When the White House Was Full of Claws, Scales, Stripes and Tails
独脚鸡、鬣狗、浣熊……白宫历史上的“神奇动物”们

Residents of the White House have had fur and feathers, claws and hooves, scales, stripes and prehensile tails. Some were found on the property, many came with the new tenants and others were delivered by foreign leaders. But for most of modern U.S. history, the president has had a pet.

白宫史上的住户有的有皮毛和羽毛，有的有爪子和蹄子，有的有鳞片，还有的有条纹或者能卷东西的尾巴。有些就是在园区内发现的，许多是跟着新住户一起搬进来的，还有的是其他外国领导人赠送的。不过，在美国现代史的大部分时间里，总统是养宠物的。

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to resume that tradition in January with his two German shepherds, Champ and Major, after President Trump’s term ends as the first in decades without any pets living full-time at the residence.

在特朗普总统的任期结束后，候任总统小约瑟夫·R·拜登(Joseph R. Biden Jr.)预计将在明年1月和他的两只德国牧羊犬冠军(Champ)和少校(Major)恢复这个传统。特朗普当政的时间里，是数十年来首次没有宠物长期住在这座官邸。
 

1985年，白宫，美国总统罗纳德·里根和英国首相玛格丽特·撒切尔和里根总统的狗“幸运”在一起。“幸运”后来被送到了加州的里根农场。

More often than not, presidential pets have been dogs and cats. But many less traditional pets have also lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, their quantity and variety depending on each administration, said Matthew Costello, a senior historian for the White House Historical Association.

总统的宠物往往不是猫就是狗。不过，据白宫历史协会的资深历史学家马修·科斯特洛(Matthew Costello)说，历史上也曾经有一些不是那么常规的宠物住在宾夕法尼亚大道1600号，至于它们的数量和种类，则取决于住在这里的总统。

“If you’re talking about which White House was quite literally a zoo, it was probably Theodore Roosevelt’s White House,” Mr. Costello said. “Between the six children that he brought with him to the White House and the assortment of pets — the Roosevelts, they just loved animals.”

“你要说哪个总统任内的白宫简直就是动物园，恐怕非西奥多·罗斯福(Theodore Roosevelt)莫属了，”科斯特洛说。“跟他搬到白宫的除了六个孩子，还有各种各样的宠物——罗斯福一家就是喜欢动物。”

Pets at the White House have reflected the occupants’ personalities, he said, and the animals sometimes played a prominent role in an administration’s image. “It helps humanize the president a little bit more,” Mr. Costello said. “It’s something that’s relatable to most people. Most people have a pet or have had a pet at some point in their life.”

他说，白宫的宠物反映出住户的个性，而且这些动物有时候在政府形象中扮演着重要角色。“这有助于让总统看上去更加平易近人，”科斯特洛说。“拉近了跟大多数人的距离。大多人都养宠物，或者在生活中的某个时刻养过宠物。”

Although the list of White House pets is lengthy, according to the Presidential Pet Museum, an organization founded to preserve information and artifacts related to presidential pets, the history is also littered with unverified tales and missing details. Still, records clearly show many strange pets.

据总统宠物博物馆（Presidential Pet Museum，一个专门保存与总统宠物相关信息和文物的机构）的说法，虽然白宫的宠物名单很长，但历史上也充斥着未经证实的轶事和遗漏的细节。不过，历史记录明确地表明，这里曾经生活过许多奇怪的宠物。

A one-legged rooster and Bill the hyena.

独脚鸡和一只名叫比尔(Bill)的鬣狗

Theodore Roosevelt, who traveled abroad, hiked at home and led conservation efforts as president from 1901 to 1909, kept a lengthy list of animals at the White House. In his family’s care were horses, dogs, a Hyacinth macaw parrot, kangaroo rats, five guinea pigs and a one-legged rooster, according to the Presidential Pet Museum. There was also a short-tempered badger named Josiah and a green garter snake named Emily Spinach.

