deja vu
2019/11/05 04:12:35 網誌分類: 生活
The French expression deja vu means a strange feeling that you have already experienced something that is happening now or experiencing for the first time. Although I have been to London and Paris before, returning there after so many years still gave me a feeling of deja vu. London has become so cosmopolitan that the streets are filled with people of many different races talking in different languages. The word cosmopolitan means containing people and cultures from many different parts of the world.
London is a city intent on (determined) preserving its past yet making itself more modern. I saw so much construction of new buildings it reminded me of Hong Kong. But the London Underground, nicknamed the Tube, is antiquated (very old) and run-down (in bad condition). It is the world's oldest underground railway. The first line was built over 150 years ago. Several times the line I wanted to use was shut down for repairs. But what I liked about the Tube is that all the escalators had signs asking passengers to stand on the right, allowing other passengers to walk up or down. Hong Kong should do the same instead of asking passengers to stand still on escalators.
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在過去兩個星期，我呼吸到倫敦與巴黎那清新怡人（crisp）的秋天氣色。我已多年沒有踏足過倫敦與巴黎，今次再度遊覽，令我有種似曾經歷（deja vu）的感覺。倫敦與巴黎實在是雙城記，兩者都有自己的文化與歷史，卻又有着共同的民主價值。倫敦與巴黎的怡人（crisp）氣息，跟香港鬱悶難受的（stifling）空氣比起來，感覺清新而自由。我會在未來的專欄中寫多一點這雙城的故事，但今天就先集中講倫敦——我曾經在此任職新聞記者。Crisp一字有許多意思，但當用來形容空氣時則解作寒冷、清新、乾燥和怡人。Stifling一字是指非常悶熱的，但也可以解作政治上壓制得令人窒息的，例如居住在沒有自由的社會。
法文習語deja vu直譯為既視感，就是你有一種奇怪的感覺，現在所發生的事又或第一次經歷的事，好像之前已經歷過。雖然我以往曾經到過倫敦與巴黎，但這麼多年後再回來，仍然給我一種似曾經歷（deja vu）的感覺。倫敦已是非常世界性的（cosmopolitan）城市，滿街都是不同種族的人，說着不同的語言。Cosmopolitan意即國際性的，滿載世界各地不同角落的人與文化。
倫敦是個熱衷於（intent on）保存舊有歷史，卻又要令自己變得更先進的城市。我見到那麼多興建中的新大樓，令我想到香港。然而，倫敦的地鐵，暱稱the Tube，實在非常陳舊（antiquated）兼破爛失修（run-down）。它是世界上最古老的地下鐵路，第一條路線是在超過一百五十年前建造的。好幾次我想乘搭的支線，都因為要維修而關閉了。但我喜歡倫敦地鐵的地方是，所有扶手電梯都有標示，要求乘客站在右邊，容讓其他乘客可以走上或走落。香港應該有同樣的做法，而不是要求乘客在電梯上站着不動。中譯：七刻
褚簡寧
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