《中英對照讀新聞》Sri Lanka bans alcohol sale for four days to prevent election violence 斯里蘭卡禁止賣酒4天 以防範選舉暴力

◎ 羅彥傑

The Sri Lankan government said all shops selling alcoholic drinks will be closed for an unprecedented four-day stretch ahead of the upcoming presidential election and holy full moon day.

斯里蘭卡政府說，所有販售酒類飲料的商店，將史無前例地在即將來臨的總統選舉與神聖的滿月日前連續關門4天。

The step has been taken largely to stop election violence, which took more than 50 lives in 1999, 61 in 2001 and seven in 2004.

採行這項措施，主要是為了阻止選舉暴力，而選舉暴力分別在1999年、2001年和2004年奪走50多條、61條和7條人命。

The shops started to close from Tuesday, a full moon day holy to the Buddhists who form the majority in this tropical island. For the following three days, there will be no alcohol sales, the government's information department said. Every month, on a full moon day, alcohol shops remain shut.

商店自週二起歇業，這一天對此一熱帶島嶼多數人口─佛教徒而言，也是神聖的滿月日，而接下來的3天也禁止賣酒，政府的新聞部說。每個月到了滿月日這一天，賣酒的商店都會固定歇業。

Much of the alcohol consumed in Sri Lanka is moonshine. Also popular are spirits such as arrack, made from coconut pulp and tree sap.

斯里蘭卡消費的酒類，大多屬於私造的烈酒。由椰子果肉與樹液製成的燒酒等烈酒也很受歡迎。

新聞辭典

unprecedented：空前的、無前例的。例句︰The impact of Hurricane Katrina is unprecedented.（卡崔娜颶風的衝擊是史無前例的）。

stretch：名詞，指一段時間。例句︰He is unable to work for long stretches.（他無法長時間地連續工作）。

moonshine：名詞，本為月光，這裡指非法釀製的酒或走私酒。例句︰The policeman allegedly died during a raid on an illegal moonshine still.（據說這名員警是在突擊一間非法釀酒廠時殉職）。