◎管淑平

A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.

一隻從船上落入怒海的寵物狗，在一座島上孤單度過4個月後，再度與主人團聚，報導說。

The 4-year-old Sophie Tucker, apparently named after a late US entertainer, fell overboard as Jan Griffith’s family sailed through choppy waters off the northeast Queensland coast in November.

這隻4歲的「蘇菲塔克」，顯然是以一名已故美國影星為名，去年11月隨葛瑞菲一家人在東北部昆士蘭外海的大浪中航行時跌落船外。

The dog was believed to have drowned. But out of sight of the family, she was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularised by the TV reality show "Survivor."

大家原以為這隻狗溺斃了，但是這家人沒看到的是，這頭母犬奮力的游，最後游到五海里外的聖彼斯島，接著展開一段如人氣電視實境秀「我要活下去」的日子。

Sophie Tucker was captured by rangers last week on on the largely uninhabited island. Rangers initially thought they’d captured a wild dog that had been living off feral goats.

上週巡警在這個人煙罕至的島上抓到蘇菲塔克，起初以為抓到一隻吃野山羊維生的野狗。

But after Griffith and her husband heard the news and met the rangers’ boat bringing the dog to the mainland and were shocked to find that it was indeed their long-lost pet on board.

但是葛瑞菲與丈夫聽到消息後，前往正載著狗回到本島的巡警船看看，驚訝的發現，船上那隻狗就是他們失去已久的寵物。

"We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us," Griffith said, "She wriggled around like a mad thing."

「我們叫牠，牠開始低聲嗚鳴，然後撞籠子，他們把牠放出來，牠幾乎要把我們撲倒」，葛瑞菲說，「牠瘋狂的搖尾巴。」

新聞辭典

rough seas、choppy waters：rough、choppy都是形容大浪、波濤洶湧。sea、water用形容詞＋複數形，意指海面波浪狀況。

doggedly：副詞，頑固的堅持下去地。例句：He was doggedly determined to marry her.（他頑固的堅決要娶她。）

devastated：形容詞，備受打擊的（難過、傷心）。例句：She was devastated by her son’t death.（她兒子的死讓她深受打擊。）

自由時報-980413

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