澳洲東部鼠患猖獗，迫使一間監獄全員撤離。（美聯社檔案照）
◎孫宇青
A plague of mice that has ravaged vast swathes of eastern Australia has forced the evacuation of a prison while authorities repair gnawed electrical wiring and clear dead and decaying mice from walls and ceilings.
一場蹂躪澳洲東部廣泛地區的鼠疫，已迫使一間監獄全員撤離，好讓當局修復被啃咬的電線，以及清除牆壁和天花板裡死亡發臭的老鼠。
Around 200 staff and 420 inmates will be transferred from the Wellington Correctional Center in rural New South Wales state to other prisons in the region.
新南威爾斯州鄉下的威靈頓矯正所，將撤離約200名職員和420名受刑人到區內其他監獄。
Millions of mice have caused havoc in the grain-growing region of Australia’s most populous state for months, devouring crops and haystacks as well as invading homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and prisons.
數月來，上百萬隻老鼠在澳洲人口最稠密的穀物栽植地區大肆破壞，吃光作物和乾草，還入侵住家、商店、學校、醫院和監獄。
The most common complaint about the plague is an ever-present stench of mice urine and decaying flesh. People report being bitten by mice in bed. Mouse carcasses and excrement in roof guttering are polluting farmers’ water tanks and causing sickness.（AP）
對鼠疫最常見的抱怨，是前所未聞的老鼠尿液和腐敗屍體的惡臭。有人通報躺在床上時被老鼠咬。屋頂排水系統內的鼠屍和鼠便，也污染農夫的儲水槽，並帶來疾病。（美聯社）
新聞辭典
Gnaw：動詞，啃咬。例句：A dog is lying on the ground, gnawing on a bone.（一隻狗正躺在地上啃骨頭。）
Stench：名詞，惡臭。例句：The stench of rotting fish permeated the kitchen.（魚肉腐爛的惡臭瀰漫整間廚房。）
Excrement：名詞，排泄物。例句：Animals’ excrement was scattered all over the ground.（動物糞便被撒得滿地都是。）
華客新聞 | 時事與歷史：中英對照讀新聞》Australian prison to be evacuated after mice move in老鼠大軍遷入 澳洲監獄被迫撤離
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