《中英對照讀新聞》Mozart therapy for bereaved elephant 喪偶大象的莫札特療法

◎魏國金

Suma, a 45-year-old elephant and long-time resident of the Zagreb Zoo, was bereaved and inconsolable after her pachyderm partner of tens years died of cancer. Until she heard Mozart.

舒瑪是一頭長期住在札格雷布動物園的45歲大象，她在長達10年的厚皮類伴侶死於癌症後痛失倚靠、哀痛逾恆。直到她聽到莫札特為止。

"Suma became very depressed after her roomie Patna died in early May," head of Zagreb Zoo Mladen Anic said. "She was refusing to eat, became uncommunicative, showed all the signs of a serious depression."

「舒瑪在室友帕特納於5月初過世後變得非常沮喪，」札格雷布動物園園長姆拉登．阿尼奇說，「她拒絕進食，變得悶悶不樂，顯露嚴重沮喪的所有徵候。」

Then, by sheer accident, Suma、s keepers discovered that the healing power of Mozart extends to the animal kingdom too.

然後，在全然意外下，舒瑪的飼養人發現莫札特音樂的療效也擴及到動物王國。

Earlier this month, the zoo organized a concert of classical music just opposite Suma、s dwelling, Anic explained. At the sight of five musicians preparing themselves to start a concert, Suma became very nervous and aggressive, peppering the intruders with little stones that she blew out of her trunk.

阿尼奇解釋說，這個月初動物園在舒瑪住所的對面辦了一場古典音樂會。一看見5位音樂家為音樂會的開始作準備，舒瑪變得非常緊張、好鬥，從象鼻噴出小石頭，接連攻擊入侵者。

"But as soon as the concert started what we saw was really fascinating. Suma leaned against the fence, closed her eyes and listened without moving the entire concert," he said. When zoo authorities realized that classical music seemed to help Suma cope with her grief, they bought a stereo and installed it so she could get a daily dose of music therapy.

「然而，音樂會一開始，我們見到的景象實在令人驚訝。舒瑪倚著籬笆、閉上雙眼，動也不動的聽完整場音樂會，」他說。園方了解古典音樂似乎能協助舒瑪紓解憂傷後，他們買了一台立體音響，並安裝好，讓她每天能獲得音樂治療。

新聞辭典

bereaved：喪失親人的。She could find no words to comfort the bereaved family.（她找不到話來安慰喪家。）

at (the) sight of ： 一看到… 。At sight of the teacher the boys ran away.（一看到老師，男孩們就跑光。）

peppe r ： 此處指連番拋出、接連攻擊。The reporters peppered her with questions.（記者接二連三問她問題。）