为圆女儿公主梦 美国好爸爸圈地建国

 　　A Virginia father trekked¹ across a remote desert region to claim a disputed stretch of land so his seven-year-old daughter can be a real princess.

　　为遵守对7岁女儿的承诺让她成为一名真正的公主，美国弗吉尼亚的一位父亲长途跋涉来到遥远的沙漠地区，宣称对一片土地拥有主权。

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　　Jeremiah Heaton began his unusual quest for the unclaimed piece of land sandwiched between Egypt and Sudan after making a promise to Emily that she would one day be royalty².

　　耶利米·希顿向女儿艾米丽承诺有一天她会变成公主，自此之后，他就开始了一项不同寻常的追求——设法认领夹在埃及和苏丹中间的一片无人认领的土地。

　　After reaching the desert region of Bir Tawil in June, the father-of-three planted a flag his children had designed, and made the first steps towards claiming the land.

　　今年六月，这位三个孩子的父亲来到了沙漠区比尔泰维勒，在土地上插上了他的孩子设计的一面国旗，走出了对这片土地宣称所有权的第一步。

　　On his return Heaton and wife made a crown for their daughter and asked friends and family to refer to her as Princess Emily.

　　在回家之后，希顿和他的妻子为他们的女儿制作了一个皇冠，并让朋友和家人们称呼她为艾米丽公主。

　　Her kingdom covers about 800 square miles of desert that has never been claimed by Sudan or Egypt.

　　她的王国是一片800平方英里的沙漠，而这片沙漠从未被苏丹或埃及认领过。

　　Heaton found Bir Tawil, one of the last unclaimed pieces of land on the planet, after searching for how he could fulfill³ his promise to Emily.

　　希顿在搜索如何实现他对艾米丽的承诺后发现，比尔泰维勒是世界上仅剩不多的无人认领土地之一。

　　It took Heaton 14 hours to travel by caravan⁴ through the desert before he could plant the flag, which has a blue background and a seal and stars representing the family.

　　希顿坐了14个小时的大篷车穿越沙漠，来到这片沙漠插上国旗。这面国旗底色为蓝色，上面有着代表他们家的标志和星星。

　　As well as designing a flag for their country, Heaton's children have also decided⁵ to name it the Kingdom of North Sudan.

　　除了设计国旗以外，希顿的孩子们还决定将这个国家命名为北苏丹王国。

　　The next step for Heaton is to get Sudan and Egypt to recognize his Kingdom of North Sudan.

　　希顿下一步要做的就是让苏丹和埃及承认他的北苏丹王国。

　　Shelia Carapico, professor of political science and international studies at the University of Richmond, said the family's claim will need to be recognized by the other African nations.

　　里士满大学政治和国际关系学教授谢利亚·卡若皮卡表示，他们对该地宣称主权需要得到其他非洲国家的认可。

　　She said it was not plausible⁶ for someone to plant a flag and say they have political control over the land without legal recognition from neighboring countries, the United Nations or other groups.

　　她说道，一个人插上国旗就说自己对土地享有所有权，却没有得到邻国、联合国或其他团体的法律认可，这是行不通的。

　　The Heaton family remain undeterred however, and have ordered letterheads bearing the country's seal. One of Heaton's sons also made a serving tray featuring the flag while at camp.

　　然而，希顿一家目前还没有受到任何阻碍，他们已经订制了印着该国标志的信纸。希顿的一个儿子还在露营的时候制作另一个印有国旗的托盘。

　　But the main intent, Heaton added, was to show his daughter he would follow through on the promise he made.

　　希顿补充说，但是我这样做的主要目的是让我的女儿看到她的父亲会遵守许下的承诺。

　　'I think there’s a lot of love in the world. I want my children to know I will do absolutely anything for them,' he said.

　　“我认为这个世界充满着爱。我希望我的孩子明白，为了他们我可以做任何事，”希顿说。

 

1 trekked   

v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• They trekked for three days along the banks of the Zambezi. 他们沿着赞比西河河岸跋涉了三天。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Six-man teams trekked through the woods, respectively for 72 to 96 hours. 6人一组的小分队，经过长途跋涉，穿过了森林，分别用72小时到96小时不等。 来自互联网

2 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

3 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

4 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。