For the past 60 years, this Florida couple have been celebrating their anniversary by eating a piece out of their wedding cake – not a replica, the original one!
過(guò)去60年里，這對(duì)來(lái)自佛羅里達(dá)的夫婦每年的結(jié)婚紀(jì)念日都要吃一塊他們的婚禮蛋糕—不是復(fù)制品，而是貨真價(jià)實(shí)的當(dāng)年剩下的婚禮蛋糕！

Ann and Ken Fredericks were married on 19 August, 1955 and Ann’s grandmother had baked a three-layer fruitcake for the occasion. The top layer of that cake, baked six decades ago, still exists in a metal Maxwell Coffee House can. “Every year, we unwrap it, pour brandy over it – because you need to moisten it – and we break off a piece,” Ann said.
安（Ann）和肯?弗雷德里克斯（Ken Fredericks）于1955年8月19日結(jié)為連理，當(dāng)年安的奶奶為了慶祝這一喜事親自烤了三層的水果蛋糕。這款蛋糕最上面那層現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)60多“高齡”，但仍然保存在一個(gè)麥斯威爾金屬咖啡罐里。安說(shuō)：“每年，我們都打開(kāi)包裝，在蛋糕上面倒?jié)M白蘭地（因?yàn)槟愕冒训案鉂?rùn)濕一點(diǎn)），然后掰下來(lái)一小塊。”

“Everybody just looks at us with amazed looks when they hear about it,” she added. “Our children are appalled that we would be eating something that’s 60 years old. But believe me, it’s quite tasty, as long as it’s got enough brandy on it. And it’s never made us sick.”
“每個(gè)聽(tīng)到這件事的人都會(huì)驚訝地看我們，”她補(bǔ)充道。“我們的孩子們對(duì)于我們會(huì)吃60年前烤的蛋糕的事也是震驚萬(wàn)分。但相信我，蛋糕的味道相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)，當(dāng)然前提是你要倒足夠多的白蘭地。我們也從沒(méi)因?yàn)槌赃@個(gè)身體不舒服。”

Back in the ’50s, it was rather fashionable to have a fruitcake as a wedding cake. Ann’s grandmother used the fruit that Ann’s grandfather brought home from the docks in New York to bake a three-layer dark fruitcake for the wedding. It was baked a couple of months in advance, so it would have enough time to age and settle. A local bakery even covered it with a hard shell, to stop the fruit from bleeding through. A layer of buttercream frosting was added on the day of the wedding.
時(shí)間先撥回50年代，那時(shí)很流行用水果蛋糕做婚禮蛋糕。安的奶奶用她爺爺從紐約碼頭帶回家的水果為她的婚禮烤了一個(gè)三層的黑色水果蛋糕。這個(gè)蛋糕還是提前了幾個(gè)月烤制的，為的就是能有時(shí)間好好熟化。當(dāng)?shù)匾患液姹旱赀€專(zhuān)門(mén)用硬殼將蛋糕包裹起來(lái)，以防止水果滲出。在婚禮那天，他們又在蛋糕上面加了一層奶油糖霜。

“When you looked at it, it looked like a three-layer white wedding cake,” Ann recalled. After the wedding, the couple saved whatever was left of the cake, and have savoured it every year since.
“當(dāng)時(shí)它看起來(lái)就像個(gè)三層的白色婚禮蛋糕，”安回憶道。婚禮宴會(huì)過(guò)后，這對(duì)夫婦將剩下的蛋糕全部保存了下來(lái)，從那以后每年都要拿出來(lái)“品味”幾口。

Ann and Ken met as students at Syracuse University, and they lived in New York during the first few years of their marriage. But in 1968, they decided to follow Ken’s parents to Florida. “Even though we were both from the Northeast, neither one of us liked the cold,” Ann said. “So after those two visits to the in-laws, we said we were going to move to Florida. And we never regretted it.”
安和肯在雪城大學(xué)（Syracuse University）讀書(shū)時(shí)相識(shí)，他們婚后前幾年都在紐約生活。但在1968年，他們決定跟肯的父母一樣到佛羅里達(dá)生活。安說(shuō)：“我們兩個(gè)雖然來(lái)自美國(guó)東北部地區(qū)，但都不喜歡寒冷的氣候。所以我們?cè)诎菰L了兩次公婆后便決定搬去佛羅里達(dá)，對(duì)此我們從未后悔過(guò)。”

Ken, now 85, worked as a music teacher before he retired, while Ann, 81, was a nurse for 27 years. They’ve lived in their Satellite Beach home since 1971. Because their diamond anniversary happened to be on a weekday, they celebrated it with family and friends over the weekend. They were joined by their daughter Jean, and sons Ken Jr. and David. Nine of their grandchildren and two of Ann’s bridesmaids attended the celebrations as well.
肯今年85歲，退休前一直是一位音樂(lè)教師，安今年81歲，之前當(dāng)了27年護(hù)士。他們從1971年開(kāi)始就一直住在衛(wèi)星海灘（Satellite Beach）的家里。因?yàn)樗麄兊你@石婚紀(jì)念日恰好是工作日，所以他們就選在周末跟親友一起慶祝。當(dāng)時(shí)他們的女兒簡(jiǎn)（Jean）、兒子小肯（Ken Jr.）和大衛(wèi)（David）、九個(gè)孫子還有當(dāng)年安的兩位伴娘也都來(lái)一同慶祝。

The couple like teasing their children about it. Over the years, their kids and grandkids have always refused to take a bite of the ageing cake. “They won’t taste it,” Ken said.
這對(duì)夫婦很愛(ài)用這個(gè)蛋糕戲弄他們的孩子。這些年來(lái)，他們的孩子和孫輩一直對(duì)品嘗這塊蛋糕唯恐避之不及。肯說(shuō)：“他們都不愿嘗上一口。”

“And we tell them, it tastes fine,” said Ann. “They always say, ‘Oh, there’s not that much. You two keep it for yourself.’ I don’t know, we may have to be buried with it.”
安說(shuō)：“我們告訴他們說(shuō)味道其實(shí)挺不錯(cuò)的。他們總回應(yīng)說(shuō)：‘啊，剩下的也不多了，還是留給你們倆自己吃吧。’誰(shuí)知道呢，我們到時(shí)候會(huì)帶著這蛋糕入土也說(shuō)不定呢。”

Vocabulary

moisten：使?jié)駶?rùn)

appalled： 震驚的，驚愕的

frosting：(用于裝飾蛋糕的) 糖霜

英文來(lái)源：OddityCentral

譯者：阿甘太達(dá)

審校&編輯：劉明