No. 10 has its first cat since Humphrey

      Nearly a decade since Humphrey was shown the door to No. 10 Downing Street, the prime ministerial house has a cat in residence again.

      Sybil, named after Basil's wife in the classic 1970s sitcom "Fawlty Towers," has moved down from Edinburgh with Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and his family who are living in the three-bedroomed flat above No. 10.

      Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his wife Sarah and their two sons live in the bigger flat at Number 11 Downing Street, traditionally the home of the Chancellor.

      Details on Sybil remain scant for the moment but she shares a thespian name with her predecessor -- Humphrey was named after Sir Humphrey Appleby in the "Yes Minister" political comedy show.

      She also enjoys a distinct advantage over Humphrey in that she comes with the family rather than the house.

      Humphrey, who died in March 2006, had walked into London's most powerful address as a stray late in Margaret Thatcher's premiership in 1989.

      He lived there on and off during the John Major years as a passive Conservative ally but fell from grace after Labour's landslide election victory in May 1997.

      Six months later Humphrey was gone, amid much newspaper speculation that new occupant Tony Blair's wife Cherie was behind the move.

      "The Prime Minister doesn't have a problem with it (the cat). Sarah Brown doesn't have a problem with it," said Brown's spokesman Tuesday, confirming Sybil was now in residence.

      Before Humphrey, the best known was Wilberforce who lived at No. 10 during the Edward Heath years, and who died in 1988.

      在汉弗莱被逐出唐宁街10号近十年后，英国首相官邸又迎来了一只“第一猫”。

      这只名叫西碧尔的猫得名于上世纪70年代经典情景喜剧《弗尔蒂旅馆》中巴兹尔的妻子。日前，它跟随英国财政大臣阿里斯戴尔•达林一家从爱丁堡搬进了唐宁街10号的一套三居室公寓里。

      戈登•布朗首相与夫人莎拉及他们的两个儿子住在唐宁街11号的一套更大的公寓里。按照惯例这里是财政大臣的官邸。

      目前有关西碧尔的具体情况了解的还不多，但她与首相府“前任”第一猫汉弗莱一样，都得名于戏剧人物。汉弗莱得名于政治讽刺喜剧《是，首相》中的汉弗莱•阿波比爵士。

      而且西碧尔比汉弗莱要幸福得多，她跟随财政大臣一家入住唐宁街10号，而不是流浪至此。

      汉弗莱于2006年3月去世。1989年，在撒切尔夫人担任首相的后期，这只流浪猫被唐宁街10号收留。

      撒切尔夫人离开唐宁街后，他继续留在那“效忠”保守党首相约翰•梅杰，直到1997年5月，工党以压倒性的胜利赢得大选之后，汉弗莱便失宠了。

      新首相入主唐宁街六个月后，汉弗莱便失踪了，这引起英国媒体的诸多猜测，很多人认为新任首相布莱尔的妻子切丽是汉弗莱失踪的“幕后黑手”。

      布朗的发言人于本周二称：“布朗首相和夫人都很欢迎西碧尔的到来。”他还向外界确认西碧尔现已入住唐宁街10号。

      在汉弗莱之前，最著名的“第一猫”是爱德华•希斯时代的威尔伯福斯，它于1988年去世。

      Vocabulary:

      be shown the door : 被赶出；被逐出

      fall from grace : 堕落；失去宠爱