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大千世界，无奇不有。上到奇妙的自然景观，下到人间的奇闻轶事，无不让人大开眼界。那么，遗嘱中又能有什么特别的花样呢？请看本文——
1
Ms Eleanor Ritchey, the unmarried granddaughter of the founder of Quaker State Oil, died in 1968 with an estate worth around $12 million. According to Scott Bieber in Trusts and Estates magazine, “Under her will, she left over 1 700 pairs of shoes and 1 200 boxes of stationery to the Salvation Army. The rest of the estate went to the dogs.” Real dogs, he means—a pack of 150 strays that Ritchey had adopted as pets.
奎克石油公司创始人的未婚孙女儿埃莉诺·瑞奇小姐1968年去世时留下了大约1 200万美元的遗产。斯科特·比伯在《信托和财产》杂志上说：“根据她的遗嘱，她将1 700多双鞋子和1 200盒文具留给了救世军慈善组织，余下的遗产全部留给了狗儿们。”他指的是真正的狗——瑞奇小姐作为宠物而收养的150条流浪狗。
2
An attorney1 in France left $10 000 to a local madhouse. The gentleman declared that， “It was simply an act of restitution2 to his clients.”
法国一位律师将10 000美元留给了当地一家精神病院，他宣称：“这仅仅是一个返还客户的行为。”
3
Sandra West, a wealthy 37-year-old Beverly Hills socialite, left most of her $3 million estate to her brother—provided he made sure she was buried “in my lace nightgown and my Ferrari, with the seat slanted3 comfortably.” That’s how she was buried. The Ferrari was surrounded with concrete so no one would be tempted to dig it up and drive away.
37岁的富婆桑德拉·韦斯特是贝弗莉山的社交名流。她将300万美元的遗产的大部分留给了她的兄弟——条件是他要确保“我穿着我的花边睡衣，坐着我的法拉利轿车，并且要让座椅倾斜得令人舒适。”她想那样被安葬。那辆法拉利轿车四周被混凝土凝固，因而没人试图挖出并开走它。
4
When American patriot4 Patrick Henry died, everything he owned was left to his wife as long as she never married again. If she did so, she forfeited5 the whole thing. “It would make me unhappy,” he explained, “to feel I have worked all my life only to support another man’s wife!” She remarried anyway.
当美国的爱国者帕特里克·亨利去世的时候，他把全部财产都留给了妻子，条件是她不能再嫁。如果她再嫁，他就会收回他的财产。“妻子改嫁会使我很不开心，”他解释道，“它会让我觉得，我一生的努力只是在供养他人的妻子。”但最终，她还是再嫁了。
5
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, tried to leave his birthday. He willed it to a good friend who’d complained that since she was born on Christmas, she never got to have a real birthday celebration.
《金银岛》一书的作者罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森，试图将他的生日当成遗产赠人。他在遗嘱中将自己的生日赠送给了一位经常抱怨自己生日的好友。因为她在圣诞节那天出生，这使得她从来就没有真正地庆祝过生日。
6
Edgar Bergen, famed ventriloquist6, left $10 000 to the Actor’s Fund of America—so they could take care of his dummy7, Charlie McCarthy, and put him in a show once a year. 著名的口技表演家埃德加·卑尔根，把10 000美元的遗产留给了美国演员基金会，以期他们能照顾他的假人查理·麦卡锡，并让它每年露一次小脸。
尹玉生 摘译自Bizarre Wills
1
Ms Eleanor Ritchey, the unmarried granddaughter of the founder of Quaker State Oil, died in 1968 with an estate worth around $12 million. According to Scott Bieber in Trusts and Estates magazine, “Under her will, she left over 1 700 pairs of shoes and 1 200 boxes of stationery to the Salvation Army. The rest of the estate went to the dogs.” Real dogs, he means—a pack of 150 strays that Ritchey had adopted as pets.
奎克石油公司创始人的未婚孙女儿埃莉诺·瑞奇小姐1968年去世时留下了大约1 200万美元的遗产。斯科特·比伯在《信托和财产》杂志上说：“根据她的遗嘱，她将1 700多双鞋子和1 200盒文具留给了救世军慈善组织，余下的遗产全部留给了狗儿们。”他指的是真正的狗——瑞奇小姐作为宠物而收养的150条流浪狗。
2
An attorney1 in France left $10 000 to a local madhouse. The gentleman declared that， “It was simply an act of restitution2 to his clients.”
法国一位律师将10 000美元留给了当地一家精神病院，他宣称：“这仅仅是一个返还客户的行为。”
3
Sandra West, a wealthy 37-year-old Beverly Hills socialite, left most of her $3 million estate to her brother—provided he made sure she was buried “in my lace nightgown and my Ferrari, with the seat slanted3 comfortably.” That’s how she was buried. The Ferrari was surrounded with concrete so no one would be tempted to dig it up and drive away.
37岁的富婆桑德拉·韦斯特是贝弗莉山的社交名流。她将300万美元的遗产的大部分留给了她的兄弟——条件是他要确保“我穿着我的花边睡衣，坐着我的法拉利轿车，并且要让座椅倾斜得令人舒适。”她想那样被安葬。那辆法拉利轿车四周被混凝土凝固，因而没人试图挖出并开走它。
4
When American patriot4 Patrick Henry died, everything he owned was left to his wife as long as she never married again. If she did so, she forfeited5 the whole thing. “It would make me unhappy,” he explained, “to feel I have worked all my life only to support another man’s wife!” She remarried anyway.
当美国的爱国者帕特里克·亨利去世的时候，他把全部财产都留给了妻子，条件是她不能再嫁。如果她再嫁，他就会收回他的财产。“妻子改嫁会使我很不开心，”他解释道，“它会让我觉得，我一生的努力只是在供养他人的妻子。”但最终，她还是再嫁了。
5
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, tried to leave his birthday. He willed it to a good friend who’d complained that since she was born on Christmas, she never got to have a real birthday celebration.
《金银岛》一书的作者罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森，试图将他的生日当成遗产赠人。他在遗嘱中将自己的生日赠送给了一位经常抱怨自己生日的好友。因为她在圣诞节那天出生，这使得她从来就没有真正地庆祝过生日。
6
Edgar Bergen, famed ventriloquist6, left $10 000 to the Actor’s Fund of America—so they could take care of his dummy7, Charlie McCarthy, and put him in a show once a year. 著名的口技表演家埃德加·卑尔根，把10 000美元的遗产留给了美国演员基金会，以期他们能照顾他的假人查理·麦卡锡，并让它每年露一次小脸。
尹玉生 摘译自Bizarre Wills