《中英對照讀新聞》Interruptions to the underground train service in Lisbon 里斯本地鐵營運中斷

◎ 魏國金

Weary commuters the world over are used to hearing all sorts of reasons for their train being late, but officials in Lisbon have come up with a seemingly unique excuse： a lemur on the line.

世界各地疲憊的通勤者皆慣於耳聞火車誤點的各種理由，但里斯本的官員則提出一個可說是最特別的理由︰鐵道上有隻狐猴。

The longest of the four subway lines in the Portuguese capital was closed for more than an hour after the cat-sized primate escaped from a zoo and disappeared into the tunnels of the network. The animal traveled down several kilometers of underground tunnels before firefighters eventually captured it at the system's busiest station, Marques de Pombal.

在這隻和貓咪一般大的靈長類動物從動物園兔脫，並消失於地鐵隧道後，葡萄牙首都四條地鐵線中最長的一條，被關閉逾一小時。在消防人員最後於地鐵系統最繁忙的彭巴爾廣場站抓到牠之前，這隻動物已在地下鐵道遊走了數公里。

Carlos Mineiro Aires, the head of the subway system, told the Publico newspaper about the incident to show how service interruptions on the 45-year-old system were not always the fault of his staff. Passengers in Lisbon have complained of frequent delays and interruptions to the underground train service recently, especially on older lines.

地鐵系統首長艾瑞斯向共和報透露這起事件，以顯示這個有45年歷史的地鐵系統發車中斷不一定都是他同僚的錯。里斯本的乘客近來對地鐵頻頻誤點與停駛多有怨言，特別是對較老的路線。

Lisbon Zoo said it had closed a hole in a fence from which the lemur is believed to have made its escape. Lemurs, which are native to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands off southeastern Africa and can weigh up to seven kilograms, are not aggressive and the public was never in danger, a zoo spokesman said.

里斯本動物園表示，園方已封閉柵欄的一個破洞，據信這隻狐猴就是從此處脫逃。動物園發言人說，狐猴原生於非洲東南外海的馬達加斯加島與科摩洛群島，可以重達7公斤，不具侵略性，也絕不會使公眾陷於危險。

新聞辭典

come up with：提出（計畫、答案）。例句︰He came up with a newidea. （他提出一個新點子）。

lemur：狐猴。

primate：靈長類動物。大寫則為英國國教的大主教、天主教的總主教，如 the Primate of All England（坎特伯里大主教）。

native：形容詞，本地的；名詞，本地人。one's native place（出生地）。