SE-Ed: The Great Emu War

In 1932, the Australian army went to war.

1932年，澳大利亚军队出征了。

But the enemy wasn't another country.

但敌人并不是另一个国家。

It was an army of birds. Emus!

而是一支鸟军。鸸鹋！

And, as you might have guessed, the birds won.

你可能已经猜到了，赢的是鸟。

After the First World War,

第一次世界大战结束后，

many former soldiers were given land in Western Australia.

许多退伍军人在西澳大利亚分到了土地。

They were encouraged to grow wheat,

他们被鼓励种小麦，

but then the Great Depression hit and prices crashed.

可随后大萧条来袭，价格暴跌。

Life was already hard. Then the emus arrived.

日子本来就难过，接着鸸鹋来了。

Every year, emus travel inland after their breeding season.

每年繁殖季过后，鸸鹋都会向内陆迁徙。

That year, around twenty thousand of them headed for the farms!

那一年，大约两万只鸸鹋直奔农场而来！

They ate the wheat, trampled the crops,

它们吃小麦、踩坏庄稼，

and smashed holes in the fences,

还把篱笆撞出窟窿，

which let rabbits in as well.

结果连兔子也钻了进来。

The farmers, many of them ex-soldiers, knew exactly what they wanted.

这些农民很多都是退伍军人，他们很清楚自己要什么。

They asked the government for machine guns.

他们向政府要机枪。

Surprisingly, the Minister of Defence said yes!

出人意料，国防部长竟然同意了！

Major Meredith was sent with two soldiers and ten thousand bullets.

Meredith少校带着两名士兵和一万发子弹被派了过去。

In November, the operation finally began.

十一月，行动终于开始了。

But the emus didn't behave like an army at all.

可鸸鹋根本不像一支军队那样行动。

As soon as the shooting started, they scattered in all directions.

枪声一响，它们就四散奔逃。

One day, about a thousand birds came close,

有一天，大约一千只鸟靠近了，

but then the gun jammed!

结果枪卡壳了！

Next, they tried mounting a gun on a truck.

接着，他们试着把枪架到卡车上。

But emus can run at fifty kilometres an hour,

可鸸鹋能跑到每小时五十公里，

and the ground was so bumpy that nobody could aim.

地面又颠簸得厉害，谁也瞄不准。

Each group even seemed to have its own lookout!

每群鸟似乎还有自己的哨兵！

After less than a week, the army pulled out.

不到一周，军队就撤了。

The soldiers did return later, at the farmers' request.

后来，应农民的请求，士兵们又回来了。

By December, Meredith reported almost a thousand birds killed.

到了十二月，Meredith报告说打死了将近一千只。

But that had taken nearly ten thousand bullets!

可为此他们用掉了将近一万发子弹！

That's about ten bullets for every single emu.

相当于每只鸸鹋要用十发子弹。

Meredith later said that with soldiers as tough as these birds,

Meredith后来说，要是有像这些鸟一样顽强的士兵，

he could face any army in the world.

他就能对抗世界上任何一支军队。

In the end, fences and rewards paid to farmers worked much better.

最后，围栏和发给农民的奖金反而有效得多。

And the emus? They're still doing just fine.

那鸸鹋呢？它们至今过得好好的。

So if anyone asks who won the Great Emu War,

所以，如果有人问你“鸸鹋大战”谁赢了，

now you know the answer!

现在你知道答案了！