生成中...【新闻趣读】丘吉尔的"鸭嘴兽外交"翻车真相大揭秘！1943年，澳大利亚为讨好英国，偷偷摸摸运了只名叫"温斯顿"的鸭嘴兽给首相大人。结果这小可怜还没见到伦敦的雾，就先在船上领了盒饭。80年来官方一直甩锅给德国潜艇，说是被深水炸弹吓死的。直到最近，悉尼大学的学霸们翻出航海日志发现：哪有什么U型潜艇，根本是船员们把人家活活"蒸"死了——赤道高温让水温直逼27℃红线，这不就是给鸭嘴兽煮温泉嘛！（友情提示：本故事告诉我们，给领导送宠物前请先查好饲养手册）
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The mystery of Winston Churchill's dead platypus was unsolved - until now
丘吉尔鸭嘴兽死亡之谜悬案告破
1 day ago Share Save Tiffanie Turnbull BBC News, Sydney Share Save
1天前 分享 保存 BBC悉尼记者蒂芙妮·特恩布尔 分享 保存
Australian Museum Before koalas became Australia's animal ambassadors, the country tried platypus diplomacy
澳大利亚博物馆 在考拉成为国礼前 澳洲曾尝试"鸭嘴兽外交"
In 1943, a camouflaged ship set off from Australia to England carrying top secret cargo - a single young platypus. Named after his would-be owner, UK prime minister Winston Churchill, the rare monotreme was an unprecedented gift from a country desperately trying to curry favour as World War Two expanded into the Pacific and arrived on its doorstep. But days out from Winston's arrival, as war raged in the seas around him, the puggle was found dead in the water of his specially made"platypusary". Fearing a potential diplomatic incident, Winston's death – along with his very existence – was swept under the rug. He was preserved, stuffed and quietly shelved inside his name-sake's office, with rumours that he died of Nazi-submarine-induced shell-shock gently whispered into the ether. The mystery of who, or what, really killed him has eluded the world since - until now.
1943年，一艘伪装船只载着绝密货物——一只年幼鸭嘴兽从澳洲驶向英国。这只以未来主人丘吉尔首相命名的稀有单孔目动物，是二战战火烧到太平洋时澳洲为讨好英国送出的空前大礼。但在即将抵达前，这只幼兽被发现在特制"鸭嘴兽舱"中溺亡。因担心外交风波，它的存在与死亡都被掩盖。其标本被悄悄存放在丘吉尔办公室，死亡原因被谣传为纳粹潜艇惊吓致死。真相直到现在才水落石出。
Two Winstons and a war
两位温斯顿与一场战争
The world has always been fascinated by the platypus. An egg-laying mammal with the face and feet of a duck, an otter-shaped body and a beaver-inspired tail, many thought the creature was an elaborate hoax; a taxidermy trick. For Churchill, an avid collector of rare and exotic animals, the platypus's intrigue only made him more desperate to have one – or six – for his menagerie. And in 1943 he said as much to the Australian foreign minister, H.V. 'Doc' Evatt. In the eyes of Evatt, the fact that his country had banned the export of the creatures - or that they were notoriously difficult to transport and none had ever survived a journey that long - were merely challenges to overcome. Australia had increasingly felt abandoned by the motherland as the Japanese drew closer and closer – and if a posse of platypuses would help Churchill respond more favourably to Canberra's requests for support, then so be it. Conservationist David Fleay – who was asked to help with the mission – was less amenable."Imagine any man carrying the responsibilities Churchill did, with humanity on the rack in Europe and Asia, finding time to even think about, let alone want, half-a-dozen duckbilled platypuses," he wrote in his 1980 book Paradoxical Platypus.
