 Put international diplomacy and high politics aside. The real question Italians want answered is whether their prime minister is afraid of spiders.
He may be a self-confident billionaire capable of putting a brave face on any situation, but if a new law is anything to go by, Silvio Berlusconi is terrified of arachnids. The Senate Monday rushed through a decree banning scorpions, tarantulas and various other venomous eight-legged creatures from being brought onto Italian soil. The law might not have attracted much attention had it not been expressly drawn up by Berlusconi and rammed through parliament in lightning speed, at a time when the prime minister was already swamped by an international diplomatic row. While Berlusconi was trying to smooth fevered European brows after his comparison of a German politician to a Nazi concentration camp guard, his aides were plotting against "spiders that are dangerous to man." The bill was presented to parliament in the form of a decree -- a method usually reserved for matters of the greatest urgency. A spokeswoman in Berlusconi's office was unable to confirm whether the prime minister suffers from arachnophobia, saying only that he is an animal lover who also wants to protect Italians from potential danger. But Italian newspapers were full of speculation about how Berlusconi may have been stung into action on the issue. A carton of 300 lethal scorpions was flown into Milan earlier this year destined for an Italian collector of rare species and for a small pharmaceutical laboratory. It is said that the laboratory sits just down the road from Arcore, Berlusconi's private residence on the outskirts of Milan, and there were fears some might escape and crawl into the villa's gardens. "He was going on and on about how dangerous the little things were," Antonio Catricala, a senior official in Berlusconi's office said. "He insisted that a law be passed banning the importing of scorpions." ( Agencies ) | 先把國際外交和高級政治擱在一邊，意大利人真正想要解答的問題是：他們的總理是否真的害怕蜘蛛類動物。 他也許是一個自信的億萬富翁，能勇敢的面對任何情況，但是如果根據這個法律來判斷，貝盧斯科尼非常害怕蜘蛛類節肢動物。 周一，參議院迅速通過了一項法案，禁止將蝎子、狼蛛和其它各種有毒的八足動物帶入意大利。 要不是貝盧斯科尼總理在自己已陷入國際外交爭論的情況下親自起草并迫使國會閃電般通過，這項法案可能并不會引起太多的關注。 貝盧斯科尼正在努力平息來自歐洲各國的強烈不滿，因為他把一個德國政客比作納粹集中營衛兵。而此時他的參謀們卻在密謀對付那些"威脅人類安全的蜘蛛"。 該議案以法令的程序上交國會，而這種方式通常專門用于那些非常緊急的事件。 貝盧斯科尼辦公室的一位女發言人沒有確認總理是否患有蜘蛛恐懼癥，只說他是一個動物愛好者，同時也想防止意大利人遭受潛在的威脅。 然而意大利的各報紙紛紛猜測貝盧斯科尼是受了什么刺激才這么做的。 今年早些時候，一紙箱蝎子空運至米蘭，箱內的300只毒蝎子寄給了意大利一名稀有物種收藏家和一個小型制藥實驗室。 據說這個實驗室就坐落于貝盧斯科尼在米蘭郊外Arcore的私人別墅邊。一些蝎子很有可能會逃出來爬進別墅的花園里。 貝盧斯科尼辦公室的一位高級官員安東尼奧·卡特里卡拉說："他一再強調那些小東西有多危險。他堅持通過立法來禁止進口蝎子。" （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2003-08-01 01:00
