《中英對照讀新聞》Napoleon's tooth up for auction 拿破崙的牙齒等著拍賣

◎羅彥傑

A tooth said to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte is up for auction in Britain later this month and expected to sell for up to 8,000 pounds.

一枚據說屬於拿破崙．波拿巴的牙齒本月稍晚將在英國公開拍賣，預料可賣到高達8千英鎊。

It is believed to have been extracted in 1817 during the French general's exile on the British island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean, after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo two years earlier.

據信這枚牙齒是在1817年這位法國將軍流亡位於南大西洋的英國聖赫勒拿島期間所拔出，也就是在他滑鐵盧之役慘敗兩年後。

"Historically, we know that Napoleon had had toothache in 1816 and this was put down to a mouth inflammation diagnosed as scurvy," valuer Chris Albury said.

「歷史上，我們知道拿破崙在1816年有牙痛，這要歸因於嘴巴發炎，經過診斷是壞血病，」估價師克利斯．艾布瑞說。

"By the time of his death in 1821, he was a physical wreck and his gums were soft and bled easily and his teeth were loose."

「在1821年去世前，他形銷骨立，而且牙齦柔軟，很容易就出血，牙齒也很疏鬆。」

The tooth, estimated to fetch 5,000 to 8,000 pounds, will go under the hammer at the Dominic Winter auction house in Swindon, Wiltshire, in southern England, on November 10.

這枚牙齒估計可賣得5000至8000英鎊，將於11月10日在南英格蘭的威爾茲郡史威敦的多明尼克溫特拍賣公司拍賣。

新聞辭典

extract：拔出、取出。例句︰The doctor extracted a bullet from his wound.（醫生從他的傷口中取出一顆子彈。）

e x i l e：可作動詞和名詞， 流亡； 放逐。T h e communist government sent the dissident into exile.（共黨政府放逐這名異議份子。）

p u t d o w n ： 片語， 歸因於…。例句︰The expert put this accident down to inexperience.（專家將這次意外歸因於缺乏經驗。）

go under the hammer：片語，被拍賣。例句︰More than 2000 important ancient and modern paintings and jewels are to go under the hammer at the two-day auction.（超過2000件古代與現代畫作以及珠寶將在為期兩天拍賣會上拍賣。