連載シリーズ、第1期最終回です!

最後のお話は、アメリカでは多くの人が聞いたことのある吸血モンスター”チュパカブラ”にまつわる伝説。

チュパカブラは人ではなく動物を襲います。
家畜の血だけが抜き取られる事件が多発、、、誰の仕業だと思いますか?!

Urban Legend Series: FINAL CUT

Legend: The Chupacabra.

This is a legend that almost everyone in the US, Mexico and Caribbean has heard before.  The chupacabra is a creature that is said to have vampire features.  It is not known to kill humans usually but animals, specifically farm animals.  Chupacabra is Spanish and translates to “goat-sucker”. 

The first reported sighting of a chupacabra was in March 1995 in Puerto Rico, when eight sheep were killed and drained of blood, with three small holes in their chests. Five months later, 150 farm animals were found dead in the same way.  It has since been sighted in California, New Mexico, Mexico, Arizona and many places across Latin America and the south. 

Story:

It was the summer of 1998.  Andy worked on a farm in the countryside in southern California.  His father and his family ran the family business which was a goat farm, producing goat cheese and goat milk.  Often visiting south of the border for day trips and vacations, Andy and his family had heard stories of cattle that had been viciously killed indiscriminately. Luckily, no one they knew in the states had had the same experience.  Of course, it would be natural to think it was wolves or wild dogs.  But then why was only the blood drained? Other than the blood, why were the animal bodies left in perfect condition?  If it were wolves or dogs, they certainly would have eaten the meat.

           The next morning, Andy drove into town to get supplies.  While at the market, he ran into an old friend of his Fathers, Miguel.  Miguel told him that all of his chickens, roosters and his dog had been killed during the night, blood drained; just like the stories he had heard on his visits to Mexico.  Andy knew that Miguels’ farm was just 8 kilometers from his so he started to worry.  Andy returned home and told his father about what had happened at Miguels farm.  He and his father agreed that they’d better take turns staying up at night and watching the animals, just in case.

Vocabulary

Feature – 特徴

Specifically – とりわけ

To drain – 抜く(この場合は血を抜き取る)

To be sighted – 目撃される

South of the border (when americans say this, they are talking about Mexico) 

  • 国境の南(アメリカ人が言った場合、メキシコを指す)

Cattle – ウシ(畜牛)

Viciously – 残酷に

Indiscriminately – 無差別に

Supplies – 物資

Just in case – 万が一に備えて

今回で、都市伝説シリーズは終了です。

次回からはアメリカと日本のレストランや食の違いをエリクソンが語る新シリーズが始まります〜お楽しみに!!