Angel Delgadillo is sitting on a bench outside his Route 66 gift shop while a gaggle of Japanese tourists crowd round fussing and taking pictures. “Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheeeeeese,” he says as they sit, two-by-two next to him until another fan approaches.

安吉爾．德嘉迪洛正坐在他位於66號公路禮品店外頭的長椅上，這時一群嘰嘰喳喳的日本遊客聚攏過來，大呼小叫，不斷拍照。「起司，起司，起司，起司，起─起─起─司。」他說，身旁各坐兩人，直到另一個紛絲走過來。

Bertrand Laisney lives in Paris but is driving Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. He explains that he was compelled to stop in Seligman, Arizona, where Angel lives, after reading a half-dozen guidebooks about the “Mother Road” that “all tell about Mr. Delgadillo.”

萊斯尼住在帕利斯，但他正沿66號公路從芝加哥開往洛杉磯。他解釋說，在讀了6、7本旅遊手冊介紹「公路之母」上有關「德嘉迪洛先生的種種」之後，他總是不由自主地停在安吉爾居住的亞利桑那州塞利格曼鎮。

At 84, dressed in slacks and with hearing aids in both ears, Delgadillo doesn't look like your average rock star. But when he saved what is now America's most iconic road after it was decommissioned in 1985 his celebrity shot through the roof. “My town all but blew away,” Delgadillo said recalling the dreadful year when the 2,400 mile road was replaced by highway I-40. “We were forgotten by the world.”

德嘉迪洛今年84歲，身穿休閒褲，兩耳戴助聽器，但他不是搖滾明星。美國如今這條最具指標性的道路1985年宣布廢棄封路時，他成功搶救下來，並一夕爆紅。德嘉迪洛回想起那恐怖悽慘的一年，當時全長2400哩的道路被40號州際公路取代，他說：「我的小鎮隨風而逝，我們被世人遺忘。」

But he wasn't going to give up that easily and in 1987 called a now famous meeting of 15 people to form the Historic Rout 66 Association. They persuaded the Arizona State Legislature to give historic designation to Route 66 and now the 150-mile stretch between Seligman and Topack is very well preserved attracting thousands of visitors every year.

但他不輕言放棄，1987年，他找了15人組成「66號公路歷史協會」，並召開如今傳為美談的會議。他們說服亞利桑那州議會給66號公路歷史定位，如今塞利格曼和托派克之間150哩長的路保存十分完善，每年吸引成千上萬遊客。

Today there are leather-clad Harley riders, Norwegians wanting to shake Delgadillo's hand and of course the Japanese tourists who literally “oohed” and “ahhed” as he approached his shop on an eight-speed bicycle. They call him many things: The Father of the Mother Road. The Guardian Angel of Route 66. Sometimes, simply, The Ambassador. “This guy here ... every time I get a chance I come in and shake his hand,” says Jerry Stinson of Lake Tyee, Washington, who plans to someday retire along Route 66 and open a business - “because of you,” he tells Delgadillo as they pose for a picture.

今天有幾位穿皮衣皮褲的挪威哈雷機車騎士想和德嘉迪洛握手，當然也少不了日本遊客。當德嘉迪洛騎著8段速自行車到店裡時，他們不斷「噢！啊！」地發出驚嘆之聲。他們封他很多名號：「美國公路之母老爹」、「66號公路守護天使」，有時只簡單尊稱他一聲：大使。來自華盛頓泰伊湖的史汀森說，「這位老先生……每次有機會，我總不忘進來和他握握手。」他計畫哪天退休後沿66號公路開店，當他和德嘉迪洛合照時告訴他：「因為有你。」

He was born on Route 66 back when Seligman was a railroad town ferrying explorers West and was a witness to the Dust Bowl migration and the transport of equipment during World War II. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a barber, opening his own shop and pool hall along Route 66 and then he saw it all change on September?22, 1978. “Can you imagine how it was?” says Delgadillo, his eyes widening as if recounting the story for the first time. “Golly Moses. At first it was so sad, and then I got so angry. Everybody just forgot about us.”

當塞利格曼還是個輸運探險家到美西拓荒的鐵道小鎮時，他在66號公路出生，見證了洛磯山脈東麓沙塵地帶的遷徙，和二次世界大戰期間運輸各種裝備。他傳承父親衣缽，成為理髮師，自己沿66號公路開了家理髮店和撞球廳，然後在1978年9月22日他看到這一切全變了。德嘉迪洛睜大眼睛，好像第一次講給別人聽：「你能想像那是什麼情景嗎？天哪，真是見鬼了，一開始只覺得很傷痛，然後我發火了，所有人都忘了我們。」

Today, Seligman thrives because of the many Route 66-themed businesses. Delgadillo and his wife, Vilma, opened a souvenir store next to the barber shop peddling Route 66 keepsakes to the many visitors that began finding Seligman-- looking not just for kitsch but for history.

今天，塞利格曼因66號公路許多相關主題企業而蓬勃發展。德嘉迪洛和妻子韋爾瑪在理髮店隔壁開了一家紀念品店，販售66號公路的紀念品，許多遊客開始尋找塞利格曼，他們想找的不只是通俗文化，還有歷史。

And Delgadillo finds it hard to stay away. Every morning he wakes early, has breakfast with Vilma and rides his bicycle over to help open the store. He goes home at noon for lunch, and then often returns to the store before taking an afternoon siesta. Sometimes, of course, the nap must wait, and a weekday afternoon in May is one of those times. The larger tour buses have departed, but smaller vans and several campers remain.

但德嘉迪洛發現自己很難抽身。每天一大清早醒來，和韋爾瑪吃過早餐後，就騎腳踏車過來幫忙開店。中午回家吃午飯，下午小睡片刻前往往還會回店裡一趟。當然，有時得犧牲午睡，5月周一到周五下午就是這種時候，因為大型觀光巴士已經開走，但較小型的休旅車和一些露營者仍逗留不去。

Outside the gift shop, a Japanese tour director whom Delgadillo knows well waits with several vacationers. For tour groups, Seligman and Delgadillo's Route 66 Gift Shop are popular stops on routes to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. “Konnichiwa,” says Delgadillo as he greets the group in Japanese. Ooh and ahhh they say as the father of the mother road settles on the bench outside his store and strikes a pose.

在禮品店外頭，和德嘉迪洛很熟的日本導遊，正在等幾個度假遊客。對旅行團而言，塞利格曼和德嘉迪洛所開的66號公路禮品店是到大峽谷、錫安國家公園和布萊斯峽谷這條觀光路線上很受歡迎的景點。德嘉迪洛以日語向日本旅行團請安說：「你好。」他們立刻哇哇啊啊驚叫連連，並在他那家店外面長椅上和有公路之母老爹之稱的德嘉迪洛合影留念。（美聯社）