你不知道的古怪任性牛津大学

　　可能很多同学对牛津与众不同的风俗已经有所耳闻：成为牛津人之前必须要经历拉丁语开学典礼的洗礼;期末考试和正式晚宴时都要穿上长袍(更多的拉丁语也会扑面而来);踩踏草坪几乎会被视作犯罪!开学一段时间以后，学生们会对穿上长袍去考试，一边说拉丁语一边喝汤等习以为常。但是还有一些更不为人知的规矩影响着牛津人的日常生活，这些奇怪的规矩可不是那么容易适应的。尽管它们没被写在官方的学生守则里，但胆敢质疑这些规矩的人将会面临苦不堪言的惩罚。

　　1. DON’T BRING YOUR BOW AND ARROW TO LECTURES

　　别带弓箭到学校

　　Oxford University is the oldest university in the English-speaking world: professors have been pontificating and students have been snoozing since the 12th century. Back then, students didn’t have Angry Birds to distract them in lectures – but they did have bows and arrows. In 1209, a student accidentally shot a townswoman (the subsequent hanging of two innocent students led to a breakaway group of university men founding Cambridge University), and one of Oxford’s earliest rules banned students from bringing their weaponry to classes, just in case the boredom became too much…

　　牛津是英语世界里最古老的大学：早在十二世纪，教授们就开始在台上威严地授课，而过去的学生们在台下偷偷打盹。那时可没有愤怒的小鸟让学生们消磨时光——不过他们有弓箭呀!1209年时，一个学生不小心射中了镇上的一名妇女(后果是两名无辜的学生被处死，导致了一群学生逃离牛津，创办了剑桥)，因而牛津最早的规矩之一就是禁止学生带武器去学校，以防学生们无聊过了头……

　　2. PERMISSION FOR A PINT

　　买酒需书面批准

　　Forget being asked for your ID next time you fancy a drink: in the early 20th century students needed written permission from their tutors before they could stop off for a beer at The Bear (Oxford’s oldest pub). Without a note, students weren’t simply thrown out – they were arrested by the ‘bulldogs’, the university police. Not that potential arrest deterred students determined to have their pint of ale: between 1910 and 1920, bulldogs arrested approximately 620 students “in pubs without permission”.

　　下次买酒被要身份证的时候就别抱怨了：在20世纪早期，牛津学生如果想在路过The Bear(牛津最古老的酒吧)时买点酒，他们需要找导师写一张书面批准!如果没有书面批准，可不仅仅是被赶出酒吧那么简单，学生们会被校园警察(别称“斗牛犬”)逮捕!不过即使面临着被逮捕的风险，这也没能阻止学生们义无反顾地去买酒：在1910年到1920年间，校园警察逮捕了大约620名未经批准就买酒的学生!

　　3. STRIPPING OFF IN THE LIBRARY

　　图书馆里打赤膊

　　One wonders how those sober tutors would have reacted to Worcester’s ‘infamous’ Breakfast Club. The college society, founded in 2009, spent two years declaring their revision breaks in rather bare-faced fashion: ‘Half Naked Half Hours’. This is exactly what it sounds like: each afternoon, club members studying in the library would strip to the waist, continue with their work, and re-dress 30 minutes later. Sadly in 2011 Worcester Library Committee banned the would-be strippers, ruling that ‘Half Naked Half Hours’ posed a distraction to other studiers.

　　你可能会好奇，理智清醒的教师们该如何应对伍斯特学院“臭名昭著”的早餐俱乐部?这个社团成立于2009年，在两年的时间中，成员们都会在复习的休息期间开展一项颇为厚脸皮的活动：每个下午，在图书馆学习的成员们都会脱掉上衣，接着学习，30分钟之后再穿上衣服。遗憾的是，2011年伍斯特图书馆委员会禁止了这项“每天半裸半小时”的活动，指责这种行为会让其他自习的同学分心。

　　4. MAKING A SPLASH

　　跳进浴缸泡个澡

　　Perhaps those poor Breakfast Club members should transfer to Jesus College. In 2012 the college JCR voted unanimously to install a hot tub for stressed finalists during the final week of Trinity term, costing up to £400. It has since become an annual fixture: the JCR committee noting in 2013 that “9th Week Trinity term is always hot” and that “JCR members (especially finalists) have worked extremely hard this year and deserve a reward.”

　　可怜的早餐俱乐部成员们大概应该转学到耶稣学院去。2012年，耶稣学院的“本科生公共休息室”(JCR，Junior Common Room)通过投票一致同意：在夏季学期的期末周花费400英镑为紧张备考的毕业班学子们安装一个热水浴缸。从此，这就成了学院每年固定的规矩：2013年，公共休息室委员会指出“夏季学习的第九周总是特别炎热”，并且“公共休息室的成员们(尤其是大四党)这一年已经辛苦学习了很久，他们应该得到犒劳。”

　　5. NO CAKE FOR YOU

　　毕业生没蛋糕吃

　　Finalists certainly deserve a reward after their last exams: but the University proctors will not let them eat cake. The famous ‘trashing’ celebrations that occur when students walk out of exams – where friends of the freed throw confetti and pop champagne – are permitted, so long as they don’t involve food stuff. Eggs, flour and whipped cream are specifically prohibited from being brought into the proximity of the Exam Schools, so no-one can whip up a celebratory cake on their friend’s head. Much as post-exam students need sustenance, it might not be worth risking the £80 fine one girl was handed in 2011 after throwing a trifle in a finalist’s face…

　　考完最后一门的毕业生们的确应该得到奖赏：但牛津的监考老师们可不会允许他们吃蛋糕。当学生们从考试地狱中解放出来走出考场时，将迎来著名的“捣毁”(Trashing)庆典：他们的朋友们会抛洒五彩纸屑、打开香槟——这些都是被允许的，只要他们没带食物。鸡蛋、面粉和生奶油被明令禁止带进考场附近，所以没人能把奶油蛋糕砸在朋友的脸上来庆祝了。尽管大考后的学生们急需大快朵颐，但还没到要冒着被罚款风险的地步。2011年，一个女生把蛋糕砸在了一个毕业生的脸上，因此被罚了80英镑……

　　When you want knowledge like you want air under water then you will get it.

　　当你需要知识就像你在水底需要空气时，你准能得到它。