中英對照讀新聞》Iowa woman reunited with egg she autographed in 1951 愛荷華州婦女與她在1951年簽名的雞蛋重逢

◎張沛元

Mary Foss Starn, now 92, slipped the autographed egg into a carton and sent it out like a note in a bottle to see if anyone would respond. Someone did, 72 years later.

現年92歲的瑪麗．福斯‧斯塔恩曾把這顆被她簽上名字的雞蛋當瓶中信偷塞進（裝蛋的）紙盒，看看是否會有人回信。72年後，有人回了。

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Starn and several of her friends were packing eggs into cartons at an Iowa factory in 1951 when they hatched a goofy plan to liven up their workday.

1951年，斯塔恩及其數名友人在愛荷華州一家工廠將雞蛋放入紙盒時，密謀出一個讓上班日變有趣的耍笨怪招。

The young women decided they would each sign their names and hometowns on a few eggs they picked at random, slip them into cartons and send them out like notes in a bottle to see if anyone responded.

這些年輕女子決定，每個人都在隨機挑選的幾顆雞蛋上簽名與寫上老家地址，將之偷偷塞進紙盒與當成瓶中信般送出去，看看是否會有人回應。

“Whoever gets this egg, please write me,” Starn carefully wrote on several eggs with a pencil, along with the date, April 2, 1951.

「無論是誰拿到這個雞蛋，請寫信給我」，斯塔恩小心翼翼地用鉛筆在幾顆雞蛋上如此寫道，以及寫下日期，1951年4月2日。

新聞辭典

slip：動詞，溜走；偷偷做。例句：The old woman slipped a piece of chocolate into the boy’s hand to cheer him up.（那名老婦把一塊巧克力塞進男童手裡好讓他開心。）

hatch：動詞，孵蛋；策劃（尤指秘密計劃）。例句：They hatched a plan to throw a surprise party for a friend’s birthday. （他們密謀為1名友人舉辦生日驚喜趴。）