【精英翻譯】的部落格

Celebrating the ’year of the penguin’ in Japan 日本慶祝「企鵝年」

精英翻譯社轉自http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=956714&day=2016-02-05

◎張沛元

"Penguin Arrives" was the headline of an Asahi Shimbun article in June 1915 about the arrival of a Humboldt penguin at the Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo. But the subhead stated bluntly, "It is expected to die soon."

「企鵝蒞臨」是1915年6月一則朝日新聞報導的標題，內容是關於一隻來到東京上野動物園的漢波德企鵝。但副標題卻直言，「預料很快就會死掉。」

Sure enough, the paper’s headline proclaimed nine days later, "Penguin Dead." According to the article, the keepers had done everything in vain to care for the bird, giving it plenty of ice and lots of fresh fish. Native to Chile, Humboldt penguins normally tolerate heat well. But this particular bird had been transported over a long distance, which probably stressed it out. Also, the keepers were not experienced in handling a penguin.

果不其然，該報9天後的標題宣告，「企鵝死了」。根據該報導，飼育員竭盡所能照顧這隻企鵝，給牠很多冰與鮮魚，但都徒勞無功。原產於智利的漢波德企鵝通常也能忍受高溫，但這隻赴日企鵝歷經長途運送，可能過於緊張壓力大。再者，飼育員們也沒有飼養企鵝的經驗。

A century has since passed, and Japan today is said to be the world’s No. 1 penguin keeper. As of 2012, there were about 3,600 penguins of 11 species at zoos around the nation, where they are noted crowd-pleasers.

此後經過一個世紀，日本如今據稱是全球第1的企鵝飼育國。截止2012年，全日本各地的動物園飼養有11種品種共3600隻企鵝，以逗遊客們開心聞名。