作者：Alice的学习笔记

原文

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. This proverb means people who sleep early and wake up early will be healthy, making them successful in life. Nowadays, some consider it politically incorrect to say “man”, preferring “person” instead. My own view is we should not change old proverbs just to be politically correct. Changing proverbs is like tampering (interfering) with history and tradition. In today’s very busy world, the saying “early to bed, early to rise” has lost its meaning. Even school-age children go to bed late playing with mobile phones but must wake up early for school.

This makes them groggy. The word “groggy” used this way means weak or unable to concentrate from lack of sleep. Nowadays, many adults who have jobs burn the midnight oil instead of following the proverb “early to bed, early to rise”. I often use the expression “burn the midnight oil” and heard it recently while watching a Netflix movie. To “burn the midnight oil” means to work late into the night. The expression originated long ago when people had to use an oil lamp or candle because there was no electricity. I think “early to bed, early to rise” is good advice but was hard to follow for me when I had TV shows and columns.

I always had to burn the midnight oil writing my columns and preparing for my TV shows. I even fell asleep many times while burning the midnight oil writing columns and drinking wine! Now that I have resigned from my TV shows and newspaper columns except for Headline Daily, I should follow the proverb “early to bed, early to rise” but I don’t. I have become “late to bed, late to rise” because every evening I watch Netflix, then read novels late into the night. Even though I am late to rise, I still feel groggy when I wake up. But hiking in country parks makes me feel better.

单词、短语

• burn the midnight oil
  挑灯夜战，开夜车，英文解释为：to work or study until late at night。
     She takes her exams next week, so she's burning the midnight oil.
     她下周要考试, 所以在开夜车.

• proverb
  谚语，俗语。
     An old Arab proverb says, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'.
     一句古老的阿拉伯谚语说，“敌人的敌人是朋友."

• tamper
  干预；篡改，英语解释为：If someone tampers with something, they interfere with it or try to change it when they have no right to do so.
     I don't want to be accused of tampering with the evidence...
     我不希望被人控告篡改证据。
     He found his computer had been tampered with.
     他发现他的电脑被人动过手脚。

• groggy
  (因疾病或疲劳而)昏昏沉沉，眩晕无力，踉踉跄跄。

• late into the night
  直至深夜。
     We talked late into the night, but nothing was concluded.
     我们一直谈到深夜，可是没有作出任何决定。

• my view is ....
  我的观点是……；我认为……
     My own view is absolutely clear. What I did was right...
     我自己的观点非常清楚。我做的事是正确的。
     I believe my view is widely shared.
     我相信我的观点为大部分人所认同。

翻译

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. 这句谚语的意思是，早睡早起的人，会更健康、富裕和聪明，人生会更成功。今时今日，一些人认为说“man”是政治不正确的，情愿用“person”来泛指「人」。我的看法是，我们不应单单为了政治正确而去改变古老的谚语。刻意去修改谚语就似在窜改（tampering）历史与传统。在今天如此繁忙的世界中，早睡早起（“early to bed, early to rise”）这个说法难免失去了意义。就连那些因为玩手机而晚睡的学龄儿童，也必须早早起床上学。

这就会令他们groggy—— groggy在这里是指因为睡眠不足而变得昏昏沉沉，难以集中精神。今时今日，亦有许多需要工作的成年人要「开夜车」（burn the midnight oil），而非像谚语“early to bed, early to rise”般早睡早起。我不时会用到“burn the midnight oil”这个习语，最近看一出Netflix的电影时也有听到。To “burn the midnight oil”即挑灯夜战、彻夜不眠工作。这个习语源自很久以前，当时还没有电力，人们要用油灯又或蜡烛之时。我认为早睡早起“early to bed, early to rise”是个好建议，但当我还有电视节目和写专栏等工作时，就较难以遵从。

我以往为了写专栏和预备电视节目，常要熬夜工作（burn the midnight oil）。我甚至试过多番在开夜车（burn the midnight oil）写专栏和喝酒之际睡着了！现在除了《头条日报》的专栏，我已经辞去了电视节目和报章专栏的工作，我好应遵从早睡早起“early to bed, early to rise”这个谚语，可是却没有。我已经变成晚睡睌起（“late to bed, late to rise”），因为每一晚我也在看Netflix，然后读小说至夜深。即使我已经很晚起床（late to rise），睡醒后却仍然感到昏沉无力（groggy）。不过，到郊野公园远足令我感觉好多了。

原文作者：Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
中文翻译：七刻

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