Elishia Stevenson wanted an apology when she was bitten by a swan. So she wrote to Queen Elizabeth II.
Elishia is a six-year-old girl from Cornwall, in southwestern England. She wrote to Buckingham Palace because her mother told her the queen owns all the swans in Britain. She decorated her letter with flowers and a picture of a swan with a sad face.
A lady-in-waiting responded, saying the queen was "sorry to hear about the swan."
PHOTO: AFP
The queen doesn't own every swan in Britain. But she does own certain mute swans in the Thames. This tradition goes back to the 12th century, when roast swan was considered a delicious dish. It continues today with the annual "Swan Upping," a census of swans on the Thames.
David Pogson, a Buckingham Palace spokesman, said the idea that the queen owns all the swans is a myth. (AP)
被天鵝咬了的艾莉夏.史蒂文森想要一個正式的道歉,所以她提筆寫信給英國女王伊麗莎白二世。
六歲的艾莉夏來自英格蘭西南部的康威爾,因為她母親說全英國的天鵝都是屬於女王的,所以她就寫信到白金漢宮,她用小花裝飾這封信,還附上一張表情憂鬱的天鵝照片。
女王的女仕臣回信說,女王「對天鵝咬傷人一事感到遺憾」。
事實上,英女王並未擁有全英國的天鵝,但是她的確擁有泰晤士河上一些疣鼻天鵝。這個傳統要追溯到十二世紀,當時人們很喜歡吃烤天鵝,所以女王會普查泰晤士河上的天鵝數量,一直到今天,每年仍會舉辦「數天鵝」活動。
白金漢宮發言人大衛.波格森說,以為女王擁有全英國的天鵝是一種迷思。
(美聯社/翻譯:袁星塵)
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