尤儀日 文/譯
Written and translated by Yiri You VBS 617
2021年9月1日上午，萬佛聖城小溪附近的維修部門外，出現一隻巨型烏龜。龜殼長約3呎，寬約2呎，體重估計有100多磅。萬佛聖城的義工找了番茄、包心菜、蘋果等切碎的蔬果招待牠。這隻大烏龜看起來肚子很餓，胃口甚佳，吃得津津有味。
On September 1, 2021, a giant turtle was found in City of Ten Thousand Buddha’s motor pool near the creek. Its shell measured three feet long and two feet wide. Its weight was way over 100 pounds. Volunteers at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) treated it with chopped vegetables and fruits such as tomato, cabbage and apple. This turtle seemed quite hungry and had a good appetite.
由於防疫考慮，不便「邀請」這隻巨龜到佛殿。這種巨龜並非本地物種，原本有義工以為是人家特意放生，因此想要留下來飼養。但也有人認為，我們並不了解如何照顧這種巨龜，還是請專家飼養為宜。當天下午，瑜伽市動物保護組織的工作人員就來帶走這隻巨龜。
This giant turtle was not “invited” to the Buddha Hall due to the practice of prevention measures during the pandemic. It is not a local species, and one of the volunteers meant to keep this giant turtle at CTTB because he assumed it was liberated on purpose. However, some other people thought that we didn’t know how to take good care of this turtle, it’s best to have experts keep it. Ukiah Animal Shelter staff picked up this turtle in the afternoon that day.
後來有人發現，這隻巨龜是萬佛聖城附近鄰居的寵物龜。飼主早已在社群網站上貼出「尋龜啟事」多時。經過聯繫，飼主於9月2日已經領回。據稱這隻寵物龜曾離家出走多次，這次出走的路線不同，牠走到小溪邊，溯溪而上，來到萬佛聖城，距離飼主家大約一哩之遙，是出走最遠的一次。
Later someone figured out this giant turtle is a pet turtle. Its owner had posted search notices on social media for some time. The owner got the giant turtle back on September 2. People learned that this giant turtle had escaped the owner’s home for quite a few times. This time it took a different route—it walked to the creek and up the creek to arrive at CTTB. It’s about one mile from its owner’s home and was the farthest one among the giant turtle’s escapes.
飼主對萬佛聖城工作人員妥善安排他的寵物龜表示非常感謝。飼主也透露這隻大烏龜名叫「拓克」，意思是扭轉力，因為牠非常強壯。十年前一位朋友送給飼主這隻大烏龜，但飼主並不知道牠的年紀。據知這是一種非洲大烏龜，可活到150歲高齡。
The owner was very grateful we took care of his pet turtle whose name is “Torque” because he is strong. The owner said he has had Torque for ten years, but he doesn’t know how old Torque is because Torque was given to him by a friend. This kind of turtle can live up to 150 years. Originally they come from Africa.♣