Eight octopuses in Germany will compete during the upcoming women’s World Cup to determine which is the worthy successor to world-famous tipster Paul, organizers said last Monday.
“We are currently conducting different skills-training exercises with the octopuses in the hope that at least one of them can forecast as well as Paul,” said Britta Anlauf, spokeswoman for Sea Life Germany.
In order to ensure a level playing field, each of the eight Sea Life centers in Germany, which is host to the June 26-July 17 women’s competition, will have exactly the same equipment.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
At 11am on every day Germany plays, the octopuses will be put through their paces in Berlin, Hanover, Koenigswinter, Konstanz, Munich, Speyer, Timmendorfer Strand and at Paul’s old home in Oberhausen.
The exact format is being kept a secret, but it is likely to be along the same lines of what Paul did during last year’s World Cup, when he was credited with correctly predicting the outcome of all seven of Germany’s matches.
Two boxes were lowered into the salty soothsayer’s tank, each containing a mussel and the flag of the two opposing teams. The box that he yanked open first was deemed his choice to be the winner.
By the end the British-born cephalopod’s performance was being carried live on rolling news channels in Germany. He cost bookmakers a fortune and even correctly predicted Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in the final.
Paul died aged nearly three in October last year, sparking hundreds of messages of condolence from his fan club on social networking Web site Facebook, whose popularity has more than tripled since his death.
(AFP)
主辦單位上週一表示,德國有八隻章魚將於即將到來的女子世足賽期間,一較高下,以決定哪一隻最適合繼承舉世聞名神算保羅的衣缽。
德國奧伯豪森海生水族館發言人布莉塔‧安勞芙說,「我們正對這些章魚進行不同技巧培訓演練,希望至少有一隻能有像保羅一樣的預測能力。」
為了確保遊戲公平,在德國主辦自六月二十六日到七月十七日期間的女子賽事,其八個海生水族館的每一館,將會備有完全相同的設備。
只要有德國隊出賽,在當天上午十一點,這些章魚將會在柏林、漢諾威、科尼斯溫特、康士坦茨、慕尼黑、施派爾、德國蒂門多佛海灘與保羅的老家奧伯豪森,接受考驗。
確切的比賽模式仍是個秘密,但這可能與保羅去年在世界盃的模式雷同。保羅就是在當時因為命中德國全部七場的勝負,而備受讚揚。
兩個箱子被放進鹽水的占卜槽內,每個盒子內都個別裝有淡菜與比賽兩國的國旗。牠猛拽打開的第一個盒子就被視作牠認為的勝出者。
到最後,這隻英國出生頭足動物的表現,在德國以現場實況循環播出。牠讓簽賭人士花大錢,甚至正確預測西班牙在總決賽贏荷蘭,得到最後的勝利。
去年十月,保羅安詳地在睡夢中去世,享年近三歲。隨著死訊傳開,牠的臉書湧入上百篇粉絲悼念留言,人氣上升三倍。
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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