【精英翻譯】的部落格

◎管淑平

Dairy cows with a serious case of flatulence have simultaneously ’broken wind’ and blown up a building in a fiery explosion.

嚴重脹氣的乳牛同時「撇風」，在猛烈爆炸中炸毀一棟建築物。

No doubt there were all sorts of "whoever smelt it dealt it" accusations flying around amongst the herd afterwards.

無疑的，事後這群牛中會有各式各樣「做賊喊捉賊」的指控滿天飛。

The methane gas released by 90 windy dairy cows causes an explosion in a cow shed in the central German town of Rasdorf, police say.

警方說，德國中部拉斯多夫鎮90隻腸胃脹氣的乳牛所排放的甲烷氣體，在一座牛棚內引發爆炸。

Thanks to the belches and flatulence of the dairy cows in the shed, high levels of the gas had built up. Then "a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flames" the police said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.

由於這群乳牛打嗝和放屁，牛棚中累積高量的這種氣體，然後「一道靜電造成這股氣體帶著陣陣火光爆炸」，路透新聞通訊社引述警方在聲明中的說法。

With only one cow out of the 90 suffering injuries, it could be said that the herd in question were let-off the hook and it goes without saying that their owner will have to take extra precautions if the animals are going to be at this sort of crack in future.

由於這90頭牛中只有1隻受傷，可說這群當事牛逃過一劫，而且毫無疑問的是，若這些牛未來還要做這種事，他們的飼主將有額外防範措施。

新聞辭典

fire in the hole：俚語，原用於採礦作業或軍事，警告埋設的炸藥或手榴彈即將引爆；後用於警告爆裂物將爆炸。例句：Police bomb squad shouted "Fie in the hole!" and detonated explosives.（警方炸彈拆除小組大喊「要爆炸了！」隨即引爆炸藥。）

whoever smelt it dealt it：俚語，做賊喊捉賊，惡人先告狀。例句：A： Did you just fart? It stinks! B： No. Whoever smelt it dealt it! （A：你剛才放屁嗎？好臭！B：沒。誰聞到就是誰放的！）

（let-off / let somebody） off the hook：片語，（讓某人）擺脫責任或困難情境。例句：John has found someone else to cover his shift tonight, so I’m off the hook.（約翰已經找到其他人代他今晚的班，所以沒我的事了。）

本文引用自 自由時報電子報 http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/