Boomerangs really do come back - even after 25 years. Officials in an Australian outback town were surprised when a boomerang -- an angled throwing stick traditionally used by Aborigines as a hunting weapon - arrived in the post.
Along with it was a note from a guilt-ridden American who said he stole it years earlier from a museum in the mining town of Mount Isa and now felt rotten about it.
"I removed this back in 1983 when I was younger and dumber," said the note, according to Mount Isa Mayor Ron McCullough. "It was the wrong thing to do, I'm sorry, and I'm going to send it back."
PHOTO: AFP
The boomerang was stolen from the now-closed Frank Aston Underground Museum, which once displayed old mining equipment and Aboriginal artifacts.
McCullough named the contrite thief as Peter from Vermont, but said it would be unfair to release his full identity.
McCullough said the parcel was sent to the location of the old museum, now a paper manufacturing plant and community center, and was then handed to the Mount Isa council. He said the parcel included a donation check, but declined to reveal the amount.
McCullough said the boomerang would be returned to its rightful owner, if he could be found.
Boomerangs come in returning and non-returning varieties. A typical returning boomerang, when thrown properly, can travel between 25 to 50m in the air before returning to the thrower.(AP)
回力標真的會折返──即使是事隔二十五年後。
澳洲內陸一個小鎮的官員在郵件中發現一支回力標時大吃一驚。回力標是一種有角度的丟擲棒，是原住民的傳統狩獵武器。
郵件中附有一張紙條，紙條是一個滿懷罪惡感的美國人寫的，他說他幾年前從礦城伊薩山的博物館偷了這支回力標，現在他滿心懊悔。
據伊薩山市長榮恩．麥庫洛說，紙條上寫著：「我在一九八三年偷走這支回力標，當時我年少無知，我做錯了，我感到很抱歉，所以我現在將它歸還。」
這支回力標原屬於目前已經關閉的「法蘭克埃斯頓地下博物館」，該博物館展示的文物包括採礦裝備以及原住民手工藝品。
麥庫洛說這個懺悔的竊賊名叫彼得，來自美國佛蒙特州，但是公佈他的全名就不太恰當了。
麥庫洛說這件包裹被送到博物館舊址，現在那裡已改為造紙廠和社區活動中心，所以包裹又被轉交到伊薩山議會。他說包裹中包含一張捐款支票，但他拒絕透露金額。
麥庫洛表示，若能聯絡到合法的所有者，這支回力標可望物歸原主。
回力標分為會折返和不會折返兩種，若正確使用典型的折返回力標的話，它在回到丟擲者手中前，能在空中飛行二十五到五十公尺。
（美聯社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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