有过出国旅行和国内徒步经验，并直接领导保育工作的西奥多·罗斯福在1901年至1909年担任总统期间，跟他一家住在白宫的动物可真不少。据总统宠物博物馆介绍，他家养了马和狗若干、紫蓝金刚鹦鹉一只、更格卢鼠若干、豚鼠五只和独脚公鸡一只。还有一只名叫约西亚(Josiah)的獾，它的脾气很坏，以及一条名叫艾米莉菠菜(Emily Spinach)的绿色束带蛇。

Republican supporters in West Virginia also gave Mr. Roosevelt a bear, which his children named Jonathan Edwards after an ancestor of the first lady, Edith Roosevelt. The president also received exotic animals as gifts from foreign leaders. In 1904, King Menelik of Abyssinia gave Mr. Roosevelt a lion cub named Joe and a hyena named Bill that “laughs nearly all the time,” The New York Times reported that year.

西弗吉尼亚州的共和党支持者还送给罗斯福一头熊，他的孩子们以第一夫人伊迪丝·罗斯福(Edith Roosevelt)的一位祖先的名字将其命名为乔纳森·爱德华兹(Jonathan Edwards)。罗斯福还收到了外国领导人赠送的珍奇动物。1904年，阿比西尼亚国王梅内利克(King Menelik)送给他一头小狮子，以及比尔，一只“几乎笑个不停的”鬣狗，《纽约时报》(The New York Times)当时报道。

(President Dwight Eisenhower also received an unusual gift in 1959, when Prime Minister Fulbert Youlou of the Republic of Congo gave him a baby elephant named Dzimbo. The president, later trying to feed the elephant, compared it to his grandchildren: “He doesn’t like carrots.” Dzimbo eventually moved to the Washington Zoo.)

（德怀特·艾森豪威尔[Dwight Eisenhower]总统在1959年也收到过一份不寻常的礼物，刚果共和国总理富尔伯特·尤卢[Fulbert Youlou]送给他一头名叫德津博[Dzimbo]的小象。后来，尝试喂这头象的总统把它比作自己的孙辈：“他不喜欢吃胡萝卜。”最后，迪津博搬去了华盛顿动物园。)

A flock of sheep for the White House.

白宫里的一群羊

In an effort to keep costs low and to conserve on human resources during World War I, a flock of sheep were brought to the White House to keep the grass neat, according to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. The flock arrived at the White House in 1918 from Maryland and grazed on the property for at least two years. At some point, the flock was sheared and two pounds of wool was given to each state, where it was auctioned off and ended up raising about $52,000 for the Red Cross.

据伍德罗·威尔逊(Woodrow Wilson)总统图书馆暨博物馆介绍，在第一次世界大战期间，为了降低成本和节约人力资源，一群羊被带到白宫，以保持草坪整洁。这群羊于1918年从马里兰州来到白宫，至少在这里吃了两年草。它们一度被剪毛，重达两磅的羊毛被送到美国各州拍卖，最终为红十字会(Red Cross)筹集了大约5.2万美元。

Rebecca the raccoon.

浣熊瑞贝卡(Rebecca)

President Calvin Coolidge and Grace Coolidge, the first lady while he was in office, from 1923 to 1929, kept a menagerie at the White House, including several dogs, cats, birds, a goose and a donkey. But it was the raccoon, Rebecca, that was among the family’s most famous and beloved pets.

1923年至1929年，卡尔文·柯立芝(Calvin Coolidge)总统在任期间和第一夫人格蕾丝·柯立芝(Grace Coolidge)在白宫养了一个动物园，里面有好几只狗、猫、鸟、一只鹅和一头驴。但柯立芝家养过的最著名、最受宠的宠物之一就是浣熊瑞贝卡。

In November 1926, the family received the raccoon from Mississippi to be served for Thanksgiving dinner. But finding the raccoon to be friendly, the family changed her fate, the museum said. Over the years, Mr. Coolidge grew close to Rebecca and sometimes walked her around the White House grounds on a leash. Mr. Coolidge even gave Rebecca an embroidered collar with the title “White House Raccoon,” according to the White House Historical Association.

