Story of an Antique Shop and Its Legendary Owner 🇦🇺 古董老灯店和它的传奇主人

Hey Steemit friends, today I'm going to show you an old lamp shop and the story of its legendary owner in Braidwood, Australia. Braidwood is about 55 kilometres to Canberra, and it is the first town registered as a historic town in the New South Wales State register. It boasts quaint historic buildings, antique shops, fine restaurants and beautiful nature around. I found this lamp shop when we had a stopover in Braidwood, on a road trip during the past New Year holiday.

大家好！今天我来介绍一个澳洲小镇Braidwood一家不起眼的古董灯老店。这是前几个月新年假期的自驾途中偶然看到的，当时听了店主的传奇故事，觉得这个小店很有意思，就拍了几张照片，打算写下它的故事。

Braidwood离首都堪培拉约55公里，是新南威尔士州最早注册为历史古城的小镇。作为历史上的淘金重镇，这儿有不少古意盎然的老建筑（相对于年轻的澳洲来说）、古玩店、餐厅酒吧等，周围还有很多小河小溪，不失为干旱地带的一片小小绿洲。

Since this antique shop was kind of hidden on a tree lined street, his owner Mr. Aernout placed this car at the town centre to attract visitors, and it worked. Later in his lamp shop, he asked us if we noticed this historic vehicle. And yes, that's how we found his place:

因为这家古董灯店静静地藏在一条侧街边的树丛中，不容易被一般游客注意到，店主就把下面这辆拉风的老爷车放在镇中心的路口，旁边放着他的广告招牌吸引访客，这一招还挺灵，我们就是这么被吸引过去的：

The Albion Cafe next to the sign serves great food and drinks, highly recommended too!

下面这家灯店广告牌后的咖啡馆就是我们吃午餐的地方，他家咖啡和简餐也很棒：

So we came to this antique lamp shop and met its owner Robert Aernout. This fun energetic man showed us around his shop and told stories about his past and the shop’s origin.

我们根据广告牌上的地址找到这家老店，见到了照片里的传奇店主 - 罗伯特 · 阿努特先生。老先生年近八旬仍然精力充沛，神采奕奕地向我们介绍了自己的古董灯店，还讲述了他一生的传奇经历。

Mr. Aernout was born in 1940 to Dutch parents on a tea plantation in East Java, Indonesia. His birth place is exotic enough, isn't it? And it's more than that. He spent the war years in Japanese P.O.W.(Prisoner Of War) camps, and left Indonesia in 1948 with his parents on an evacuation ship to Holland. Then he was educated in the Netherlands, but obviously he didn't end up living in Europe but migrated to New Zealand in 1963. After 7 years, he came to Australia in 1970, and lived in Sydney for 20 years. So how did he turn to a collector and merchant of antique lamps?

阿努特先生1940年出生在印度尼西亚东爪洼岛的一处茶叶种植园，父母是荷兰人。是不是挺异域风情的？我听到这里脑海中已经上演好几幕殖民电影场景了。然而，接下来更精彩：二战期间，他在日军战俘营度过了童年，到1948年，又随父母坐着疏散的远洋轮船去了荷兰（简直又可以拍成好几部电影~）。在母国接受教育后，他并没有留在那里，而是在1963年又移民到了新西兰，果然会折腾，跟我有的一拼，听到这里对他好感度大增，哈哈。 我当时真的把他的口述飞快地打字记在了手机里，仿佛知道有这么一天会写下他的故事...... 真是有点记者八婆潜质啊~ 7年后，就像很多新西兰居民一样，他又从一块宁静安详的土地移居到不远处一块更加广袤荒芜的大陆 -- 澳大利亚（看过电影《澳大利亚》没？）。从1970年起，他在悉尼一住就是20年，看来跟众多华人眼光一致呢，挑了个好地方。然而，故事还没完，否则怎么会有今天我写的这个老灯店？

In the early 1990s Mr. Aernout often travelled to Braidwood and he was fascinated with the Lake Bathurst Gallery, an 1830s slab timber cottage. So he bought it and started a collectible business specialising in vintage and antique lamps and replacement parts. Here in the shop, you can find everything from oil and kerosene lamps to oldwares. It's like a little paradise for the lamp enthusiast or collector. In the showroom, there's a complete range of rare and collectible lamps spanning 200 years of lighting. Besides, there are souvenirs and artworks from different parts of the world collected by Mr. Aernout.

九十年代初期，阿努特先生常常从悉尼去西南方向的Braidwood（布莱德伍德？），他被那里的一处画廊建筑迷住了，这是一间19世纪30年代的平板小木屋。最后他终于拔草，买下这处木屋（我竟然忘了给小木屋拍照，一定是外面太热，我出来后只匆匆在店牌前留了张“到此一游”照就跑路了，汗颜......），搬到这个鸟不拉屎的小镇，开始了自己的古董灯店生意彪悍的人生从来不需要解释，不是吗。在他的这家老店里（我知道，区区三十年不到历史的店对于来自中国的我来说能算老吗？但是这在澳洲真的是家老店啊~），各种老式油灯、煤油灯琳琅满目，还有其他老先生收藏的古物和世界各地的艺术品比如螺旋桨、头盔、铠甲、木雕、老桌椅之类，也让人目不暇接。

The photo on the table of his shop was taken some decades ago. The younger Robert was behind Miller kerosene lamps dating back to 1895. It looks interesting together with the recent photo I took for him among his lamps. Time flies, while his passion and pursuit stay the same. According to Mr. Aernout:

These lamps are called library and parlour lamps. The painted shades and fonts came in various flower designs and less ornate ones in plain white shades. A Number 2 burner was used with a round wick and gave around 80 candle power. Some of the other lamps are of French origin and also date back to the late 19th century.

下面放在他店里桌子上的黑白照片是几十年前年轻些的罗伯特，在1895年的一群米勒老煤油灯前拍的。是不是跟我上面给他拍的那张形成有趣的对比？光阴荏苒，不变的是那颗热爱古董灯的心...... 根据他的说法：

这些古董灯一般用在图书馆或客厅。有些灯罩上有各种彩绘的花纹图案，还有些白色灯罩的比较素淡。使用圆形灯芯的2号灯头，烛光功率80左右。其中还有一些灯来自19世纪的法国。

He told us his collection of antiques was also used as props in some old films, and he showed us a few movie posters in which he played roles. Before we left, he recommended a creek nearby to dip into. It's a life saver in the incredibly hot and dry weather!

他说自己收集的这些年代久远的老灯具还被一些老电影用来当作道具使用，并给我们看了他年轻时饰演的一些电影角色的海报。我们又聊到开车来的路上看到头被撞死的袋熊，他就跟我们讲了些当地的各种动物。最后，我们跟他告别前，他还推荐了附近一处可以泡冷水的小溪，真是贴心 -- 这在这种酷暑天和这块极度干热的地区简直是救命稻草啊~ 好了，老灯店就聊到这里，去游泳啦......

老先生推荐的小溪还不错哦~ 如果我照片里找到的是他所说的那条的话 这块地区真是干得可以，很多草木都是针叶状，好可怜，分分钟渴死的节奏。然而彪悍的植物人生也是不需要怜悯的，老天自有安排不是吗：

So that's it for today's story about the antique shop, hope you like it! Tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

今天的故事分享就到这里，希望你们喜欢，欢迎留言说出你的想法。下次见喽！:)

^{All content by @itchyfeetdonica
图文 by Donica多}