【中英對照讀新聞】 Slovak brothers win burial competition with fastest, neatest grave 斯洛伐克兄弟以最快、最平整的墳墓贏得土葬比賽

◎周虹汶

Two brothers from Slovakia won a grave-digging competition at an international exhibition of funeral, burial and cremation services on Thursday.

來自斯洛伐克的一對兄弟，在週四一場喪禮、土葬、火葬服務的國際展覽上，贏得挖墳墓比賽。

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Ladislav and Csaba Skladan, aged 43 and 41 respectively, dug a grave 1.5 meters deep, two meters long and 90 centimeters wide in 54 minutes in the western Slovak town of Trencin, beating 10 other two-member teams from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary as a small audience cheered loudly.

分別為43和41歲的拉迪斯拉夫和切薩巴．史克拉當，於斯洛伐克西部城鎮特倫欽，在54分鐘內挖了1口深1.5公尺、長2公尺、寬90公分的墳墓，在一小群觀眾大聲喝彩聲中，擊敗另10組來自斯洛伐克、波蘭與匈牙利的雙人拍檔。

Their grave was also the neatest, a five-member jury agreed.

5人評審團同意，他們的墳墓也是最平整的。

"We want to show and appreciate the hard work of grave diggers," said Ladislav Striz, who established the contest last year.

去年發起這項競賽的拉迪斯拉夫．史崔茲說：「我們想要展示及感謝挖墳人的辛勞工作。」

"Most Slovak graveyards are so crowded and spaces between graves so narrow that we need human diggers instead of machines," he said. "They work hard, come rain, come snow."

他說：「斯洛伐克多數墓地都如此擁擠，墳墓間距這麼狹窄，以致我們需要人力挖鑿而非機器」，「他們勤奮工作，雨雪無阻。」

"I am happy we won, it’s a satisfaction after fifteen years in this job," Csaba Skladan said.

切薩巴．史克拉當說：「我很高興我們贏了，這是幹這份工作15年後的一大樂事。」

"I had to focus on speed today but usually, when the weather is nice and I can chat with my brother, it’s a dream job," added Ladislav Skladan. （Reuters）

拉迪斯拉夫．史克拉當說：「我今天必須專注在速度上，但通常，當天氣好時，我可以和我弟弟聊天，這是一份夢幻工作。」（路透）

新聞辭典

neat：形容詞，指整潔的、平整的、靈巧的、未摻水的。例句：He likes his whiskey neat.（他喜歡威士忌不加水純喝。）

respectively：副詞，各自地、分別地。例句：Bob and Mary got pay rises of 10% and 15% respectively.（鮑伯和瑪莉分別加薪10%和15%。）

satisfaction：名詞，指滿足、樂事、賠償傷害、清償債務、履行義務。例句：Are all the dishes to your satisfaction?（所有菜色都讓您滿意嗎？）