《中英對照讀新聞》Presidential bunny dies of stress總統的寶貝兔死於壓力

◎羅彥傑

The pet rabbit of Latvian President Valdis Zatlers, Leonardo da Vinci, has died, the Telegraf newspaper reported last week.

拉脫維亞總統瓦迪斯．札特勒斯豢養的寵物兔，李奧納多．達文西，已離開人間，「電訊報」上週報導。

Nicknamed Lisis, the five-year-old bunny possibly died of stress caused by a recent relocation to the presidential residence, Zatlers told the TV 5 channel.

暱稱為「麗希絲」，這隻五歲大的兔子可能死於因最近總統官邸搬遷造成的壓力，札特勒斯告訴「5號電視台」頻道說。

The presidential pet, dubbed the First Bunny by the media, was thrown into the political arena along with his owner when Parliament appointed the politically unknown surgeon Zatlers as the president of the small Baltic country in May last year.

這隻媒體封為「第一兔」的總統寵物，是在去年5月跟著飼主一起進入政治圈，當時國會任命政治上沒沒無聞的外科醫師札特勒斯為這個波羅的海小國的總統。

At the same time as Zatlers took his oath of office, the opposition staged the inauguration of the First Bunny.

就在札特勒斯宣誓就職的同時，反對黨也發起「第一兔」的就職典禮。

Since Zatlers became president, Lisis had been feeling lonely, the president said in the past.

自從札特勒斯成為總統後，麗希絲一直覺得寂寞，這位總統過去曾說。

新聞辭典

die of：片語，死於～。例句：The blacksmith died of the rum bottle and a stroke.（這名鐵匠死於酗酒與中風。）

nickname：名詞指綽號或暱稱，動詞指取～綽號。例句：We nicknamed him "Foureyes" because he wore glasses.（因為他戴眼鏡，我們給他取「四眼」的綽號。）

an oath of office：就職誓言。例句：The President has violated his oath of office to uphold the constitution.（總統已違背自己維護憲法的就職誓言。）

自由時報-970226

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