它最好的方法就是一步挨著一步。

　　This is where I found Antonio Bertoleoni as our ferry sputtered to a float. Better known as"Tonino", the 83-year-old former fisherman owns Tavolara’s only restaurant and is the reigningruler of the island, which happens to be the smallest inhabited kingdom in the world. For the past22 years, Tonino has commanded this 5sqkm mini-monarchy in shorts and sandals.

　　這就是我遇見Antonio Bertoleoni 的地方，當(dāng)時，我們的渡船撞到了一個浮船上。最好把AntonioBertoleoni叫做"Tonino"，他是前擁有塔沃拉拉唯一一間餐廳的漁夫，現(xiàn)年83歲，是這座島嶼的執(zhí)政統(tǒng)治者，這是世界上最小的人居王國。在過去的22年里，Tonino穿著短褲和涼鞋指揮這座五平方公里的袖珍君主國。

　　“I’m probably the world’s most ordinary king,” Tonino said, burying his feet in the sand andlooking toward his restaurant. “The only privilege I enjoy is free meals.”

　　Tonino說：“我可能是世界上最普通的國王了。“他將雙腳埋入沙中，看著他的餐廳。我享有的唯一特權(quán)就是免費餐飲。

　　The Kingdom of Tavolara is currently celebrating its 180th anniversary and actually predates Italyby 25 years. Forming your own island nation might sound like the kind of thing you’d dream upwhen you’re marooned in the Mediterranean, but the story began in 1807 when Tonino’s great-great-grandfather, Giuseppe Bertoleoni, became the then uninhabited island’s first settler.Described as a “half shepherd, half pirate” in the book Tavolara, Island of the Kings, the Genoveseimmigrant had recently married two sisters and was seeking a safe haven to escape his bigamycharge.

　　目前，塔沃拉拉王國正在慶祝它180周年的紀(jì)念日，其實，該島的建立早于意大利25年。當(dāng)你被孤身放逐到地中海后，組建屬于自己的島嶼王國也許是一種夢想，但是1807年時，Tonino的祖祖祖父Giuseppe Bertoleoni,成為了當(dāng)時無人島的第一個定居者，故事便開始了。塔沃拉拉的書籍將這描述為“一半牧羊人，一半海盜”，近日，島上的國王-熱那亞移民和兩個姐妹成婚，尋求一個安全的避難所以逃避重婚罪指控。

　　Giuseppe and his small harem soon realized that they were sharing their island paradise with a rarespecies of wild goats whose teeth were dyed a golden-yellow colour by the seaweed and lichenthey ate. Word of the gilt-toothed goats eventually spread to Sardinia’s ruler, Carlo Alberto, whoeagerly travelled to Tavolara to hunt the animals in 1836. Giuseppe’s 24-year-old son, Paolo,guided the hunting excursions.

　　Giuseppe和他的小妾馬上意識到，他們正在和一種罕見的野生山羊共享島嶼天堂，這種山羊的牙齒被他們吃的海藻和地衣染成了金黃色。金牙山羊這個詞語最終傳到了撒丁島統(tǒng)治者Carlo Alberto的耳朵里，1836年，他熱切地到塔沃拉拉旅行，獵捕這種金牙山羊。Giuseppe24歲的兒子Paolo指揮狩獵短途旅行。

　　“When he landed, Carlo Alberto introduced himself by saying, ‘I’m Carlo Alberto, the King ofSardinia,’” Tonino said. “And so my great-grandfather replied, ‘Well, I’m Paolo, the King ofTavolara.’”

　　“當(dāng)他著陸的時候，Carlo Alberto這樣介紹自己，我是Carlo Alberto，撒丁島的國王。”我的曾祖父Tonino回答道：“你好，我是Paolo，塔沃拉拉的國王。”

　　After killing several goats and feasting for three days at Paolo’s home, Carlo Alberto was sodelighted that he said, “Paolo, you really are the King of Tavolara!” before sailing off, according toTonino. Joking or not, Carlo Alberto later confirmed that the far-flung island had never officiallybeen part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and he sent Paolo a scroll from Carlo Alberto’s royal family,the House of Savoy, that certified the monarchy’s status.

　　在捕殺了幾只山羊，然后在Paolo家設(shè)宴三天后，Carlo Albert非常開心地說：“Paolo，你真的是塔沃拉拉的國王!”起航離開前，據(jù)Tonino說，不知道是不是開玩笑，Carlo Alberto隨后承認(rèn)，這座偏遠的島嶼官方上從來都不是撒丁王國的一部分，他贈與 Paolo 一個Carlo Alberto皇室家庭的畫冊——《薩沃伊的家》，證明島嶼君主國的地位。

　　“For me, it’s a privilege just to live here,” Tonino said,. “Who needs a crown when you have apalace?”

　　Tonino說：“對我來說，只是住在這里就是一種特權(quán)。”當(dāng)你擁有一個宮殿的時候，還需要王冠嗎?”