◎魏國金
Think kindly of the dragon Smaug. Shed a tear for Gollum. And give an orc a hug.
仁慈地想想巨龍「史矛革」，為「咕嚕」掬一把淚，並給半獸人一個擁抱。
If only they had tucked into the occasional quiche and salad or a touch of smoked salmon, or had a few sessions on a sunbed. How much kinder history would have been to them.
只要他們偶爾痛快吃個法式鹹派與沙拉，或一點煙燻鮭魚，或者來幾次日光浴。或許歷史將對他們仁慈許多。
So suggests an offbeat study which concludes that the evil characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Hobbit" lost their battle against men, elves and dwarves because they suffered from vitamin deficiency.
一份特異的研究提出如此建議；該研究結論說，J.R.R.托爾金「哈比人」中的邪惡角色在與人類、精靈及矮人的戰爭中敗陣，是因他們的維他命攝取不足所致。
Shunning sunlight, surviving on a sketchy or unbalanced diet based on rotten meat, they lacked vitamin D, a key component for healthy bones and muscle strength.
避免陽光、以腐肉為基礎的粗糙、不均衡的飲食維生，導致他們缺乏維他命Ｄ，而這是健康的骨骼與肌力所需的關鍵成分。
The idea is proposed by Nicholas Hopkinson, a doctor at Imperial College London and his son Joseph.
這個觀點是由倫敦帝國學院的博士霍普金森與其子約瑟夫所提出。
They scoured "The Hobbit" for references to characters’ living conditions, habits and diet. They used these clues to rate each character for levels of vitamin D, produced when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet light or derived from foods such as oily fish, egg yolks and cheese.
他們詳究「哈比人」有關人物的生活條件、習性與飲食。並利用這些線索去評估每位角色的維他命Ｄ程度，當皮膚暴露在紫外線就能產生維他命Ｄ，它也來自諸如多油脂的魚、蛋黃與乳酪。
Bilbo Baggins, the hero of "The Hobbit," had a vitamin D-enriched life, they found. True, Bilbo lived in a hole, but it had windows and he enjoyed sitting in the sun in his garden.
「哈比人」中的英雄比爾博有著豐富維他命Ｄ的生活。確實，比爾博雖住在洞穴中，但家有窗，且享受在太陽底下到花園坐坐。
In contrast, the villains spend most of their time in darkness, and their diet is poor or single-sourced.（AFP）
反觀，書中的反派人物在黑暗中度過大半時間，而且飲食粗略、來源單一。（法新社）
新聞辭典
if only︰要是、只要、要是…多好。例句︰If only she arrives in time.（她要是能準時到達就好了。）
tuck（in，into）︰俚語，痛快吃喝、大口吃喝︰例句︰There’s plenty of food, so please tuck in.
（食物充足，所以痛快地吃吧。）
reference （to）︰名詞，關係、關聯。例句︰It had no reference to him.（此事與他無關。）
文章出處：<a href="http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/Service/english/">自由時報電子報中英對照新聞
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