《中英對照讀新聞》Spider nests in woman's ear for 27 days 蜘蛛在一名婦人的耳中寄居27天
◎ 陳成良
A spider that nested in the ear of a Swedish woman was discovered and removed alive after 27 days, Swedish tabloid Expressen reported on Wednesday.
一隻蜘蛛在一名瑞典婦女耳中寄居27天後才被發現,並活生生的被請出來,瑞典小報「快報」週三報導。
The black spider, "the size of a thumbnail", crept into the woman's ear while she was sleeping and went undiscovered for almost a month, the paper said.
這隻「拇指般大小」的黑蜘蛛,在這名婦女睡覺時,鑽入她的耳朵,並在裡面藏了近一個月都未被察覺,該報報導。
The woman, whose name was not disclosed, told the paper that she at first experienced "a slight loss of hearing" and assumed that she had a build-up of wax. But when she heard "a scratching sound" in her ear she decided to go to the pharmacy to buy a cleanser to wash out her ear cavity.
這名姓名未公開的婦女告訴該報說,最初她覺得「聽力有點下降」,但以為是耳垢增多。但後來當她聽到耳中有「一種摩擦聲」時,她決定去藥房買清潔劑,將耳腔徹底清洗。
When she did so, the spider was flushed out alive and crawled away.The woman recalled having seen a spider on her bed in November, 27 days earlier.
當她這麼做時,竟然沖洗出一隻活生生的蜘蛛,接著牠就溜之大吉。這名婦女回憶稱,11月間在她床上曾看見一隻蜘蛛,算算已經是27天前的事了。
新聞辭典
nest:不及物動詞,築巢、巢居。例句:The birds nested in the oak tree. (鳥在橡樹上築巢)。
assume:及物動詞,認為。 He assumed that prices would rise. (他認為價格可能會上揚)。 assume另一個常見意思是「承擔、 負起」,如assume responsibility (負責任)。
wax:本文中指「耳垢」,本字另一個常見意思是「蠟」。例句:He coated it with wax. (他在它上面塗了一層蠟)。
recall:動詞,記起、憶起,通常後接名詞或動名詞。例句: I don't recall his name. (我不記得他的名字)。