Thu, Sep 18, 2008 page15

• Postman hoards thousands of letters in Germany 德國偷懶郵差私藏信件

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  A young Scotsman working as a postal carrier in Frankfurt failed to deliver the mail for over a year and hoarded or disposed of at least 20,000 letters, police said.

  The 23-year-old employee of a private postal firm told authorities he was overworked and opted to collect the envelopes in his apartment or throw them away rather than bring them to their addressees, authorities said in a statement.

  He was caught when a neighbor in Frankfurt saw him dumping stamped envelopes, catalogs, circulars and packages into a garbage container.

  

  A postal worker is seen in Frankfurt, central Germany, on April 22, 2008  四月二十二日，德國中部法蘭克福市的一位郵務人員。照片：美聯社

  PHOTO: AP

  The woman grew suspicious because she had seen the Scot do the same thing with dozens of letters before and noticed overflowing mailbags in the basement of their apartment building. She alerted the police and the firm that employed the man.

  A search turned up post in his wardrobe, under his mattress and in other nooks and crannies of his flat.

  He then led police to the storage cellar where they found more sacks and boxes full of parcels and envelopes addressed to recipients including law offices, hospitals, tax authorities and private citizens.

  Police estimated that at least 20,000 letters entrusted to the man had not reached their intended recipients, including a few letters addressed to the Scot himself.

  “The 23-year-old had not opened any of the letters but simply stored them so he would not have to deliver them,” the statement said.

  “The young man stated that he was attending night school to earn his high school diploma and found it too overwhelming to carry the mail on top of that.”

  He now faces possible charges of theft and misappropriation of mail.(AFP)

  德國警方表示，一名在法蘭克福擔任郵差的蘇格蘭青年，過去一年都不曾遞送過郵件，至少有兩萬封信件被他私藏或丟棄。

  警方在一項聲明中表示，這位任職於一家私人郵遞公司的二十三歲雇員向警方表示，他的工作太繁重，因此才會選擇把這些信件堆放在居住的公寓或丟棄，沒有遞送到收件人手中。

  某天住在法蘭克福的他把貼有郵票的信函、商品型錄、廣告傳單和包裹等郵件丟進垃圾桶時，正好被鄰居撞見。

  這位女士起了疑心，因為她以前也看過他丟棄許多信件，還在他們住的公寓地下室見到許多裝滿郵件的郵袋。於是她報了警，並通知這家郵遞公司。

  搜查後發現，他的衣櫥裡、床墊下面，以及公寓其他隱匿的角落都藏有郵件。

  接著他帶警方到儲藏地下室，他們在那裡發現更多裝滿小包裹和信函的麻布袋和箱子，這些郵件的收件人包括法律事務所、醫院、稅捐機關和一般民眾。

  警方估計，這名男子至少隱匿了兩萬封信件沒有交到收件者的手中，其中還包括幾封寄給他本人的信件。

  聲明中指出：「這位二十三歲的男子沒有拆封任何信件，只是把它們藏起來，這樣他就不必一一投遞。」

  「這位年輕人聲稱他正在夜校就讀，打算取得中學畢業證書。但他發現，要同時兼顧學業和工作實在讓他不堪負荷。」

  現在，他可能面臨竊盜罪及侵吞郵件罪的指控。

  （法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）

  For your information

  TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

  1. hoard v.i./v.t. 貯藏 (zhu1 cang1) 例: Squirrels often hoard food for the winter. (松鼠常會貯藏食物過冬。) 2. Scot n. 蘇格蘭人 (su1 ge2 lan2 ren2) 例: Although many people think he's English, Robert is a proud Scot. (雖然很多人都以為羅柏是英國人，但他其實是個自豪的蘇格蘭人。) 3. recipient n. 收件者 (shou1 jian4 zhe3) 例: Thomas replied to all the recipients of the email. (湯馬士回信給這封電子郵件的所有收件者。) 4. overwhelming adj. 勢不可擋的 (shi4 bu4 ke2 dang3 de5) 例: At exam time, the amount of work can be overwhelming for some students. (考試期間，這種課業量對某些學生來說可能過重。)

  For your information

  SAY WHAT? 說說看

  nooks and crannies 隱蔽的角落 Nooks and crannies is an idiom to refer to small and difficult-to-notice places. In the article, the mailman stored the mail in nooks and crannies of his house, such as behind the sofa or under the stairs. Examples: “I cleaned the entire house today, including every nook and cranny,” or “When the boiler exploded, water got into every nook and cranny.” 「nooks and crannies」這個慣用語意指不容易被注意到的小地方。文章中，郵差把信件藏在他房子中的「nooks and crannies」，好比沙發後，或樓梯底下。 例如：「我今天把屋子整個打掃了一遍，每一個角落都不放過」，或是「那個燒水壺爆炸時，水噴得到處都是」。

  For your information

  OUT LOUD 對話練習

  Logan: I’ve got a job as a mail carrier for the summer vacation. I’m looking forward to getting lots of exercise, but I’m not too keen on all those early mornings. Isaac: Hey, I know a good joke about mail carriers. Logan: Oh yeah, what is it? Isaac: What’s the worst job in the world? A mail carrier, because he gets the sack every day! Logan: That’s terrible. 羅根：我找到一份遞送郵件的暑期工作。我期待能夠多多運動，可是我不太想要早起。 以薩克：嘿，我知道一個關於郵差的笑話。 羅根：是嗎？是什麼？ 以薩克：世界上最糟的工作是什麼？郵差，因為他每天都揹著麻布袋！（雙關語：被開除。） 羅根：好冷。   get the sack　被開除 Get the sack means get fired from a job. For example: “Jake’s girlfriend has had three jobs in six months. She always gets the sack for turning up late.” 「get the sack」就是被老闆開除的意思。例如：「傑克的女友半年內換了三個工作，她老是因為遲到被開除」。
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