《中英對照讀新聞》Hair-raising Beethoven piece: da-da-da Diamond! 令人毛骨悚然的貝多芬作品：鑽—鑽—鑽 鑽石！

◎俞智敏

Beethoven composed many enduring symphonies,but now a Chicago company wants to make a Beethoven piece that lasts forever—a diamond made out of strands of the 18th-century composer's hair.

貝多芬曾寫下許多不朽的交響曲，現在一家芝加哥的公司想製造能夠永久流傳的貝多芬作品—用這位18世紀作曲家的幾縷頭髮來製造鑽石。

LifeGem Memorials, a company that first gained attention in 2002 by making diamonds out of the carbon from cremated human remains, now says it can make diamonds out of human hair, allowing people to bury their loved ones but still have a memento they can carry with them.

2002年因使用人體火化後骨灰中的碳成份製造出鑽石而首度引起矚目的生命寶石紀念公司，現在表示可以用人髮製造鑽石，讓家屬安葬親人後，仍能隨身攜帶懷念家人的紀念品。

To publicize this—and to raise money for charity—the company has teamed with John Reznikoff, who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest collection of celebrity hair.

為宣傳這項新商品，並替慈善機構募款，該公司和列名金氏紀錄、擁有最多名人頭髮收藏品的收藏家瑞茲尼科夫合作。

Reznikoff is giving six to ten strands of Beethoven's hair to LifeGem, which will use it in a process to create three diamonds of between 0.5 and 1 carat in weight.

瑞茲尼科夫將把6到10縷的貝多芬遺髮交給生命寶石公司，加工處理成3顆重約0.5至1克拉鑽石。

Greg Herro, chief executive officer of LifeGem,said the diamonds will initially be put on a worldwide tour of museums and opera houses for about half a year. Eventually, the diamonds will be sold at auction,with the proceeds donated to raise money for military families.

生命寶石公司執行長賀洛表示，這些鑽石將在全球博物館和歌劇院巡迴展覽半年。最後這些鑽石會在拍賣會上賣出，所得將捐贈給軍人家屬。

Reznikoff, who has about 115 hair samples in his collection, noted that Beethoven has wide appeal. "Of all those that could be picked to spearhead this, I think the one with the most cross appeal is Beethoven," he said.

約115件名人頭髮收藏的瑞茲尼科夫說，貝多芬擁有廣大吸引力。「在可能（替這項新技術）打頭陣的名人，我認為貝多芬最能吸引各種不同領域的人，」他說。

新聞辭典

memento： 紀念物、引起回憶的東西。如︰I keep a stone as amemento of our holiday.（我保留了一顆可以紀念我們度假時光的石頭。）

proceeds：收益，收入。

spearhead：名詞指矛頭、槍尖，亦可指先鋒部隊，文中做動詞，指當…的先鋒、打頭陣，如︰The airborne troops spearheaded the crossing of the river.（空降部隊在渡河作戰中擔任先導。）