The world's oldest living animal is starting over with a clean sheet at 184 years old - after a vet¹ gave him his first ever bath.

世界上最年长的生物在184岁高龄时背着清爽的外壳，焕然一新了——兽医给它洗了个澡，还是这辈子头一回呢。

Jonathan the giant tortoise has come out of his shell after centuries of grime were painstakinglyscrubbed off his back with a loofah, soft brush and surgical² soap.

巨龟乔纳森从龟壳里探出脑袋，身上积了两百年的污垢已经小心擦除，清理工具是丝瓜瓤、软刷和手术肥皂。

Dr Joe Hollins, the vet for the British outpost of St Helena in the south Atlantic where Jonathan lives, decided³ to give him a spruce up ahead of a royal visit in a few weeks' time.

乔纳森生活在南大西洋的英国前哨小岛——圣赫勒拿岛上，英国王室将于数周后访问该岛。于是，岛上的兽医乔霍林斯决定为乔纳森梳洗打扮一番，迎接访问。

He carefully scrubbed each of the segments of Jonathan's shell, known as scutes, and removed blacksludge and bird droppings while the tortoise sedately⁴ chewed on grass.

他小心翼翼地擦洗了乔纳森外壳上的每一块甲片——学名“盾甲”，清除掉龟壳上的黑色泥垢和鸟粪，而乔纳森则在一边安静地咀嚼青草。

It was only after his bath it was realised the rings on his shell, which usually tell a tortoises' age, have completely worn away.

清洗过后，才看得出乔纳森身上显示龟龄的纹路已经悉数磨平。

Jonathan, who is 45ins long and can stand up to 2ft tall, arrived on St Helena as a gift to the governor from the Seychelles.

乔纳森身长45英寸(约1.14米)，站立高2英尺(约0.6米)，是塞舍尔送给圣赫勒拿岛督察的礼物。

In his time on St Helena he has seen 28 British governors come and go. Eight British monarchs⁵ from George IV to Elizabeth II have been crowned during his lifetime and 51 British Prime Ministers have served at 10 Downing Street.

它已经在圣赫勒拿岛上见证了28任英国督察的更迭，经历了自乔治四世到伊丽莎白二世共八代英帝国君王的加冕，而唐宁街10号已然更换了51任英国首相。