駱駝摔跤，給狂歡一個理由
異域采風
Camels and wrestling. I never thought I’d say those two words in the same sentence. Now you won’t see this in 1）Marrakesh， probably， not yet anyway， but camel wrestling is a thing in Turkey， where the animals are trained to square off in 2）bouts of strength and skill.
Camels are tall， 3）lumbering creatures. You don’t want to get in their way. They can move surprisingly quickly， especially when two are locking necks， almost like a double 4）helix， trying to overpower each other.
Turkey’s largest camel-wrestling tournament is held annually here in Sel？uk， a market town of about 20，000 people.
Camels are naturally pretty 5）docile creatures， but get more aggressive during mating season， so that’s when the competitions are held. Female camels aren’t welcome at the events. If they were here， things might get really serious. With about 130 male camels and tens of thousands of drunken spectators， these camels are 6）riled up enough. Ahmet Sarsilmaz has been training camels for 15 years. He says they’re intelligent， sensitive creatures， but he said， when things get tense， camels get aggressive， and then they’re ready to wrestle.
Camels have long been critical to the economic development of this area. They carry crops like olives and figs to nearby seaports. When the railroads came， about 150 years ago， camels had less practical use， so people who were fond of raising them had to find other reasons to keep them. Gokhan Sertcelik is a local attorney who grew up here and has been coming to camel bouts since he was about six. He says many people here revere camels almost like sports heroes.
Sertcelik： I have seen lots of people， when their favorite camel was beaten， they were crying. You know， it’s not about gambling. It’s about love.