鸭嘴兽长久以来令世人着迷。这种长着鸭嘴鸭蹼、水獭身躯和海狸尾巴的卵生哺乳动物，曾被怀疑是标本师的恶作剧。对热衷收集珍奇动物的丘吉尔而言，这种神秘感让他更渴望拥有——最好能凑半打。1943年他向澳洲外长伊瓦特提出请求。在外长看来，尽管本国禁止出口鸭嘴兽且运输存活率极低，这些都不是问题。随着日军逼近，澳洲深感被母国抛弃——若鸭嘴兽能让丘吉尔更支持澳洲，何乐不为？但受邀协助的环保人士弗莱并不买账："试想肩负欧亚战事的丘吉尔，怎会有空惦记六只鸭嘴兽？"他在1980年著作中如此写道。
Getty Images Among Churchill's animals were lions, a leopard, and a flock of black swans
盖蒂图片社 丘吉尔曾饲养狮子、豹子和黑天鹅等动物
On Mr Fleay's account, he managed to talk the politicians down from six platypuses to one, and young Winston was captured from a river near Melbourne shortly after. An elaborate platypusary – complete with hay-lined burrows and fresh Australian creek water – was constructed for him; a menu of 50,000 worms – and duck egg custard as a treat – was prepared; and an attendant was hired to wait on his every need throughout the 45-day voyage. Across the Pacific, through Panama Canal and into the Atlantic Ocean Winston went - before tragedy struck. In a letter to Evatt, Churchill said he was"grieved" to report that the platypus"kindly" sent to him had died in the final stretch of the journey."Its loss is a great disappointment to me," he said. The mission's failure was kept secret for years, to avoid any public outcry. But eventually, reports about Winston's demise would begin popping up in newspapers. The ship had encountered a German U-boat, they claimed, and the platypus had been shaken to death amid a barrage of blasts.
据弗莱所述，他说服政客将数量从六只减至一只，随后在墨尔本附近河流捕获了年幼的温斯顿。船上搭建了铺干草洞穴与澳洲溪水的特制舱室，备足5万条虫和鸭蛋羹作为点心，还专门雇佣饲养员照料45天航程。当温斯顿穿越太平洋、巴拿马运河进入大西洋后，悲剧发生了。丘吉尔在致伊瓦特信中沉痛表示鸭嘴兽在最后航程死亡，称"对此深感失望"。此事被隐瞒多年，直到后来报纸开始报道温斯顿之死，声称船只遭遇德国U型潜艇，鸭嘴兽在爆炸冲击中惊厥身亡。
Australian Museum David Fleay is known as the"Father of Conservation" in Australia
澳大利亚博物馆 弗莱被誉为澳洲"环保之父"
"A small animal equipped with a nerve-packed, super sensitive bill, able to detect even the delicate movements of a mosquito wriggler on stream bottoms in the dark of night, cannot hope to cope with man-made enormities such as violent explosions," Mr Fleay wrote, decades later."It was so obvious that, but for the misfortunes of war, a fine, thriving, healthy little platypus would have created history in being number one of its kind to take up residence in England."
弗莱几十年后写道："这种长着布满神经的敏感喙部、能在黑夜感知溪底蚊幼虫动静的小动物，如何承受爆炸冲击？若非战争，这只健康鸭嘴兽本可成为登陆英国的首例而载入史册。"
Mystery unravelled
真相大白
"It is a tempting story, isn't it?" PhD student Harrison Croft tells the BBC. But it's one that has long raised suspicions. And so last year, Mr Croft embarked on his own journey: a search for truth. Accessing archives in both Canberra and London, the Monash University student found a bunch of records from the ship's crew, including an interview with the platypus attendant charged with keeping Winston alive."They did a sort of post-mortem, and he was very particular. He was very certain that there was no explosion, that it was all very calm and quiet on board," Mr Croft says.
"潜艇说很诱人，不是吗？"博士生克罗夫特告诉BBC。但这个说法长期受质疑。去年他查阅堪培拉和伦敦档案，找到船员记录和饲养员访谈："他们做了类似尸检，饲养员非常肯定没有爆炸，船上一直很平静。"
Renee Nowytarger/University of Sydney Records about Winston's life have ended up in museum collections in Australia and the UK
悉尼大学 关于温斯顿的记录现存于澳英两国的博物馆
A state away, another team in Sydney was looking into Winston's life too. David Fleay's personal collection had been donated to the Australian Museum, and staff all over the building were desperate to know if it held answers."You'd ride in the lifts and some doctor from mammalogy… [would ask] 'what archival evidence is there that Winston died from depth charge detonations?'" the museum's archive manager Robert Dooley tells the BBC."This is something that had intrigued people for a long time." With the help of a team of interns from the University of Sydney, they set about digitising all of Fleay's records in a bid to find out.
