Want to live next door to the Obamas?／想住在歐巴瑪一家人的隔壁嗎？

◎張沛元

Want to live next door to US President Barack Obama? The colonial mansion next to his Chicago home is now available - for the right price.

想住在美國總統巴拉克．歐巴瑪的隔壁嗎？這棟坐落於歐巴瑪芝加哥家隔壁的殖民地式華廈，目前待價而沽──只要你的價格出得對。

So far, the real estate broker handling the sale won’t even guess at what that price might be. "We don’t know what premium the Obama factor will have," said Matt Garrison of Coldwell Banker.

截至目前為止，負責處理這筆售屋生意的房屋仲介，甚至不願猜最後的成交價會是多少。「我們不知道歐巴瑪因素能（為這棟房子）加多少價，」房仲公司「寇德威爾銀行家」的麥特．蓋瑞森說。

Garrison’s phones have been ringing off the hook since the house was put on the market on Friday.

打從這棟房子週五推出以來，蓋瑞森的電話就響個沒完。

They’ve had at least a handful of serious inquiries - one from as far away as London - and expect more to pour in as word gets out.

其中至少有少數人是認真詢問──其中一人甚至遠從倫敦打來──預料隨著消息傳開會有更多詢問電話湧入。

But those hoping for an invite from Obama or the chance to swap recipes with the First Lady might be setting themselves up for disappointment.

但那些希望能被歐巴瑪邀請，或有機會跟第一夫人交換食譜的人，怕是注定要失望了。

Despite vowing to come home to Chicago as often as possible, the Obamas spend most of their time in Washington and have chosen Camp David and Martha’s Vineyard for recent vacations.

儘管誓言會盡量多回芝加哥的家，歐巴瑪一家人大多數時間還是待在華府，而且近來選擇前往大衛營與馬莎葡萄園度假。

新聞辭典

available：形容詞，準備好可用的；可以被取得的；有資格與願意服務或協助的。例句：The president was not available for comment.（無法找到總統對此發表評論。）

ring off the hook：片語，指電話響個不停。hook，名詞，電話的聽筒架。

pour in （to something） ：片語，（字面）倒入，灌入；（引申描述人或物）傾洩。例句：Letters are still pouring in.（信件依然如雪片般飛來。）