《中英對照讀新聞》Briton loses dead cert bet--by staying alive 英國人長命輸掉死亡證明賭注

◎ 俞智敏

A 91-year-old British man who staked a 500-pound （$870） bet that he would be dead by the end of the first week in December lost his stake by staying alive, a bookmaker said.

據一名賭博業者表示，一位91歲的英國男子下注5百英鎊（870美元），賭他會在12月的第一個週末前過世，結果他活得好好的，所以輸掉了賭金。

Arthur King-Robinson said he put the bet on at odds of 6/1 at the start of the year because his wife would have faced an inheritance tax bill of 3000 pounds had he died in the intervening period.

亞瑟．金恩─羅賓森說，他今年初以1賠6的賠率下注，因為假如他在中間這段期間過世，他的妻子就得面臨高達3千英鎊的遺產稅單。

"I thought I'd heard most things that people want to bet on after 30 years in the business," said Graham Sharpe, spokesman for bookmaker William Hill. "But one asking literally to place a dead cert was unique. I'm glad Arthur has lost."

「我以為入行30年後，已經聽過大多數人想要打賭的東西，」賭博業者威廉．希爾公司的發言人夏普說。「但真的要求用死亡證明來打賭還真是稀奇。我很高興亞瑟賭輸了。」

King-Robinson had feared that his wife Cynthia, 85, would have to sell the home they had lived in for 50 years in southwest England if she had been hit by the tax bill.

金恩─羅賓森原本擔心，他現年85歲的妻子辛西亞萬一收到稅單，恐怕就得賣掉他倆在英格蘭西南部住了50年的房子。

"I lost my 500 pounds -- but it gave me peace of mind," he said.

「我輸掉了5百鎊──但卻得到心安，」他說。

新聞辭典

deadcert ： 在此指死亡證明， cert 為certificate的縮寫。另英式俚語中，dead cert則是「絕對確定的事」。

stake：作動詞時，可指押下賭注（常接on），如︰He staked all his money on the risky business.（他把所有的錢都押在這個很冒險的生意上）。stake作名詞可指賭金，如︰The old ladies played for small stakes just for amusement.（這些老太太們只是為了好玩，才下小賭注賭錢）。at stake則指被下了賭注的、瀕臨危險的、有利害關係的。