A few clippings of hair apparently taken from Napoleon Bonaparte on his deathbed have been found in Sydney’s Town Hall after the 130-year-old building cleaned out its vaults.
The tiny swatch of light-brown hairs had for years been stored in the archives of the imposing sandstone building along with a letter but nobody knows when, why or how they were received.
Margaret Betteridge, who has curated an exhibition of the curios uncovered in the building, said she could not be sure the hair belonged to the deposed French emperor but that the accompanying letter made a good case.
In it, a Scotsman named Ned Todd explains that he was given the hair by a woman whose brother, a Major William Crockat, had been present at Napoleon’s death.
“If I mistake not she said that her brother (Major Crockat) had himself cut the lock from the head of the illustrious dead,” he wrote.
Betteridge said it was known that Napoleon’s hair was cut after his death and that Crockat appeared in a painting depicting the death scene.
More mysterious is how the hair ended up in Sydney, more than 13,000km from where he died in St. Helena in 1821 at the age of 51.
“We don’t know how it got here,” Betteridge told AFP. “But it doesn’t look like it is the sort of thing that someone would fake.”
Betteridge said two years of renovations to improve the town hall had uncovered scores of strange objects stored in underground vaults.(AFP)
擁有一百三十年歷史的雪梨市政廳在清理地下室後，發現了拿破崙•波拿巴臨終時被人剪下的幾綹頭髮。
多年來，這一小撮淺棕色頭髮和一封信一起藏在這棟雄偉的沙岩建築內，沒人知道它們何時、為何、怎麼出現在這裡。
市政廳珍品展策展者瑪格麗特•貝特里奇表示，她不確定這些髮絲是否屬於這位遭罷黜的法國君王，但伴隨的信函提供了證據。
蘇格蘭男子陶德在信中表示，拿破崙臨終時威廉•克羅科特少校隨侍在側，就是他的妹妹將這些髮絲轉贈給他。
他寫道：「如果我沒記錯的話，她說她哥哥（克羅科特少校）親手從去世的拿破崙頭上剪了一撮頭髮。」
貝特里奇表示，大家知道的是，拿破崙去世後被人剪下頭髮，還有克羅科特出現在一幅描繪拿破崙臨終場景的畫作上。
拿破崙一八二一年死於聖赫勒那島，享年五十一歲。但更令人不解的是，這撮髮絲究竟是如何跨越一萬三千多公里來到雪梨？
貝特里奇向法新社表示：「我們不知道它怎麼到這裡的，但這不像有人造假。」貝特里奇說，市政廳進行翻修工程這兩年，在地下室裡發現了許多奇奇怪怪的物品。（法新社╱翻譯：林倩如）
Have you ever felt a sudden pang of discomfort after handing over cash? That sensation is known as the pain of paying, the emotional sting that __1__ when money leaves your hands. Neuroscientific studies suggest that this pain activates the insula, an area in the brain associated with physical pain and negative emotions. This pain comes about because making a purchase forces people to __2__ the loss of financial resources, making the act of buying feel like a sacrifice. The pain intensifies under certain conditions. The more __3__ people are of the payment—its timing, amount, and method—the stronger the
It often starts with a text message asking if you are available on weekends, looking for a part-time job or you get a simple “hello” from an unknown number. Halfway across the world, a laborer is usually pulling in 12-16 hour days, sending non-stop messages, hoping someone will take the bait. The ultimate goal is always to take your money — victims have lost tens of billions to scams and hundreds of thousands of people are in forced labor to keep the schemes going. These workers are often housed in massive complexes scattered across Southeast Asia, where the industry has flourished. Here
Small talk is a lighthearted form of communication meant to facilitate interaction between strangers. These brief exchanges often serve as a gateway to a more significant conversation. Frequent topics include the weather, sports, and the latest TV shows. However, many people are __1__ small talk, and the thought of having to engage in it fills them with anxiety over how to respond. While it may seem a waste of time to some, there are benefits to participating in this social ritual. Research has shown that friendly exchanges with strangers can __2__ and decrease feelings of isolation. This is especially
1. 她把畫掛在書房牆上。 ˇ She hung the picture on her study wall. χ She hanged the picture on her study wall. 註：hanged 是 hang（吊死，絞死）的過去式。hang 作「掛」解時過去式是 hung，過去分詞也是 hung。 2. 他失去平衡，跌倒在地。 ˇ He lost his balance and fell down. χ He lost his balance and felled down. 註：felled 是動詞 fell 的過去式，作「砍倒」解，是及物動詞。這裡作「跌倒」解是 fall，過去式是 fell，過去分詞是 fallen。 3. 我剛才把照相機放在桌上。 ˇ I laid the camera on the table a moment ago. χ I lay the camera on the table a moment ago. 註：從句義可以看出動詞須用過去式「將…放、置」，動詞現在式是 lay，過去式和過去分詞都是 laid：lay, laid, laid；但 lay 也是 lie 的過去式，作「躺」解：lie, lay, lain，是不及物動詞。 注意：兩個形同義不同的 lay，不要用錯。 4. 他去過韓國。 ˇ He has been to Korea. ˇ He visited Korea some time ago. χ He has gone to Korea. 註：He has gone to Korea. 是「他已經到韓國去了」，指目前人已在韓國或在赴韓國的途中。表示「過去曾去過某處」，應用 have/has been，或用動詞的過去式和表示過去時間的副詞來表達。 5.
RSS