《中英對照讀新聞》German flea circus hit by freeze 德國跳蚤馬戲團遭酷寒襲擊

◎管淑平

Tragedy had struck a German flea circus. All of the circus’s 300 members was wiped out by the freezing weather – unfortunately on April Fools’ Day.

一個德國跳蚤馬戲團遭逢悲劇。這個馬戲團的300名團員全都死於天寒地凍的天氣，而且很不幸地是發生在愚人節那天。

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It was the first time the cold had killed a whole troupe in one go.

這是首次發生酷寒一口氣殺死一整團團員。

Circus director Robert Birk had described discovering the insects dead inside their transportation box as a ‘very difficult moment’.

團長羅伯特．柏克描述發現這些蟲子死在牠們的運輸盒「非常難受」。

"It’s hard to know when minus temperatures will be fatal for them," he said, "but the show must go on."

「很難知道對牠們而言，零下的氣溫什麼時候會是致命的」，他向BBC表示，「但是演出必須照樣進行」。

A university insect expert, Professor Heinz Mehlhorn, managed to provide 60 replacement fleas in time for a performance at an open-air fair.

一所大學的昆蟲專家漢因茲．梅洪恩教授設法及時提供60隻替代跳蚤，用於一場露天演出。

Training began immediately for the new recruits. "I worked solidly for two days," Mr Birk told the Online Focus website, noting that the replacement team lacked a little pizzazz.

新團員的訓練工作隨即展開。「我整整工作了2天」，柏克先生向「焦點線上」網站說，並表示替補團隊缺少了點活力。

Some people had suggested the alleged deaths could be an elaborate April Fools’ Day joke but fair organiser Michael Faber is adamant this is not the case.

有些人認為，這起據稱的跳蚤死亡可能是精心設計的愚人節玩笑，但展覽會主辦人米歇爾．法柏堅稱並非如此。

He added： "This is no April Fool’s. We saved the situation, otherwise there would have been no performance."

他還說，「這不是愚人節笑話。我們挽救了局面，否則就有可能沒戲唱了。」

新聞辭典：

wipe out：動詞片語，徹底剷除、殲滅、消除，清除。

in one go：副詞，一口氣、一氣呵成。

例句：We have wiped out all the enemy troops in one go.（我們一舉殲滅所有敵軍。）

solidly：副詞，牢靠地、扎實地，整整地。例句：The principal lectured solidly for 30 minutes.（校長足足訓話30分鐘。）