为了宣传戒酒，俄罗斯卫生社会发展部制作了一个戒酒宣传片《恶魔松鼠》。 该宣传片的主角是一只喝多了撒酒疯的松鼠，它在片中又唱又跳，吹嘘如何帮朋友抓蜘蛛，并提出要杀死朋友的“恶魔”老婆，最后因喝酒被带上法庭。该宣传片推出后，撒酒疯的小松鼠在网络上迅速走红，点击率超过百万。俄卫生部推出这个宣传片，目的是促使饮酒豪放的国人少贪杯中物，更希望让人们思考，如何拥有健康的生活。据了解，俄罗斯每人每年平均摄入的酒精达18升，远远超出了世界卫生组织设定的最大摄入量。

选择松鼠作为该宣传片的主角也不是偶然之举。在俄语俚语里，形容一个人醉酒后产生幻觉常用的一个表达是belochka，相当于英语中的a little squirrel（一只小松鼠）。

Russia’s health ministry has rolled out an unlikely new weapon in its fight against rampant alcoholism: a video of a drunken squirrel hallucinating.

The 'demon squirrel’ clip has become a smash hit on the Internet where it has been viewed more than one million times attracting a slew of critical and positive comments.

Part of the Kremlin’s toughest anti-alcohol campaign since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the video was released after President Dmitry Medvedev described the country’s drinking problem as “a national disaster.”

The animated squirrel featured in the video is meant as a cautionary tale about the effects of binging on alcohol and vodka, Russia’s national tipple, in particular.

The advert’s creators did not choose a squirrel as their anti-hero by chance. In Russian slang, delirium tremens, the moment of inebriation when people start to get the shakes and to hallucinate, is known as “belochka” or “a little squirrel.” The squirrel in the video, who is red-eyed and bedraggled, is therefore shown ranting, singing, and delivering a nonsensical monologue.

He talks about “chasing spiders up the walls” and finishes up by offering to kill his neighbour’s wife because she is “the devil.”

“Are you a boozer?” the deranged squirrel asks in the finale. “Then I am coming around to your place.”

The colourful ad campaign follows a decision to introduce a minimum price for a half-litre bottle of vodka of 89 roubles (1.78 pounds) and to reduce the amount of alcohol permissible in motorists’ blood to nil.

Russians drink more than 18 litres (32 pints) of pure alcohol per capita per year, more than double the World Health Organisation’s recommended maximum.

At a time when Russia is trying to stem a serious population decline, encouraging people to drink less alcohol is being seen as a matter of self-preservation.

Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, and President Medvedev often try to set an example by being photographed sipping tea.

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(Agencies)

Vocabulary:

delirium tremens: acute delirium caused by alcohol poisoning, 酒精中毒引起谵妄（幻觉）。

（视频来源：土豆网，中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）