《指環王》粉絲將耳朵整形成精靈耳大綱

A 23-year-old Canadian Model knows something about "elf esteem" after having her ears surgically modified to look like the mythical creature's.
一位23歲的加拿大模特把自己的耳朵整形成了和神話裏的精靈一樣，如今她應該對所謂“精靈的尊嚴”有所認識了吧。
* elf esteem：原爲self esteem（自尊），這裏將self改成了elf（小精靈）。

In August, 2011, Melynda Moon decided to get an operation that would make her ears look like a character from her favorite book series, "Lord of the Rings."
2011年8月，梅蘭達·莫恩決定做個手術，使自己的耳朵看起來像她最喜歡的書——《指環王》——裏的某位人物一樣。

"The elegance of the elf ear is something I adore," she explained on a YouTube video documenting the surgery.
“我非常喜歡精靈優美的耳朵”，她在記錄了這次手術的YouTube視頻裏解釋道。

Moon, who lives in Guelph, Ontario, said the decision to change her elf, er, herself, was a long time coming. She believes she was a fairy in a previous existence.
莫恩住在安大略湖的圭爾夫市，她說在決定做這次手術前，她已經考慮了很久。她堅信她前世是個仙女。

"I have always been very close to nature. Pointed ears are the most adorable thing, and I find the 'elven' attire is so elegant," she said, according to International Business Times. "I have always had fantasies about what it would be like to be something other than human, so I decided to change my appearance to looksupernatural."
“我一直都與大自然十分親近。尖尖的耳朵最可愛了，而且我發現‘精靈族’的服裝非常優雅”，國際財經時報上的報道中她如是說。“我一直很好奇，成爲非人類的感覺是什麼樣子？所以我決定改變我的外表，讓自己看起來像是一個超自然的生物。”

The doctors who performed the $408 surgery skinned the tops of her ear cartilage, then skinned and cut pieces from the tips to form points. These tips were stitched together and removed a few weeks later after the ear skin was allowed to fuse.
這次手術的費用爲408美元。醫生先剝離她耳軟骨上端的皮，把軟骨上端削尖。然後將末端的皮膚縫合起來，幾周後當耳部皮膚癒合後再將縫合物移除。

Moon said the treatment left her "a bit uncomfortable the day after" and her ears "were really swollen and sore with a slight burning sensation."
莫恩說手術讓她“在第二天有點難受”，她的耳朵“腫起來了，而且有點灼燒的痛感”。

But she said it's been worth it just for the reaction she gets from people.
但她說手術後其他人對她的看法令她覺得這點痛很值得。

"I have a handful of people assume I am dressed up because I have put on pointed ears," she said.
“有很多人認爲我可能精心裝扮過，因爲我裝了一對尖耳朵”，她說道。

"When I tell them they are real, they look pretty confused as if they are waiting for me to say 'just kidding' -- but I am not."
“當我告訴他們，這對耳朵是真的的時候，他們擺出一副疑惑的表情，好像等着我說‘開玩笑的啦’——但我說的是真話。”

Moon admits that some parents have used her to keep their kids on Santa's good side.
莫恩承認有些父母利用她來使孩子相信聖誕老人真的存在，讓他們做好孩子。

"Some people like to tell their kids to stop being bad because they know an elf will tell Santa they're being bad," she said. "Then their children see my ears and realize their parents aren't joking."
“一些人告訴自己的孩子不要做壞事，因爲他們知道有一個精靈會告訴聖誕老人他們不是好孩子”，她說道，“孩子們一看到我的耳朵，就會意識到爸爸媽媽並不是在開玩笑。”