Like Rats Abandoning a Sinking Ship

2020/01/21 04:12:30 網誌分類: 生活

21 Jan

        　　Christmas and the Western New Year have come and gone. Chinese New Year is just a few days away. It is known globally as Lunar New Year although Hong Kong people prefer to call it Chinese New Year. People on the mainland usually call it the Spring Festival. To me, this doesn’t make sense because Chinese New Year is always in winter, not spring. I prefer to call it the Lunar New Year because the first day of Chinese New Year is based on the lunisolar calendar. The word “lunisolar” relates to the phases of the moon and the sun. The Lunar New Year is also the New Year for Vietnam and Korea. That’s why I think it’s more accurate to call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year.

         The first day of the Lunar New Year in 2020 is January 25, which is just a few days away. It will be the Year of the Rat. People born in the Year of the Rat are supposed to be intelligent and quick-witted. If you are quick-witted, it means you are good at thinking and reacting very quickly. But in Western culture, there are many English idioms that denigrate (insult, criticize) rats. A good example is “like rats abandoning (or deserting) a sinking ship”. This idiom describes disloyal people who will leave very quickly to save themselves when something is failing.

         For example, you are like a rat abandoning a sinking ship if you are among the first to leave something that is failing, such as a company or a sinking ship, to save yourself. If you rat on someone, it means you are not loyal to that person by revealing secrets about that person. For example, if your good friend tells you he wears black clothes and a black mask to secretly join protests and you tell the police or his family, you have ratted on your friend. There are many rat idioms. I will explain some more in my next column.

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        　　聖誕和西方新曆新年來了又走了。中國新年還有幾天就要來臨。它在世界各地其實多被稱為農曆新年，雖然香港人較傾向叫它做中國新年。內地人則通常叫它做春節。對我來說這並不太合理，因為中國農曆新年通常都在冬季而非春季。我較傾向叫它做農曆新年，因為年初一是根據陰陽（lunisolar）曆去計算的。Lunisolar一字是關乎於日相與月相。農曆新年也是越南和韓國的新年。因此我認為叫它做農曆新年，比稱之為中國新年更為準確。

        　　二○二○年的農曆新年大年初一是在一月二十五日，距今只有幾天。今年會是鼠年。鼠年出生的人應該都是聰明且機智的（quick-witted）。若你是 quick-witted，意即你是轉數快的、機敏的，能迅速作出反應。但在西方文化中，有許多英文成語是詆毁（denigrate）老鼠的，其中一個很好的例子就是“like rats abandoning (or deserting) a sinking ship”。這個俗語是形容那些不忠誠的人，當發現事情不對勁的時候，他們都（像老鼠一樣）爭着跳船自保。

        　　譬如，若你為求自保，是第一批人去逃離某間快要倒閉的公司又或快要沉沒的船，那你就是like a rat abandoning a sinking ship。若你rat on someone，即是說你告密出賣了某人，將其秘密披露給他人知道。譬如，若你的好友跟你說他穿黑衣和戴黑色口罩，去秘密參與示威活動，你卻跟警方又或他的家人告密，那你就是 ratted on your friend。關於老鼠的成語還有許多，我在下一篇專欄中會再解說多一些。

        mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯：七刻



        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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