《中英對照讀新聞》Sock horror! Terrifying lizard turns out to be dirty clothing 襪子恐怖事件！嚇人的蜥蜴原來是髒衣服

◎周虹汶

It was seven inches long, two inches wide, pink, stripy and the English family who discovered it hiding under a bed thought it could be a dangerous lizard.

7英寸長、2英寸寬、呈粉色、帶條紋，發現它躲在一張床下的英國家庭，覺得它可能是一隻帶有危險的蜥蜴。

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But after the terrified family called an animal welfare charity to apprehend the "creature" at their home in Coventry, central England, it was revealed that it was something far less sinister - a dirty sock.

但嚇壞的這家人打電話給一處動物福祉慈善組織，叫它來抓位於英格蘭中部科芬特里市他們家裡頭的這隻「生物」後，發現它是險惡程度小了許多的某種東西——一只髒襪子。

Animal Collection Officer Vic Hurr, from the RSPCA charity, said she had warily approached the "lizard" after being alerted to its presence last Friday.

慈善機構「皇家防止虐待動物協會」的動物運送員薇克．赫爾說，上週五接獲它存在的警告後，她小心翼翼地接近這隻「蜥蜴」。

"It was protruding from the edge of the bed and it wasn’t moving at all," Hurr said. "As it wasn’t very light, I got out my torch to see better and that’s when I realized it wasn’t a lizard at all."

「它從床緣凸出，一動也不動」赫爾說。「因為不太亮，我拿出我的手電筒要看得仔細些，這時我才發現，它根本不是蜥蜴。」

Hurr said she had left the family with some guidance, and a warning.

赫爾說，她把一些指南和一份告誡書留給這家人。

"I advised the young girl whose bedroom it was to tidy her room and to take care of her socks, but not before reminding her that another one will turn up soon as they are usually in pairs," she said. （Reuters）

她說：「我建議那個臥房的年輕女孩，把房間收拾整齊，把她的襪子顧好，且提醒另一只襪子隨後就會出現，因為它們通常是成雙成對。」（路透）

新聞辭典

apprehend：動詞，指理解、憂慮、逮捕、拘押。例句：There is nothing to apprehend.（沒什麼好擔心的。）

warily：副詞，指謹慎小心地。例句：She looked warily around.（她警戒地環顧四周。）

protruding：形容詞，指伸出的、凸出的。動詞為protrude，指伸出、凸出。例句：The policeman saw a gun protruding from the robber’s pocket.（警察看到有把槍從那個搶匪的口袋中凸出。）