VOA慢速英语2011--Two of Santa's Reindeer Flee in Texas (Really)

Agriculture Report - Two of Santa's Reindeer¹ Flee in Texas (Really)

农业报道 - 圣诞老人两只驯鹿在德州逃跑了（这是真的哦）

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Two of Santa's reindeer -- Comet² and Dancer -- got loose on a busy roadway in Texas just days before Christmas. Think we're joking? It happened halfway³ between Houston and Galveston. Reporter Deborah Wrigley from TV station KTRK picks up the story about the two runaway⁴ reindeer and their owner.

圣诞节前几天，圣诞老人的两只驯鹿Comet和Dancer在德州一条繁忙的公路上松脱了。你当我开玩笑？这件事发生在休斯敦和加尔维斯顿的半道上。KTRK电视台记者黛博拉·瑞格蕾（Deborah Wrigley）报道了这个有关两只逃跑驯鹿及驯鹿主人的故事。

DEBORAH WRIGLEY: "His name is Joe Moorman. But his occupation is Santa Claus, from the beard to the reindeer, five tiny ones."

瑞格蕾：“他的名字叫乔·穆尔曼（Joe Moorman），职业是圣诞老人，从白胡子到驯鹿，他有5只小驯鹿。”

JOE MOORMAN: "This is Prancer⁵, that is Blitzen and that is Donder."

穆尔曼：“这只驯鹿叫Prancer，那只叫Blitzen，而那只叫Donder。”

Joe Moorman is a professional Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas or Saint⁶ Nicholas or Kris Kringle. But unlike many other Santas, this one really does travel in a sleigh pulled by reindeer -- except when he has to transport them.

穆尔曼是一位专业的圣诞老人，圣诞老人也被称为Father Christmas、Saint Nicholas或Kris Kringle。但和其他圣诞老人不同，穆尔曼真的坐着驯鹿拉的雪橇，除了他要运输驯鹿的时候。

Last Wednesday the back door of the trailer opened as he was driving them to an elementary school. Comet and Dancer escaped onto Interstate-45 -- not exactly the North Pole. Another driver alerted⁷ Santa.

上周三，当他开车运送这些驯鹿去一所小学时，拖车的后门开了。Comet和Dancer跑到了45号洲际公路上--这里可不是北极。另一名司机提醒了圣诞老人。

JOE MOORMAN: "Someone pulled up beside us, actually, and blew the horn and did all, and blew the horn and all that stuff. Well, my heart did not do too well."

穆尔曼：“一些人把车停到我们附近，按响了喇叭等等。我心脏都受不了。”

The morning traffic was heavy but slow with people on their way to work. Drivers called the police, who thought they were joking. Yes, there really were reindeer in the road. Then, says reporter Deborah Wrigley, Santa found that he had some helpers.

上午交通繁忙，人们上班的路上行驶缓慢。司机打电话报警，警察以为他们是开玩笑。真的，路上有真的驯鹿。记者瑞格蕾表示，然后圣诞老人发现他有了一些帮手。

DEBORAH WRIGLEY: "People stopped traffic, got out of their cars."

瑞格蕾：“人们停下来，走出了他们的汽车。”

One woman took off her shoes and ran after the reindeer. A man followed. But the reindeer themselves were the ones who ended the chase. They found a park and stopped to eat. Joe Moorman says he was more shaken than they were. Santa and his reindeer were able to visit the schoolchildren as promised.

一名女子脱下鞋子追着驯鹿，一名男子紧随其后。但驯鹿自己结束了这场追逐。他们发现了一个公园，于是停下来吃草。穆尔曼说，他比其他人更为震动。圣诞老人和他的驯鹿终于能够如期探访学童。

JOE MOORMAN: "God was with the reindeer, you know. And he takes care of fools and things that cannot take care of themselves."

穆尔曼：“你知道，上帝与驯鹿同在，他在照顾这些不能照顾自己的傻瓜。”

The Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association says reindeer are easy to train to pull a cart or sleigh. Greg Finstad at the University of Alaska Fairbanks says reindeer "like people and are pleasant to have around." He says reindeer management is not very difficult. That's good, since he also says -- and children might want to cover their ears for this part -- reindeer is a basic meat in the cold climate of Alaska.

驯鹿业主和饲养人协会表示，训练驯鹿拉车或雪橇很容易。阿拉斯加费尔班克斯大学的格雷格·费斯达德（Greg Finstad）说，驯鹿喜欢人，喜欢与人相处。他说，驯鹿管理并不太难。太好了，因为他也说，儿童可能要捂住耳朵不要听这部分内容，驯鹿是阿拉斯加这种寒冷气候下的基本肉类。

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. You can watch Deborah Wrigley's story about Comet and Dancer at voanews.cn. Of course, had Rudolph been there, he could have stood as a traffic light.

(MUSIC: "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer"/Gene Autry)

I’m Bob Doughty⁸.

1 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。

2 comet   

n.慧星

参考例句：

• Recently they have discovered a comet.最近他们发现了一颗彗星。
• Halley's Comet is going to come back in 2061.哈雷彗星将于2061年回归。

3 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

5 prancer   

腾跃前进的人[马]

参考例句：

6 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

7 alerted   

v.使（某人）保持警觉( alert的过去式和过去分词 )；使意识到；提醒（某人）注意（某事）；使（部队）处于待命状态

参考例句：

• The coastguard was alerted. 海岸警卫队已接到报警。
• The boss alerted him that thief might come out at night. 老板要他提防夜里可能有贼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。