A Puma at large
逃遁的美洲獅
Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate, for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
美洲獅是一種體形似貓的大動(dòng)物，產(chǎn)于美洲。當(dāng)倫敦動(dòng)物園接到報(bào)告說(shuō)，在倫敦以南45英里處發(fā)現(xiàn)一只美洲獅時(shí)，這些報(bào)告并沒(méi)有受到重視。可是，隨著證據(jù)越來(lái)越多，動(dòng)物園的專家們感到有必要進(jìn)行一番調(diào)查，因?yàn)榉彩锹暦Q見(jiàn)到過(guò)美洲獅的人們所描述的情況竟是出奇地相似。
The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. The search proved difficult, for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. Several people complained of "cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from? As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country, this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
搜尋美洲獅的工作是從一座小村莊開始的。那里的一位婦女在采摘黑莓時(shí)的看見(jiàn)“一只大貓”，離她僅5碼遠(yuǎn)，她剛看見(jiàn)它，它就立刻逃走了。專家證實(shí)，美洲獅非被逼得走投無(wú)路，是決不會(huì)傷人的。事實(shí)上搜尋工作很困難，因?yàn)槌３Ｊ窃绯吭诩椎匕l(fā)現(xiàn)那只美洲獅，晚上卻在20英里外的乙地發(fā)現(xiàn)它的蹤跡。無(wú)論它走哪兒，一路上總會(huì)留下一串死鹿及死兔子之類的小動(dòng)物，在許多地方看見(jiàn)爪印，灌木叢中發(fā)現(xiàn)了粘在上面的美洲獅毛。有人抱怨說(shuō)夜里聽(tīng)見(jiàn)“像貓一樣的叫聲”;一位商人去釣魚，看見(jiàn)那只美洲獅在樹上。專家們?nèi)缃褚呀?jīng)完全肯定那只動(dòng)物就是美洲獅，但它是從哪兒來(lái)的呢?由于全國(guó)動(dòng)物園沒(méi)有一家報(bào)告丟了美洲獅，因此那只美洲獅一定是某位私人收藏豢養(yǎng)的，不知怎么設(shè)法逃出來(lái)了。搜尋工作進(jìn)行了好幾個(gè)星期，但始終未能逮住那只美洲獅。想到在寧?kù)o的鄉(xiāng)村里有一頭危險(xiǎn)的野獸繼續(xù)逍遙流竄，真令人擔(dān)心。
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