馬克·杜馬斯：我的游泳池里有只北極熊

Author Unknown德孟譯

馬克·杜馬斯：我的游泳池里有只北極熊

Mark Dumas :There’s a Polar Bear in My Pool

Author Unknown德孟譯

整日與一只大型野獸相伴是一種怎樣的體驗？對于馴獸師來說，與猛獸相伴的生活也不一定是提心吊膽、步步驚心的。讓我們來看看不吼則已、一吼驚人的重量級野獸北極熊如何成為馬克 · 杜馬斯的 “最佳萌友”。

Some people dream of swimming with dolphins, while others have nightmares about swimming with sharks. But bear trainer Mark Dumas likes nothing more than to go for dip in a swimming pool where he and a 601)stone predator enjoy a watery cuddle together.

Mark’s unusual best friend is Agee, a full-size adult polar bear who stands at over seven feet when on her hind legs.

And when the wrestling has tired both the animal expert and huge Agee out, they both enjoy a nap together inside Agee’s enclosure and Agee clamp her huge jaws around Mark’s head.

It may seem like bear trainer Mark Dumas is risking his life by living with polar bear Agee, but the two share an incredibly intimate bond. Mark has been in the2)bizarre industry of bear-training for the past 40 years and is an expert at reading Agee’s body language.

有人夢想與海豚同游，也有人做過與鯊共泳的噩夢。但馴熊師馬克·杜馬斯最愛和一只60英石重的食肉動物一起泡在游泳池里，享受在水中依偎的感覺。

馬克與眾不同的摯友艾吉是一只完全長成的雌性成年北極熊，她用后腿站立時超過七英尺高。

當這位動物專家和大塊頭的艾吉在水中嬉鬧較勁得累壞以后，艾吉會用她的巨大爪子環抱著馬克的頭，他們一起在艾吉的圍場里享受午覺。

馴熊師馬克·杜馬斯似乎在拿自己的生命和北極熊艾吉同居，但其實他們的關系親密得令人難以置信。馬克在非同尋常的馴熊業從業已有40年，他對艾吉的身體語言了如指掌。

1) stone [st??n] n. 英石，英國重量單位，等于14磅（6.4公斤）

2) bizarre [b?'zɑ?(r)] adj. 奇異的，異乎尋常的

3) rear [r??(r)] v. 以后腿站立起來

Mark, 60, and wife Dawn, 49, from Abbotsford, British Columbia (BC), Canada, train the polar bear—the world’s largest land predator—to star in high-budget TV adverts. Agee even appeared in movies like Alaska in 1995 when she was just a few weeks old. With their incredibly intimate bond Agee even bear hugs owner Mark as she3)rears up on her hind legs to over seven feet.

“If anyone else tried this they would end up as Agee’s dinner,” said Mark，“The only people in the whole world she likes are me and my wife. I have worked with bears in this way for over 40 years, so I can read Agee’s body language and know how to behave safely around her. But Agee is the boss and it’s her rules that count.”

Mark and Dawn took Agee on when she was just eight weeks old. With links to Hollywood through previous work with animals, Mark was approached by director Fraser Heston—the son of screen legend Charlton—16 years ago. Heston needed a polar bear cub for his forthcoming film Alaska and Mark found Agee—a surplus cub at Kolmarden Zoo, Sweden. Mark and Dawn went through a lengthy application to show they had the facilities to care for her. After being approved they transported the tiny cub—seen here at their old family home in Mission, BC, just after her arrival—to Canada.

“She lived inside our home for the frst few weeks and we hand-reared her,” said Mark, “Eventually a time came when she was so big we had to move her outside into her own enclosure.” Now Agee spends her time living in her new enclosure on rented land near Mark and Dawn’s home in Abbotsford, and on the road working on TV and flm sets.

60歲的馬克及其49歲的妻子唐恩來自加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省（簡稱卑詩省）阿伯茨福德，他們共同馴養這世界上最大的陸地食肉動物——北極熊，使其出演高成本電視廣告。甚至在1995年的《阿拉斯加》這樣的電影里也有艾吉的身影，當年她才幾周大。由于艾吉和主人馬克的親密關系，七英尺多高的艾吉甚至會用后腿直立起來給馬克來個熊抱。……