播放

本集摘要

这一集讲的是卡尔加里牛仔节（Calgary Stampede)和牛仔的故事。大部分人所熟悉的牛仔大概都是电影里看到的美国西部牛仔。殊不知加拿大也有一个牛仔城，那就是我们卡屯（所以卡屯也被称为“Cowtown”）。

卡尔加里牛仔节号称是“地球上最盛大的户外表演”（个人认为这是他们自我标榜的最盛大，我中华民族的随随便便一个阅兵的规模就能超了它）。每年7月的第一个周五都会在卡屯举办为期十天的牛仔节庆祝活动，包括开幕式游行、各种舞台表演和牛仔竞技，吸引数百万来自全球各地的游客到访（卡屯总共只有一百多万人口，所以数百万已经是常驻人口的几倍了）。

我对牛仔节印象最深刻的有两件事。

一个是开幕式游行。来自世界各地的牛仔们都会盛装出席，有骑马的，骑牛的，开坦克的，开飞机的。许多人头天晚上就会拿着小马扎去占位置。

给大家随便看两张往届牛仔节的照片意思一下。今年的牛仔节定于7月5-14号举行，感兴趣的小伙伴可以来凑凑热闹，不过现在下手已经有点晚了，估计各种酒店民宿已经订光了。

第二个就是牛仔节期间到处都供应免费早餐（虽然天下没有免费的午餐，但在卡屯牛仔节期间可以体验一下免费早餐）。标配：薄煎饼、炒鸡蛋和煎香肠。据本地人说，牛仔节是卡屯最大的最集中的商业社交和洽谈的机会。都说我们中国人的生意是在饭桌和酒桌上谈成的，这里是在“马背”上谈生意，够豪放吧！

大家眼中的牛仔都是什么样呢？是不是都是大老粗一个，两句话不对付就拔枪的那种？本集的主人公，Herman Linder却是一个另类牛仔，因为他个头不大，而且看起来像个绅士，是一个具有传奇色彩的牛仔。

Ride~q~em Cowboy!

Jean Leslie

I must confess that when I went to interview Herman Linder some 20 years ago I thought of cowboys as rather unkempt, traveling from town to town, sleeping with their horses.

But Herman was different, as a matter of fact he looked anything but a cowboy, he was very small and slight and soft voiced, the other cowboys said, "Herman you are too small, you will never be able to survive in a rodeo." He proved them wrong - he was balance and grace personified in the saddle.

Back in those days before there was television, the kids saw Herman riding and thought he was the best. From 1929 to 1939 he won no less than 22 titles at the Calgary Stampede breaking all definitions of an "all-around hand". He won championships for bucking horse riding, bareback bucking horse riding, steer riding and the bronc riding with saddle. 

But in 1939, at the height of his fame, Herman quit rodeo. （Here uncle Doug talked a little bit of the bear back riding. Those horses don~q~t like having people sit on them, in fact they are trained to kick/buck people off their backs. So if you can stay on the horse for 8 seconds, which to you and me, seems like nothing. But if you are sitting on a horse, 8 seconds seems like 8 hours).

Throughout the 1940s and 50s Herman found he couldn~q~t get rodeo out of his system and continued to be in the business, he would buy and sell horses for large rodeo outfits and subsequently helping to stage small rodeos at Cardston, Macleod and Lethbridge. He then moved up to the larger shows in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. 

Jack, as chairman of Calgary~q~s Canada Centennial Committee had been successful in promoting a miniature rodeo from Calgary to be a show in Montreal. They wanted to take the rodeo to Montreal Quebec. 

Now picture a big arena. It~q~s getting late at night and starting to get cold. The place is packed full of people, and out come all the horses, cowboys and bulls. So the Quebecers thougth what on earth is this?

Then they put on a small rodeo demonstration, with bucking bronc, saddle bucks and steer bucks. The Quebecers absolutely loved it. Herman himself was there to help promote all the events. It was reported that not one Quebecers left that stadium during the entire show.

Since then Calgary and Quebec have been good friends.

上马吧！牛仔！

我必须承认当我二十多年前去采访Herman Linder的时候，我认为牛仔都是不修边幅、从一个地方到另一个地方居无定所，和他们的马同吃同睡的人。

但是Herman却不同，事实上他看起来完全不像一个牛仔，个头不大，看起来很文弱，而且说话也很温柔。其他牛仔都取笑他说：Herman你个头这么小，参加竞技比赛不可能赢的。“但Herman用行动证明他们都错了，他在马鞍上表现得沉着冷静、稳如泰山。

在那个年代还没有电视机，孩子们看到Herman的表演都认为他是最棒的。从1929年到1939年期间，Herman赢得了至少22项牛仔竞技比赛的冠军，是当之无愧的十项牛仔全能，包括无鞍马术竞技、有鞍马术竞技以及骑牛比赛。

但是在1939年，他事业的最高峰的时候，Herman却宣布退出牛仔竞技比赛。（uncle Doug讲了一小段关于无鞍马术竞技的知识，他说这些马不喜欢被人骑，实际上他们是被训练把人踢下马背的。参加竞技的牛仔需要在马背上坚持8秒钟，在我们普通人看来8秒钟很短，但对于骑在马背上的人来说，8秒钟就好像8个小时。）

从1940年代到50年代，Herman发现他根本无法完全脱离马术竞技的生活，于是他开始买卖马匹，后来又帮助在Cardston, Macleod and Lethbridge等地方的小型竞技比赛。然后又帮助在温哥华、埃德蒙顿和温尼伯的更大的竞技比赛赛事。

杰克（uncle Doug的叔叔），当时作为加拿大百年庆典卡尔加里委员会的主席，想要把牛仔节带到魁北克省的蒙特利尔。

想象一下一个巨大的体育场，夜幕降临而且天气有点凉。但是体育场里座无虚席，牛仔们、马儿、牛儿纷纷亮相，魁北克人从来没见过这阵势。

牛仔们成功上演了一场小型竞技表演，有鞍、无鞍以及骑牛比赛。魁北克人简直爱上了这项运动。Herman亲自参与了这项活动的宣传。据报道，当晚没有一个人提前离场，大家都意犹未尽。

自此以后，卡尔加里和魁北克便结成友好城市。

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