1926年11月，柯立芝家收到了这只来自密西西比州的浣熊，原本这是他们感恩节的晚餐。博物馆记载称，因柯立芝家发现这只浣熊很友好，就改变了它的命运。多年来，柯立芝与瑞贝卡的关系愈发亲密，有时会牵着它在白宫庭园里散步。据白宫历史协会(White House Historical Association)表示，柯立芝甚至送给瑞贝卡一个绣着“白宫浣熊”字样的项圈。

Although Rebecca had taken a place in the spotlight, even attracting attention at the annual Easter Egg Roll in 1927, she sometimes caused problems. In 1927, she fled the Coolidge residence in South Dakota, running away from “her attendants in the dead of night” and climbing a tall tree, “which she declines to descend in spite of all entreaties,” The Times reported. She was eventually donated to the Rock Creek Zoo.

尽管被放在聚光灯下，在1927年的年度复活节滚彩蛋活动还引起关注，但瑞贝卡有时也会带来一些麻烦。1927年，时报报道它从柯立芝在南达科他州的住所逃走，“夜深人静时从养护员身边”跑开，爬上了一棵高大的树，“说什么也不肯下来。”它最终被捐给了石溪动物园。

Billy the opossum.

负鼠比利(Billy)

President Herbert Hoover had several dogs during his tenure at the White House, from 1929 to 1933, but few appeared to attract as much attention as Billy, a wild opossum the family adopted after it strayed onto the property, according to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.

1929年至1933年，赫伯特·胡佛(Herbert Hoover)总统在白宫任职期间养了几只狗，但很少有宠物能像比利那样吸引如此多的关注，据赫伯特·胡佛总统图书馆暨博物馆介绍，这只野生负鼠在误入白宫后被胡佛家收养。

The family kept the opossum in a pen built for the Coolidge family’s raccoon, Rebecca. In 1929, Billy became the subject of news coverage after Mr. Hoover lent him out to a nearby high school that was upset after their live mascot, also an opossum, had disappeared, according to the Library of Congress. Similarly, before Mr. Hoover moved into the White House, President Benjamin Harrison had two opossums during his tenure, from 1889 to 1893, which he named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection after the Republican platform at the time.

胡佛家把负鼠养在了为柯立芝家的浣熊瑞贝卡修建的围栏里。根据国会图书馆(Library of Congress)的记录，1929年，比利成了新闻报道的对象，因为胡佛把它借给了附近一所高中，该校因其活吉祥物——也是一只负鼠——失踪而十分伤心。同样，在胡佛入主白宫之前，本杰明·哈里森(Benjamin Harrison)总统在1889年至1893年任期内养了两只负鼠，他以当时共和党的政纲命名它们为“互惠先生”(Mr. Reciprocity)和“保护先生”(Mr. Protection)。

Macaroni the pony.

小马通心粉(Macaroni)

During the Kennedy administration, when the scions of wealthy families lived in the White House, some of the most common pets were horses and ponies. “Jacqueline Kennedy had grown up riding horses,” Mr. Costello said. “She had been interested in equestrianism her entire life.”

在肯尼迪政府时期，白宫的住户是一群富家子弟，于是最常见的宠物就成了马和矮种马。“杰奎琳·肯尼迪(Jacqueline Kennedy)从小就爱骑马，”科斯特洛说。“她一辈子都对马术感兴趣。”

One of the more well-known horses belonging to the family was Sardar, a gift from the president of Pakistan in 1962, according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The president’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, had a pony, Macaroni, who was photographed often, and she and her brother had parakeets named Bluebell and Maybelle. Macaroni and Tex, a pony given to Caroline by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1961, would stay at a nearby Kennedy property but was often on the White House grounds, Mr. Costello said. A third pony, Leprechaun, was given to the family by Irish leaders.