我家買了座動(dòng)物園

這是一個(gè)關(guān)于一個(gè)小家庭、一座荒廢的動(dòng)物園和200只野生動(dòng)物的故事；

這是一個(gè)家庭買了一座動(dòng)物園的奇妙經(jīng)歷；

這是一個(gè)不同尋常的真實(shí)故事。

本杰明·梅（Benjamin Mee）一家省吃儉用湊錢購(gòu)買了破敗的英國(guó)達(dá)特穆爾動(dòng)物園，一家人搬進(jìn)了這座破舊的動(dòng)物園，展開了一段全新的冒險(xiǎn)旅程。梅夢(mèng)想著能夠翻新動(dòng)物園，并將其辦成家族企業(yè)。不顧朋友和同事們的嘲笑，本杰明和孩子們以及幾個(gè)忠心耿耿的員工一直辛勤勞動(dòng)，希望能讓動(dòng)物園早日重新開門迎客。然而，沒有什么事能一蹴而就。作為動(dòng)物園管理人員，這個(gè)家庭顯然缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)，而他們需要克服的困難也數(shù)不勝數(shù)……本杰明將如何實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的夢(mèng)想，讓動(dòng)物園重新開張？一家人將如何克服面臨的重重困難？作者本杰明將帶你踏上一次奇妙的歷險(xiǎn)之旅，探索神秘的動(dòng)物王國(guó)，領(lǐng)略這個(gè)讓人驚奇不已的溫情故事。

本杰明·梅曾是報(bào)紙專欄作家，因在英國(guó)《衛(wèi)報(bào)》周末版撰寫幽默專欄“DIY”而聞名遐邇。《我家買了座動(dòng)物園》是本杰明就自己的親身經(jīng)歷所撰寫的回憶錄，出版于2008年。根據(jù)這部回憶錄改編而成的電影于2011年被搬上了大熒幕，由馬特·達(dá)蒙與斯嘉麗·約翰遜主演。

Mum and I arrived as the new owners of Dartmoor Wildlife Park in 1)Devon for the first time at around six o’clock on the evening of the 20th of October 2006， and stepped out of the car to the sound of wolves howling in the misty darkness. My brother Duncan had turned on every light in the house to welcome us， and each window beamed the message into the fog as he emerged from the front door to give me a bone-crushing bear hug. He was more gentle with Mum. We had been delayed for an extra day in 2)Leicester with the lawyers， as some lastminute paperwork failed to arrive in time and had to be sent up the M1 on a motorbike. Duncan had 3)masterminded the movement of all Mum’s furniture from 4)Surrey in three vans， with eight men who had another job to go to the next day. The delay had meant a 5)fraught 6)standoff in the entryway to the park， with the previous owner’s lawyer eventually 7)conceding that Duncan could unload the vans， but only into two rooms (one of them the 8)fetid front kitchen) until the paperwork was completed.

So the three of us picked our way in wonderment between 9)teetering towers of boxes and into the 10)flagstoned kitchen， which was relatively 11)uncluttered and， we thought， could make a good center of operations. A huge old 12)trestle table I had been 13)hoarding in my parents’ garage for twenty years finally came into its own， and was 14)erected in a room suited to its size. It’s still there as our diningroom table， but on this first night its symbolic value was immense. Some boxes and carpets Duncan had managed to store in the back 15)pantry had just been flooded， so while he unblocked the drain outside I drove to a Chinese takeout I’d spotted on the way from Route A38， and we sat down to our first meal together in our new home. Our spirits were slightly shaky but 16)elated， and we laughed a lot in this cold， dark， chaotic house on that first night， and took 17)inordinate comfort from the fact that at least we lived near a good Chinese place.

That night， with Mum safely in bed， Duncan and I stepped out into the misty park to try to get a grip on what we’d done. Everywhere the flashlight shone， eyes of different sizes blinked back at us， and without a clear idea of the layout of the park at this stage， the mystery of exactly what animals lurked behind them added greatly to the atmosphere. We knew where the tigers were， however， and made our way over to one of the enclosures that had been 18)earmarked for replacement posts to get a close look at what sort of deterioration we were up against. With no tigers in sight， we climbed over the stand-off barrier and began 19)peering by flashlight at the base of the structural wooden posts holding up the chain-link fence. We squatted down and became engrossed， 20)prodding and scraping at the surface layers of rotted wood to find the harder core， in this instance reassuringly near the surface. We decided it wasn’t so bad， but as we stood up we were startled to see that all three tigers in the enclosure were now only a couple of feet away from where we were standing， ready to spring， staring intently at us. Like we were dinner.

It was fantastic. All three beasts—and they were such glorious beasts—had 21)maneuvered to within pawing distance of us without either of us noticing. Each animal was bigger than both of us put together， yet they’d moved silently. If this had been the jungle or， more accurately in this case， the Siberian 22)tundra， the first thing we’d have known about it would have been a large mouth around our necks. Tigers have special 23)sensors along the front of their two-inch 24)canines that can detect the pulse in your 25)aorta. The first bite is to grab， then they take your pulse with their teeth， reposition them， and sink them in.

As they held us in their icy glares， we were impressed. Eventually， one of these vast， muscular cats—acknowledging that due to circumstances beyond their control (i.e.， the fence between us)， this had been a mere dress rehearsal—26)yawned， flashed those curved dagger canines， and looked away. We remained impressed.

We started back toward the house. The wolves began their 27)eery night chorus， accompanied by the sounds of owls—there were about fifteen on site—the odd 28)screech of an eagle， and the nocturnal danger call of the 29)vervet monkeys as we walked past their cage. This was what it was all about， we felt. All we had to do now was work out what to do next.

2006年10月20日晚6點(diǎn)左右，媽媽和我第一次作為新主人來到德文郡的達(dá)特穆爾野生動(dòng)物園。走出車門首先入耳的便是黑暗迷霧中的狼嚎。我的哥哥鄧肯點(diǎn)亮了房子的每一盞燈來迎接我們的到來，每一扇窗都向迷霧中釋放出明亮的光，接著他出現(xiàn)在了前門，給了我一個(gè)大大的熊抱，我的骨頭都要被他擠碎了。