’Chief mouser’ Palmerston retires as UK’s top diplomatic cat

 ’Chief mouser’ Palmerston retires as UK’s top diplomatic cat

「首席捕鼠官」帕默斯頓從英國第一外交貓的工作中退休

【摘要2020.8.25.自由】◎黃靖媗

Palmerston, the chief mouser at the U.K. Foreign Office, has decided to leave sorting out international affairs to the human diplomats and retire to the countryside after four long, hard years on the job.

英國外交部首席捕鼠大臣帕默斯頓，已經決定將處理國際事務的工作交給人類外交官，在辛苦工作4年之久後，退休返歸鄉間。

Palmerston made it official in a letter sent in his name to Simon McDonald, the U.K. Foreign Office’s permanent under-secretary, which explained that he wanted more time "away from the limelight."

帕默斯頓在以牠的名字送給英國外交部常務次長麥克唐納的信件中，正式宣布這個消息，（信件中）也解釋牠想要更多「遠離大眾關注」的時間。

Palmerston, who is named after the longest-serving British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, arrived in April 2016 as a rescue cat.

帕默斯頓以在職最久的英國外交大臣帕默斯頓子爵的名字命名，在2016年4月進駐（外交大臣辦公室）。

Jon Benjamin, director of the department’s Diplomatic Academy, wished him a very happy retirement. "He left us a slightly chewed dead mouse next to my desk" Benjamin tweeted.

英國外交部「外交學院」主任班傑明祝牠有個非常愉快的退休生活。「牠曾經在我的書桌旁留下一隻稍微被咀嚼過的死老鼠」，班傑明推文表示。

新聞辭典

affair：名詞，事務。例句：You don’t have to meddle in my affair.（你沒必要干預我的事情。）

name after：片語，以⋯的名字命名。例句：The museum is named after my father. （這間博物館是以我父親的名字命名。）

slightly：副詞，少量地、稍微地。例句：She is slightly unhappy because you broke her notebook.（她有點不開心，因為你弄壞了她的筆電。）