双语新闻：印度96岁老翁当爹创世界纪录

2012-10-19 00:00:00来源：中国日报英语点津

　　Ramajit Raghav,96, and his 52-year-old wife, Shakuntala Devi, reportedly gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ranjeet, on Oct. 5, according to the Times of India.

　　Most people can only dream of living for 100 years, let alone fathering a child nearly a century after being born themselves. But that is apparently a reality today, as a 96-year-old Indian man claims to have fathered a child, his second in recent years.

　　Ramajit Raghav and his 52-year-old wife, Shakuntala Devi, reportedly gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ranjeet, on Oct. 5, according to the Times of India.

　　Just two years ago, Raghav set the world record when he and Devi gave birth to their first son, Vikramajeet.

　　"I didn"t take any performance enhancers. … I just prayed to God to complete my family, either a boy or a girl," Raghav told the paper.

　　India is often the source of unusual stories about a person's age. However, the life expectancy of the average Indian actually falls into the lower-third of UN global statistics (139 out of 194 counties), at 64.7 years. The average Indian man lives 63.2 years. By comparison, Japan has the longest worldwide life expectancy, with its residents living an average of 82.7 years. The US comes in at No. 38, with Americans living an average of 79.2 years.

　　While male fertility rates are not as directly correlated to age as are women's, male fertility rates do decline with age, according to a study published in the 2004 issue of Human Reproduction Update.

　　Raghav tells The Sun that he credits his diet of butter, milk and almonds for his longevity, along with abstaining from drugs and alcohol. He also claims to have remained "mostly" celibate until meeting Devi 10 years ago.

　　"I feel lucky to have two healthy sons. It will be tough, but I'm a happy man," he said.

　　Interestingly, the previous record holder for world's oldest dad was also Indian: Nanu Ram Jog, who reportedly fathered his 21st at the age of 90.

　　For his part, Raghav doesn't plan to set anymore paternal records.

　　"I have asked my wife to be sterilized now," he said. "I don't want more children, we can't afford it." (Read by Nelly Min, an editor at China Daily website)

　　印度一位96岁的老翁近日喜迎第二个儿子的降生，成为世界上最老的新生儿父亲，孩子的母亲现年52岁。两年前，他们的第一个儿子出生时，他就打破了当时同样由一位印度人保持的世界纪录，那位印度老者在90岁时迎来自己第21个孩子。这位名叫拉格哈夫的老者表示，他没有服用任何增强性功能的药物，只是向上帝祈祷，希望能有一个完满的家庭，生儿子或女儿都行。他表示，自己长寿的秘诀是长期食用黄油、牛奶和杏仁，同时避免接触药物和酒精。他还坦承，十年前遇到现任妻子之前，他大部分时间都是单身状态。在第二个儿子出生后，老者表示已经让妻子做绝育手术，称不想要太多的孩子，他们养不起。印度平均寿命只有64.7岁，在全球人均寿命排名中相当靠后，但很多有关年龄的奇闻都发生在印度。

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