又中又英
又中又英
又中又英

A matriarch

2018/11/27 04:12:35 網誌分類: 生活
27 Nov
          Family reunions can be rewarding yet trying. As I said in previous columns, I was on a family reunion Mediterranean cruise last month. It was a large reunion with 15 members of my extended family, who live in the US. Squabbles (arguments) are inevitable (unavoidable) during large family reunions. I had two spats with my elder brother. My sister-in-law had a spat with my niece. Some of us had spats with my elder sister. But the spats were short. When the cruise ended, we all agreed we had a rewarding time and should have more family reunions.

          The adjective “rewarding” means satisfying or pleasing. The adjective “trying” means stressful or annoying. An extended family means a family that includes relatives such as uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces. A nuclear family means only the parents and their children. The word “spat” used this way is not the past tense of “spit”. It means a quarrel. When I returned from a Shanghai business trip last week, I saw media reports about a feud involving a well-known and wealthy Hong Kong family. A feud is a prolonged and acrimonious (angry, spiteful) quarrel. The media reports were about the 100th birthday of the Great Eagle group’s matriarch Lo To Lee-kwan. A matriarch is an elderly and powerful woman who is the head of a family.

          There have been many media reports recently about the feud among different members of the Lo family. Some of Lo To Lee-kwan’s children are fighting a court battle with her over the family fortune. I read that the matriarch’s youngest son Lo Kai-shui and another son and daughter attended her 100th birthday dinner but three other sons refused to go. The reports said the matriarch’s only wish was for a family reunion. When I read that, it made me think of my own family reunion . We had spats but agreed being together as a family is more important. When my mother passed away in my Seattle home, my extended family came to Seattle from different parts of the US and from Hong Kong. We were sad but also happy we could all be together.

        *****

          家族團聚可以很有意義(rewarding),卻也可以很惱人(trying)。正如我在之前的文章中所說,我上個月在地中海郵輪上與家人團聚。那是個很大的團聚,跟我十五名居於美國的大家庭(extended family)成員在一起。在大型家族團聚中,爭吵(squabbles)是在所難免的(inevitable)。我跟哥哥有過兩次的口角(spats),大嫂又跟我的姪女有次小爭執(spat),我們又有些人跟我姊姊有幾次口角(spats)。然而,這些小爭執(spats)都是短暫的。當郵輪之旅結束時,大家都同意我們共度了一個很有意義(rewarding)的時光,而將來亦應有更多的家族團聚。

          形容詞“rewarding”解作很有益、很值得和令人滿意的。形容詞“trying”是指令人厭煩和惱人的。An extended family就是幾代同堂的大家庭,包括叔伯舅父、姑嬸阿姨、兄弟、姊妹、侄子外甥和侄女外甥女。A nuclear family就是核心家庭,即只有父母和子女。Spat一字在這裏並非“spit”的過去式,而是解作小爭執。當我上星期從上海公幹回港,便看到傳媒報道香港一個知名有錢家族的夙怨(feud)。A feud是長期和激烈(acrimonious)的不和。傳媒報道是關於鷹君集團女領導人(matriarch)羅杜莉君的百歲壽辰。A matriarch就是家族的女首領,是最有權威的女長者。

          關於羅氏家族中不同成員之間的世仇(feud),最近已有不少傳媒報道。羅杜莉君的一些子女與她對簿公堂,爭奪家族資產。我讀到的那則新聞說,女領導人的(matriarch’s)孻子羅啟瑞,以及其他子女也有出席其百歲壽宴,但另外三名兒子卻拒絕出席。報道指,這位女領導人的唯一願望,就是家庭團聚。當讀至此,不禁令我想起自己的家族團聚。我們互相之間雖有小爭執(spats),但大家都認同一家人在一起是更重要的。當我母親於我那西雅圖的家中離世時,其他大家庭成員(extended family)也從美國不同地方,以及香港趕赴西雅圖。我們當時縱是憂傷,卻也慶幸我們能夠聚在一起。

        mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
回應 (0)
我要發表
user

網誌分類