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Pooch in peril flees home 「麻煩」遠離家園

Leona Helmsley and her dog Trouble photographed in Leona Helmsley's Park Lane Hotel apartment, New York, Jan. 31, 2003. 二ＯＯ三年一月三十一日，里歐娜．赫姆斯利和她的愛犬麻煩攝於里歐娜．赫姆斯利的紐約柏寧酒店公寓中。 照片：美聯社 PHOTO: AP

A pampered pooch who inherited US$12 million (NT$387.6 million) from a late US hotel magnate earlier this year has fled to Florida under an assumed name after receiving death threats, a report said last week.

Trouble, a white Maltese who belonged to billionaire Leona Helmsley until her death in August, was flown by private jet under tight security two months ago after receiving around 20 such threats, the New York Post reported.

It said the rich bitch was now living at an undisclosed location in Florida, a favorite with retirees escaping the winter, without naming its sources.

The paper did not say who was suspected of being behind the threats, but Trouble is said to have earned countless enemies due to a penchant for biting.

John Codey, who is in charge of the pampered pooch's trust fund , told US television network CBS last week that there had been threats to kidnap the dog.

He added that the cost of Trouble's round-the-clock security detail, medical care, chef-cooked meals and grooming were an estimated US$300,000 (NT$9.7 million) a year. The dog was previously living at a 28-room estate in Connecticut.

When Trouble dies, any remaining money from her trust will go to the charitable foundations that inherited the lion's share of Helmsley's estimated four-billion-dollar estate.

Helmsley, dubbed the "Queen of Mean" by the tabloid press, cut two grandchildren out of her will while leaving five million to two others on the proviso that they visit their late father's grave at least once a year.

Helmsley's will also stipulates that when Trouble dies she is to be buried beside her and her late husband Harry, who died in 1997. (AFP)

才去世不久的美國旅館女大亨留下了一千兩百萬美元（新台幣三億八千七百六十萬元）的遺產給她的愛犬，在多起死亡恐嚇下，這隻小狗目前已被化名送到佛羅里達。

《紐約郵報》報導指出，「麻煩」是一隻白色的馬爾濟斯母狗，她的前主人是在八月過世的億萬富翁里歐娜．赫姆斯利。在接到二十幾則類似的恐嚇後，麻煩已於兩個月前在嚴密的保全下搭私人噴射機離開。

沒有透露消息來源的報導指出，這隻富有的狗狗現在住在退休者最喜歡的避寒勝地佛羅里達一個未公開的藏身處。

報導中並沒有指出威脅要綁架麻煩的人是誰，但麻煩向來因有愛咬人的習慣而樹敵無數。

約翰．柯迪負責管理這隻狗的信託基金，他上週在美國全國電視網CBS發言指出，有人威脅要綁架麻煩勒贖。

他也說，麻煩每年花在保全戒護、醫療照顧、主廚級菜色和梳妝打扮上的金額將近三十萬美元（新台幣九百七十萬元），她之前住在康乃迪克州一個有二十八個房間的別墅。

麻煩死後，所有留下的信託基金都會捐回給已分到大部分赫姆斯利約四十億遺產的慈善基金會。

赫姆斯利被八卦媒體封為「吝嗇女王」，遺囑中隻字不提她的兩個孫子，另外兩個則分到五百萬，但條件是要他們至少每年一次到他們過世的父親墓前祭拜。

赫姆斯利的遺囑中也提到，麻煩死後要葬在她和她已故的丈夫哈利墓旁，哈利於一九九七年辭世。（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 1. magnate n. 商業鉅子 (shang1 ye4 ju4 zi5) 例: Sarah's aunt was a building magnate. (莎拉的阿姨是建築界的一號人物。) 2.penchant n. 強烈傾向 (qiang2 lie4 qing1 xiang4) 例: Nicky has a penchant for younger men. (尼奇對年輕男性有強烈傾向。) 3. trust fund n. phr. 信託基金 (xin4 tuo1 ji1 jin1) 例: Harry was distressed to learn he might not gain access to his trust fund until his thirtieth birthday. (哈利得知他在三十歲生日前都不能使用他的信託基金後十分痛苦。) 4. stipulate v.t. 規定 (gui1 ding4) 例: The contract stipulates two week's notice. (合約中規定要兩週通知期。)

SAY WHAT? 說說看 lion's share 最大的那份 The lion's share means the larger part of something. For example: "I did help build the set, but Chris did the lion's share of the work." The expression comes from Aesop's Fables. In one of the fables the lion is hunting with the fox, the jackal and the wolf. They capture a stag and the lion asks them to quarter it. They do so and the lion announces that the first quarter is his, as he is king of the beasts. The second is his as arbiter, and the third is his for his part in the chase. As for the last quarter, who dares lay a paw on it? The lion therefore can take as much as he wants. 「The lion's share」表示某物的最大份，例如：「我有幫忙搭建舞台，可是克里斯做了最多的工作」。 這個說法來自伊索寓言，在寓言中獅子、狐狸、胡狼和野狼一同去狩獵，他們捕到一隻雄鹿，獅子吩咐把鹿分成四份，分好後，獅子說他是萬獸之王，所以第一份理應屬他，因為他是仲裁者所以第二份也應歸他，因為他有出力追捕所以第三份也是他的。至於最後一份，誰敢伸手去取？因此獅子要多少就多少。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Dan : I've met this girl. She's really cool. Kate : Where does she live? Dan : In Tasmania. Kate : Isn't that a little far away from Taiwan? Dan : Distance doesn't matter when you're in love! Kate : Erm, Dan, how long have you known her? I think you might be jumping the gun a little bit! 丹 ：我遇到一個女孩，她實在是很酷。 凱特 ：她住哪？ 丹 ：在澳洲東南方的塔斯梅尼亞島。 凱特 ：那應該離台灣很遠吧？ 丹 ：戀愛的時候距離根本不是問題。 凱特 ：呃…丹，你們認識多久啦？我想你可能有點過於心急了。 jumping the gun　過於心急 If someone jumps the gun then he or she rushes into something way too quickly. The expression comes from false starts in races, when people start before the gun sounds. 形容某人「jumps the gun」表示他或她太過急於做某事，這個說法本來是用在賽跑中，形容還沒有聽到槍聲就偷跑的人。

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