烏克蘭蘋果樹王 樣貌奇特年歲高

The city of Krolevets, in Ukraine’s Sumy region, is home to the world’s most unique apple garden, consisting of only one tree. Spanning 10 acres, the 220-year-old tree – known as ‘apple tree colony’ – has dozens of individually rooted trunks that constantly spring to life, making it seemingly impossible to die.
烏克蘭蘇梅地區的克羅列韋茨市（Krolevets）坐落著世界上最奇特的蘋果園，園內竟只有一株果樹。這棵名為“蘋果樹殖民地”的果樹占地10英畝，已達220歲高齡。全樹有幾十根樹干扎根土中，枝繁葉茂，仿佛永生一般。

The tree seems to have worked out a brilliant survival strategy, and it looks prepared to survive for centuries to come. It started off as a regular tree, but as it aged, its branches bent so low to the ground that they started to take root as well. Every time one of the ingrown trunks dies, its branches immediately bend to the ground and take root. It had only nine trunks in 1970, but that number had doubled by 2008.
這棵蘋果樹似乎有一套獨特的生長機制，再活上幾百年也不是問題。它原本是棵普通的樹，年復一年，枝條卻漸漸低垂，扎根在了土中。每當一條枝干枯萎，便會有枝條低垂入土。1970年時，扎根的枝干只有9條，到了2008年，這個數字竟翻了一番。

Today, the tree-garden has several main trunks and dozens of rooted branches springing from each of them. It blooms every year, during the regular season, but its pink flowers are only visible on half the tree, while the other half rests. Its apples – locally known as Lozovka – are medium-sized and sweet with a slightly tart taste.
如今，果樹已有幾株主干，長出的幾十根枝條也都扎根地下。每年花期到來，它便吐露新苞。不過，只有一半的樹枝會開出粉色小花，另一半則選擇休養生息。它結出的果實被當地人稱作“羅索夫卡”（Lozovka），不大不小，甜中帶酸。

Local legend has it that the tree was planted by Prince Peter Sergeev of the Meshchersky royal family. When he died, the tree mourned for him and its branches bent to the ground, eventually giving rise to an apple tree colony. The prince was buried under his beloved tree in 1848, and his gravestone is still visible today. Another version of the story says that the prince planted an apple tree on the grave of his wife who died when she was still young.
當地傳言，此樹是梅什徹斯基皇室（Meshcersky）的彼得?瑟吉夫（Peter Sergeev）王子栽下的。王子逝世時，連果樹也為他哀悼，枝干垂入了地下，“蘋果樹殖民地”由此誕生。1848年，瑟吉夫王子被葬在了他心愛的蘋果樹下，墓碑至今依稀可見。也有傳說稱，果樹其實是栽在王妃之墓上的，為了紀念瑟吉夫王子英年早逝的愛人。

Some say that the tree was cursed, which is why it behaves more like a gooseberry bush than an apple tree. Several scientists have studied the tree in detail, but every attempt to recreate its survival mechanism has failed. In 1972, the tree was declared a national monument of local importance by the Sumy Regional Council. In 1998, its status was upgraded to national importance.
有人說，這株蘋果樹受了詛咒，因此生長方式變得如醋栗一樣（注：醋栗的分枝能力很強，株叢內常能分出50多個枝）。不少科學家仔細研究了果樹，卻始終無法參透它的生長機制。1972年，這棵樹被蘇梅地區議會定為地區級保護植物，1998年又升級為國家級保護植物。

英文來源：odditycentral.com
譯者：郭汪韜略
審校&編輯：丹妮