【明報專訊】In 2011, Joao Pereira de Souza (佩雷拉), a 71-year-old retired fisherman, rescued a penguin on a beach on an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (巴西里約熱內盧). When it was found, the bird was starving and was covered with oil. Ever since it was saved, it has returned for him in June and left in February year after year.

Pereira de Souza named the penguin Dindim after rescuing it. He washed off all the oil that tarred its feathers and fed it with sardines in the next few days. Dindim did not leave when it was taken to the sea. "He (it) wouldn't leave, he (it) stayed with me for eleven months and then just after he had changed his feathers he disappeared," he said.

Pereira de Souza believed Dindim had a bond with him. ''No one else is allowed to touch him (it). It pecks them if they do.''

Dindim is a Magellanic penguin. The species normally breeds on the coasts of Argentina (阿根廷) and Chile (智利), nearly 5,000 miles away from where Dindim's saviour lives.

(source: Ming Pao, The Independent, CNN)

■Photo story

Joao Pereira de Souza developed an unlikely friendship with Dindim after saving it on a beach in Brazil.

■Words

sardines 沙甸魚

Magellanic penguin 麥哲倫企鵝

■Quiz

Choose the correct answers.

(answers on next text)

1. Where did Joao Pereira de Souza save Dindim?

a. in Argentina

b. in Chile

c. in Brazil

2. What did Pereira de Souza do after rescuing Dindim?

a. He changed Dindim's name.

b. He cleaned it.

c. He kept it as a pet.

3. Is Pereira de Souza the only person who can touch Dindim without being pecked by it?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Uncertain

4. Which of the following words can replace the word "bond" in paragraph three?

a. contact

b. connection

c. network

■Glossary

starve (v) 捱餓

tar (v) 用焦油或瀝青覆蓋

peck (v) 啄

breed (v) 繁殖