青春無敵

Joe:

Have you got the invitation from May?

(你有收到May寄的邀請函嗎？)

Sam:

Yeah. The white elephant party! I attended one when I was in the UK. It was really fun.

(有啊！白象派對！我在英國的時候有參加過一次，還滿好玩的。)

Joe:

I know “white elephant” means something expensive but useless. But having a party named after it? I’ve never heard of it before.

(我是知道白象指的是貴又沒用的東西，但白象派對？我從沒聽過說。)

Sam:

Well, a white elephant party is a popular Christmas event. People bring to the party one wrapped gift, usually something inexpensive, funny, weird or nice.

(白象派對是盛行於聖誕節的活動，人們會帶禮物去派對，通常都是便宜、有趣、奇怪或不錯的禮物。)

圖片來源：William Warby

Joe:

Inexpensive, funny, weird or nice?

(便宜、有趣、奇怪或不錯？)

Sam:

Basically, you bring something of little use, such as a spa coupon about to be expired, rolls of toilet paper wrapped in a Prada shopping bag, and those funny glasses people never wear. So you can imagine the shock on people’s faces when gifts are swapped.

(其實就是帶個沒啥用處的禮物，像是快過期的SPA禮券、用Prada購物袋包裝的衛生紙筒、或是不實用的滑稽眼鏡。你可以想像拿到那些禮物時，那種驚訝的表情。)

Joe:

It does sound like fun! Are there any rules to it?

(聽起來的確是很有趣！有甚麼規定嗎？)

圖片來源：Jason Devaun

Sam:

There are several variations, but the most common one goes like this. Normally, the organizer will specify what type of gift people should bring.

(是有些不同的玩法啦，但最常見的玩法是，發起人一定會先規定要帶的禮物類別。)

Joe:

Hmm. The invitation doesn’t mention what type but it does say a gift must be worth around NT $250.

(嗯。邀請函是沒說要帶啥類別，但有說禮物要買約250元左右。)

Sam:

Yes. Then, at the party people put their gifts in a pile and draw names to decide what order they will go in. And then, the first person selects a gift from the pile and opens it.

(是啊。接著在派對上，大家會把帶來的禮物放在一起，然後抽籤決定順序，抽到第一的人可以從中選擇禮物，並在現場打開。)

圖片來源：Visa Kopu

Joe:

So people just wait their turn to select a gift? Is that it?

(所以大家只要等輪到他們時選禮物，這樣子而已嗎？)

Sam:

The fun starts when the second person gets to choose whether he wants to select a gift from the pile or steal the first person’s gift.

(有趣點是第二個人可以選他要選禮物，還是要偷走第一個人選的禮物。)

Joe:

Steal?

(偷走？)

Sam:

Yes. The person whose gift got stolen can choose another one from the pile.

(是的，被偷走禮物的人可以從禮物堆中再選另一個禮物。)

Joe:

So that means the third person can also choose a new gift or steal from someone else?

(所以第三個人也可以選擇要新禮物或偷別人的囉？)

Sam:

Exactly. But there are limits. A gift can only be stolen once per turn and can only be swapped three times in total. In other words, a gift belongs to the person when it is swapped the third time.

(沒錯。但是有限制。同一個禮物每一輪只能被偷一次，而且只能換手三次，換句話說，第三次拿到禮物的人，才能確定擁有它。)

Joe:

I see. So what gift do you have in mind?

(我懂了。那你打算送啥禮物呢？)

Sam:

Ha! Wait till you find out at the party!

(哈！等你來參加派對就知道啦。)

white elephant

(n.) 白象；據說以前惹惱泰王的人，會被賜與白象，由於白象極其珍貴，所以不能宰殺，須細心呵護，但飼養費用非常昂貴，獲贈白象的人，通常家道很快就會衰落。因此在英文中，「白象」一詞，被引申為「昂貴又無用的事物」。

useless

(a.) 無用的

event

(n.) 活動

wrapped

(a.) 包裝好的

of little use

(a.) 沒太多用處的

swap

(v.) 交換

variation

(n.) 變化、差異

specify

(v.) 詳細說明

pile

(n.) 一堆、一疊

draw

(v.) 抽籤

wait one’s turn

輪到某人

steal

(v.) 偷；動詞三態為 steal – stole – stolen

limit

(n.) 限制