＜中英對照讀新聞＞ Tortoise sets house on fire 烏龜放火燒屋

◎羅彥傑

A Berkshire couple returned home to find their house had been set on fire by their 70-year-old tortoise.

柏克夏郡的一對夫婦返家時，發現自己的房子遭所養的70歲烏龜引起的大火燒了起來。

Emma Fox had brought Fred, a female tortoise, inside when she came out of hibernation early, reports The Sun.

艾瑪．福克斯先前在母龜佛萊德提前結束冬眠後，就把牠帶進屋內，太陽報報導。

Emma, 30, and partner Paul Butler, 45, left Fred in a tank under a heat lamp to keep her warm enough to stay alive.

30歲的艾瑪與45歲的伴侶保羅．巴特勒，把佛萊德放入一個有保溫燈照射的水槽，以為牠保暖維生。

But Fred piled her dry straw under the lamp and it caught alight, spreading flames through the house.

但佛萊德將乾稻草堆疊在燈下面，結果燒起來，火勢擴散到整個屋子。

Emma, who also has a dog and two baby tortoises, said： "We were out shopping when we got a call from the fire brigade saying that our tortoise had set the house on fire.

還養了一條狗與兩隻小烏龜的艾瑪說：「當時我們正在外面購物，接到消防隊的電話，說我們的烏龜引發大火燒房子。」

"Luckily our neighbour had heard the smoke alarm go off and called the fire brigade.

「走運的是，我們的鄰居聽到煙霧警報器大作，打電話給消防隊。」

"There’s a lot of smoke damage. We need to replace all our furniture and front door, but all our animals survived. It could have been worse."

「濃煙造成的損失不少。我們需要更換所有的家具及前門，但我們養的動物全都保住性命。本來說不定會更糟。」

新聞辭典

set ~ on fire：片語，縱火燒～。例句：The US embassy was set on fire yesterday.（美國大使館昨天遭人縱火。）

pile：動詞，堆積、堆上。例句：Help us pile these books.（幫我們疊好這些書。）

go off：片語，爆炸，發出巨響。例句：The air-raid alarm would go off at noon.（空襲警報會在正午時分發佈。）

來源：自由時報

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++