2007年VOA标准英语-Kenya to Seek Return of Famous Lion Remains

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
11 September 2007

Kenya is asking that a Chicago museum return the remains¹ of the infamous² "Maneaters of Tsavo," two lions that terrorized workers who built a railroad from Uganda to the Kenyan coast in the 19th Century. Nick Wadhams has more from Nairobi.

 The request from the National Museums of Kenya falls under larger efforts by the Kenyan government to recover fossils, artwork and other artifacts that were sold or looted before Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963.

The National Museum will reopen at the end of the year after a two-year renovation³, and it wants the treasures on display where they came from.

National Museums spokeswoman Connie Maina says Kenya has not asked for many specific items and has made no formal request yet to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Instead, it is calling for countries with Kenyan artifacts to inform the government and then return them.

"What we are saying is if anybody has got any artifacts that belong to Kenya, we would like to bring them back," said Mania⁴. "As we are doing the history of Kenya, we would like to show Kenyans that this is part of our heritage. As we rewrite Kenyan history in our own way, we would like to know what was available in Kenya at that time, and we are approaching different people who can give us the history which we may not even be aware of so we can tell where we have come from and where we are going as a country."

The skulls⁵ and skins of the two Maneaters of Tsavo are among the most curious of the artifacts Kenya is seeking. The male lions are believed to have killed more than 130 workers who were building a bridge over the Tsavo River as part of the rail line that runs from the Kenyan coast to Uganda.

The lions scavenged human remains from graves and dragged workers from their tents as they slept. Their attacks got so bad that construction was briefly⁶ halted. The railway line's chief engineer, British Lieutenant⁷ Colonel John Henry Patterson, killed the Maneaters in 1898 and later sold them for $5,000 to the Field Museum, where they are on display.

A spokesman for the Chicago Museum refused to comment, saying officials have not heard of the request to return the lions.

Kenya has made successful appeals for artifacts in the past. Recently, two universities in the U.S. returned wooden funeral statues known as Vigango. Many more of these objects, seen as a fundamental part of Kenya's heritage, are held at museums around the world.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

3 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

4 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

5 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。