British war leader Winston Churchill’sfoulmouthed1 104-year-old parrot refused to surrender to newshawks after a British newspaper tracked the bird down and dis－covered it was still alive. “They’ve been trying to let him talk all day, but he’s not saying much.” Said Sylvia Martin, who managed Heathfield Nurseries where par－rot Charlie has lived for the last 12 years. Charlie, who kept accompanying Churchill during World War II, wasoccasionally squawking2 four-letter obscenities3 about Hitler. But Martin told reporters that the bird had mellowed4. “He doesn’t say very much anymore—usually just hello and goodbye. But he does get so excited about music and dances to it. He’s very fit.”Charlie—invariably referred to as “he” despite being female—is now owned by Peter Oram, the garden center’s owner, Martin said. Oram’s father-in-law sold Churchill the bird and was asked to take it back after the prime minister died in 1965. Steve Nichols, founder of Britain’s National Parrot Sanctuary5, said that al－though parrots did not often live longer than 40 in the wild, some had lived up to 104.
　　英国的一家报社找到了英国战时领袖温斯顿·丘吉尔的鹦鹉的下落，发现他依然活着，但这只104岁高龄、嘴巴不干不净的老鸟却不愿投新闻记者的所好。这只名为“查理”的鹦鹉在此前12年中一直呆在赫斯菲尔德园艺中心里，管理这个中心的西尔维亚·马丁说：“他们想让他整天说个不停，但他却没什么话说。”查理在第二次世界大战期间一直跟丘吉尔做伴，以不时向希特勒致以4个字母的脏话闻名。不过马丁告诉记者，这只鹦鹉现在已经老练多了，“他不再喋喋不休了———通常只说‘你好’和‘再见’。但当有人对他奏乐时，他就会变得非常兴奋，并且会随着节奏起舞。他非常健康。”人们总是用“他”来称呼查理，尽管他其实是雌性。马丁说，他现在的主人是园艺中心的所有者彼得·奥拉姆。奥拉姆的岳父曾把他卖给了丘吉尔，又在1965年这位首相死后奉命把他拿了回来。英国国立鹦鹉保护区的创建人斯蒂夫·尼科尔斯说，尽管野生状态下的鹦鹉很少活过40岁，但有些鹦鹉却能活到104岁。