《中英對照讀新聞》Remorseful American pays German parking fine, 12 years late 晚了12年,懊悔的美國人支付德國違規停車罰款
◎張沛元
A remorseful American has surprised German police by mailing them US$100 to cover a 12-year-old parking fine.
一名懊悔的美國人令德國警察深感意外,她寄來了100美元,以支付12年前的違規停車罰款。
Police in Cologne said that the woman, whom they identified only as Julie H., sent them a handwritten confession to her failure to pay the 60-mark (US$47.60 at current rates) fine, incurred during a visit to the city in August 1996.
科隆警察表示,這名警方只願意透露叫做茱莉.H的婦女,寄給他們一份手寫的自白書,坦承她在1996年8月造訪該市時,未能支付一筆60馬克(以目前匯率約為47.60美元)的罰款。
In the letter to "dear Cologne police," mailed from Draper, Utah, Julie H. wrote in German that she had not understood local parking rules and had been annoyed by the fine - but "now I want to pay the parking ticket." She enclosed a US$100 (euro64) travelers check payable to the city of Cologne.
在這封「致親愛的科隆警察」、發自猶他州德卓伯爾的信中,茱莉.H以德文寫道,她當時不了解當地的停車規則,並對罰款感到很火大─但「我現在要支付停車罰單」。她隨信附上一張抬頭為科隆市的100美元旅行支票。
Police said in a statement that they sent a response thanking Julie H. for the letter - and returned the check.
警方發表聲明表示,他們已回函感謝茱莉.H的來信,並且退還支票。
They added, the statute of limitations on the offense expired 11 years ago.
警方補充表示,該犯行的時效早在11年前就終止了。
新聞辭典
enclose:動詞,圈起,隨同一個信封或包裹一併附上。
statute of limitations:追溯期間,時效。statute,名詞,法令,規章。另有幾個字與statute拼法近似,但意義完全不同,如statue,名詞,雕像,The Statue of Liberty,自由女神雕像;stature,名詞,身高,高度。
expire:動詞,期滿;吐氣;死亡。名詞為expiration。例句:There’s no expiration date on parents’ love for their children.(父母對子女的愛無止期。)