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 coverage 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 wrangles, train fares and franchises, university places and heinous 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 relentless rhythm of life is positively 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 recurring 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 goodwill 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 whatsoever to contemplate 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 Testament 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。