智慧人生篇章 第65期:人生需要间歇

 　　Whatever happened to the silly season?  今年的新闻饥荒期是怎么回事？

　　You know, that time of the year when the wisdom of the 1st century poet Horace is adopted by news editors, 新闻饥荒期，众所周知，就是每年记者们对公元1世纪的诗人贺拉斯说过的一句至理名言进行实践的一段时期。

　　"Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans, it's lovely to be silly at the right moment". "在你认真的计划里添加一些愚笨，在恰当的时候装糊涂是蛮可爱的。"

　　I was speaking to a national Sunday newspaper journalist this week who admitted that the choice of Prime Minister's holiday footwear was struggling to get its usual coverage¹ this year. 这周我和一家行销全国的周报的记者聊天时他说道今年首相度假穿的鞋子不能获得以往规模的版面了。

　　The Olympics had got in the way for a start. 首先来抢版面的是奥运会，

　　And since then there has been a constant drip feed of diplomatic wrangles², train fares and franchises³, university places and heinous⁴ crimes. 之后是断断续续的关于外交纠纷、车费、商业授权、高校校区和几起重罪案件的报道。

　　It's hardly what the Americans call "the slow news season" or, much more dramatically in France, "la saison morte", the dead season. 以往这段时期被美国人称为"新闻淡季"，而法国报界更是死气沉沉。但是今年情况有所不同。

　　One of the great advantages of times like this if the traditional silly season has kicked in, is that the usual and relentless⁵ rhythm of life is positively⁶ disturbed. 每年如果"新闻饥荒期"到了会有一个好处，那就是它会良性地打断我们一成不变的生活节奏。

　　Perhaps more than ever, in a 24 hours news culture we need those moments in the year, the period between Christmas and New Year is another, when we can pause a little. 在如今24小时的新闻文化中，也许我们比以往任何时候都更需要一段那样的时期来歇一歇。圣诞节到新年期间也是一段这样的时期。

　　In the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible we are told categorically that there is a right time to pause and to reflect. We work, we go about our business,  《圣经》第一卷第一章就明确告诉我们，有时我们需要停下来反省片刻。我们工作，我们处理日常，

　　but equally important is that time of the day and of the year when we should quite simply be more reflective and to take stock. 但同样重要的是，一天当中或一年当中我们有时间去思考，反省，进行自我提高。

　　This is a recurring⁷ theme, again and again, in the Wisdom literature, be still, reflect, pause, stop it. 这是一个永恒的主题。在智慧文学中它一次又一次地出现--静下心来，反思，暂停，然后回归正常！

　　This understanding of human beings needing contrasting times of activity and non-activity has always been my spiritual argument for one day in the week to be different from all the others. 我一直努力让一周中的一天与其他的日子有所不同。因为知道人类需要有两种相对的状态--静止与活动。

　　Whilst the commercial reasoning in the depths of a recession for shops to be open longer on Sundays following the Olympic experiment might seem a good idea, 模拟奥运之后，在如今经济严重衰退的时期，延长商店周日营业时间从商业逻辑上来说是个好主意，

　　isn't it really wonderful that one day stands out from all the others for the majority, even if we rely on the goodwill⁸ of others to keep the world going round? For we all need a change. 但是能够享受一天与众不同的时光不是更好吗？虽然生活的运转并非基于个人的活动，但是一周当中留出一天不同的时光难道不是更美妙吗？因为我们大家都需要偶尔的改变。

　　Life shouldn't really be one concentrated mass of complicated issues where we have no time whatsoever⁹ to contemplate¹⁰ the meaning of what or who we are in it all? Life shouldn't really be one concentrated mass of complicated issues where we have no time whatsoever to contemplate the meaning of what or who we are in it all.

　　One of the Old Testament¹¹ Proverbs suggests that if you answer a silly question you are just as silly as the one who asked it. 旧约圣经箴言之一，回答蠢人的问题会让你和发问的人一样蠢。

　　But silly questions and silly seasons can break the pattern and make us smile. 但有时一些傻问题可能在我们如一潭死水的生活中溅起涟漪，偶尔的停滞期能够使我们愉悦身心。

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 wrangles   

n.（尤指长时间的）激烈争吵，口角，吵嘴( wrangle的名词复数 )v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• We avoided wrangles and got down to business. 他们避免了争吵开始做正事。 来自辞典例句
• They hope to see politicians in exciting wrangles and to get some fun out of politics. 他们期望政治人物进行有趣的战斗，期望从政治中获得娱乐。 来自互联网

3 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

4 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

5 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

6 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

7 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

8 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

9 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

10 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

11 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。