A couple recovering from covid couldn’t smell the smoke when their house caught fire. Their toddler saved the family.

一對逐漸康復中的武漢肺炎確診夫妻，在他們房子著火時聞不到煙味，他們蹣跚學步的稚子救了一家人。

【摘要2022.5.13.五.自由】◎張沛元

Kayla and Nathan Dahl were fast asleep when their toddler approached their bed one recent morning to utter two of the few words he knows so far — words that would save his family from danger.

最近某天早上，凱拉與納森‧達爾正熟睡時，他們蹣跚學步的稚子走近他們的床，口吐他迄今所識不多的幾個字彙中的2個—這2個字彙拯救小孩的家人倖免於難。

"Mama, hot," Brandon, who turns 2 on Sunday, said while tugging his mother’s foot.

「媽媽，熱，」週日滿2歲的布蘭登一邊拉扯媽媽的腳一邊說。

Initially, Kayla, 28, said she thought her son just wanted his pajamas removed. But seconds later, she realized what her youngest child was trying to tell her: The family’s one-story colonial house in Alvord, Tex., was engulfed in flames.

28歲的凱拉說，她最初以為兒子只是想脫睡衣。但數秒後她就理解到，她的這個最小的孩子是想告訴她：這家人位於德州阿爾沃德的單層樓殖民式風格的房子，已陷入火海。

None of the smoke detectors in their home went off. And the Dahls, who had recently tested positive for the coronavirus, hadn’t been able to smell the smoke filling their home.

房子的煙霧偵測器全都沒響，而最近做新冠病毒篩檢呈陽性的達爾一家人，也聞不到瀰漫家中的煙味。

新聞辭典

fast asleep：片語，熟睡。asleep，形容詞，睡著的。

engulf：動詞，包圍、吞沒、淹沒。例句：The flood rapidly engulfed the entire village.（洪水迅速淹沒整個村莊。）

go off：片語（警報器等）突然發出巨響。例句：The alarm didn’t go off after someone broke into my car last night.（昨晚我的車被人撬開後，警報器沒響。）