又中又英｜Ups and downs - Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

2022/01/20 04:14:59 網誌分類: 生活

20 Jan

Festivals come once a year, such as Christmas, Easter, and Lunar New Year. People celebrate with family gatherings, special meals, and holidays. But for me festivals are also a time to reflect which, when used this way, means to think deeply about something. I think about the ups and downs of the past twelve months and what is in store for me in the next twelve months. The expression "ups and downs" means a mixture of good and bad things that happen. If something is in store for you, it means it will happen to you in the future. Even though I don't know what's in store for me I like to celebrate festivals.

Every Christmas I listen to Christmas carols, eat turkey, and watch the movie version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I sometimes go to church for midnight mass even though I am not religious. During Easter I don't eat meat on Good Friday because that's the day to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. I don't eat meat on Diwali, the Indian New Year. During Lunar New Year I like to eat a vegetarian dish made with mushrooms, tofu puffs, vegetables, and other ingredients. It is my favourite Chinese dish but I don't know how to make it! Sometimes my Hong Kong friends make it for me but I haven't eaten it for a long time.

Every Lunar New Year's Eve I go to the Victoria Park flower fair. That is impossible this year. I now live in Manhattan and there are no flower fairs anyway. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor cancelled them because of Omicron. She has also shut down bars and gyms for several weeks and restaurants after 6pm. The Airport Authority has banned the transit of flight passengers from over 100 countries. This affects many air passengers who want to spend Lunar New Year with their families. Will the Year of the Tiger bring good luck to Hong Kong? Your guess is as good as mine, which means I don't know.
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節慶都是一年一度的，例如聖誕、復活節，以及農曆新年。人們會以家庭相聚、特別大餐以及放假來慶祝。但對我來說，節慶也是一個reflect的時候——在這裏的意思是去深思、認真地思考。我回想過去十二個月的起跌（ups and downs），而面前的十二個月又會發生（in store for me）甚麼事情呢。習語 "ups and downs" 是指人生的浮沉興衰，摻雜苦與樂。若某事是in store for you，意即在未來將要發生在你身上的事。即使我不知道，等待着我的是個怎樣的未來（in store for me），我仍喜歡慶祝節日。

每逢聖誕，我都會聽聖誕歌、吃火雞，以及看查爾斯‧狄更斯《聖誕頌歌》的電影版。我有時也會去教堂參與子夜彌撒，即使我並不信教。在復活節期間，我也不會在耶穌受難日當天吃肉，因為那是紀念耶穌釘十架的日子。我也不會在印度新年排燈節期間吃肉。農曆新年時，我也喜歡吃一碟用冬菇、豆卜及其他材料煮成的齋菜，那是我最喜歡的一道中菜，但我卻不知道怎樣烹製！有時我的香港朋友會為我做這道菜，但我已很久沒有吃過了。

每逢年三十晚，我都會去維園花市，但今年就不可能這樣做了。我現居曼哈頓，這裏怎說也不會有甚麼花市；特首林鄭月娥亦因為Omicron病毒而取消了花市，她亦已關閉了酒吧和健身室好幾個星期，晚上六時後餐廳也沒有堂食。機場管理局已禁止超過一百個國家的飛機乘客在香港轉機，這大大影響許多想跟家人度歲的飛機乘客。虎年可以為香港帶來好運嗎？ Your guess is as good as mine——我跟你一樣，都不知道呢。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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