悉尼的另一团队也在研究。弗莱的私人藏品捐给博物馆后，工作人员迫切想破解谜团。"电梯里都会有哺乳动物学家问'有档案证明温斯顿死于深水炸弹吗？'"档案管理员杜利说。在悉尼大学实习生帮助下，他们开始数字化弗莱的所有记录。
Renee Nowytarger/University of Sydney Ewan Cowan (second left) and Paul Zaki (second right) were among a team of interns who helped solve the case
悉尼大学 实习生团队协助破解谜团
Even as far back as the 1940s, people knew that platypuses were voracious eaters. Legend of the species' appetite was so great that the UK authorities drafted an announcement offering to pay young boys to catch worms and deliver them to feed Winston upon his arrival. In the platypus attendant's logbook, the interns found evidence that his rations en route were being decreased as some of the worms began to perish. But it was water and air temperatures, which had been noted down at 8am and 6pm every day, that held the key to solving the mystery. These readings were taken at two of the cooler points of the day, and still, as the ship crossed the equator over about a week, the recorded temperatures climbed well beyond 27C - what we now know is the safe threshold for platypus travel. With the benefit of hindsight - and an extra 80 years of scientific research into the species - the University of Sydney team determined Winston was essentially cooked alive. While they can't definitively rule out the submarine shell-shock story, they say the impact of those prolonged high temperatures alone would have been enough to kill Winston.
早在上世纪40年代，人们就知鸭嘴兽食量惊人。英国甚至准备招募孩童为它捉虫。实习生发现饲养日志记载随着虫类死亡，食物配给逐渐减少。但破解谜团的关键在于每日早晚记录的水温和气温——即使在较凉爽时段，船只穿越赤道时温度仍超过27℃安全阈值。悉尼大学团队结合80年研究成果，认定温斯顿实被"活活热死"。虽不能完全排除潜艇说，但持续高温足以致命。
Australian Museum Though temperatures dropped as Winston neared England, the relief came too late to save him
澳大利亚博物馆 虽然接近英国时温度下降 但为时已晚
"It's way easier to just shift the blame on the Germans, rather than say we weren't feeding it enough, or we weren't regulating its temperature correctly," Ewan Cowan tells the BBC."History is totally dependent on who's telling the story," Paul Zaki adds.
"把锅甩给德国人，总比承认没喂饱或控温失败容易。"实习生考恩说。扎基补充："历史取决于讲述者。"
Platypus diplomacy goes extinct
"鸭嘴兽外交"的终结
Not to be dissuaded by its initial attempt at platypus diplomacy, Australia would try again in 1947. High off the achievement of successfully breeding a platypus in captivity for the first time – a feat that wouldn't be replicated for another 50 years – Mr Fleay convinced the Australian government to let the Bronx Zoo have three of the creatures in a bid to deepen ties with the US. Unlike Winston's secret journey across the Pacific, this voyage garnered huge attention. Betty, Penelope and Cecil docked in Boston to much fanfare, before the trio was reportedly escorted via limousine to New York City, where Australia's ambassador was waiting to feed them the ceremonial first worm. Betty would die soon after she arrived, but Penelope and Cecil quickly became celebrities. Crowds clamoured for a glimpse of the animals. A wedding was planned. The tabloids obsessed over their every move.
澳洲并未因首次失败而放弃。1947年，弗莱成功实现鸭嘴兽人工繁殖（该纪录保持50年），说服政府赠送三只给布朗克斯动物园以增进美澳关系。与温斯顿的秘密航行不同，这次旅程备受瞩目。贝蒂、佩内洛普和塞西尔在波士顿盛大登陆，乘豪华轿车前往纽约，由澳大使喂食"第一口虫"。贝蒂不久死亡，但另两只成为明星，引发围观，甚至被策划"结婚"，小报疯狂追踪其动态。
Australian Museum Penelope and Cecil were the original Moo Dengs, Mr Cowan says
澳大利亚博物馆 考恩称佩内洛普和塞西尔是初代"萌神"
