Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - red-eye flight｜又中又英

Last week I took a red-eye flight from San Diego back to Manhattan in New York City. As I explained before, the American slang word “red-eye” means a flight that takes off late at night. My five-hour flight to New York City took off at about 11.30 at night. I was in business class and had hoped to catch a few winks before arriving in New York City very early in the morning. The expression “catch a few winks” means to have a short nap (sleep). It is normally used for having a quick nap during the day but can also be used for situations such as a red-eye flight when most people are unable to sleep.
When I got to my aisle seat there was already a female passenger sitting in the window seat. She had a small unzipped bag on the floor underneath the seat in front of her. In the bag was a small dog! I quietly said “just my luck” to myself. The expression “just my luck” is used when something bad happens to you. I thought the dog would bark during the five-hour flight, making it impossible for me to catch a few winks. I have never had a dog as a pet before because I don’t like dogs. I was worried the dog would lick my hands or bother me in other ways. But this dog was as good as gold.

The expression “as good as gold” means very obedient and well-behaved. It is usually used to describe well-behaved children but can sometimes be used to describe pets. The dog did not bark even once during the flight. It just went to sleep inside the bag. When we were about to land early in the morning the owner put the bag on her lap. The dog raised its head and yawned! I never knew dogs could yawn! It then looked out the window. Many airlines and countries allow small dogs in the passenger cabin but Hong Kong does not allow it.
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上星期我乘搭「紅眼」航班（red-eye flight），由聖地牙哥飛回紐約市的曼哈頓。正如我之前解釋過的，美式俚語“red-eye”是指深夜起飛的航班。我飛往紐約市的那班機需時五小時，於晚上十一時半起飛。我坐的是商務艙，希望在清晨時分抵達紐約市之前可以catch a few winks——習語“catch a few winks”是指打盹、小睡（nap）片刻。這通常是用於在日間來個短促的小睡（nap），但也可以用來形容另一些情況如紅眼航班（red-eye flight），因人們在這種環境下大多難以入眠。

當我到了我那靠通道的座位時，已經有一位女乘客坐在靠窗的座位上。她有一個細小沒有拉上拉鏈的袋子，放在她前面座位下的地上，而袋裏裝的是一隻小狗！我悄悄對自己說“just my luck”——習語“just my luck”即「真倒楣」，慨歎自己運氣不好。我以為在那五小時的機程裏那隻狗會吠叫，令我不可能小睡片刻（catch a few winks）。我從不曾養狗當寵物，因為我不喜歡狗，擔心狗隻會舔我的手又或有其他煩擾我的行為。不過，這隻狗是as good as gold。

習語“as good as gold”是指非常乖巧聽話、循規蹈矩；它通常用來形容聽話規矩的小孩，但有時也可以用來形容寵物。在那程機上，那隻狗沒有吠叫一聲，牠只是在袋裏睡覺。到了清晨時份我們差不多要着陸時，那名狗主將狗袋放在她的大腿上，那隻狗便抬起頭來打呵欠！我從不知道狗隻會打呵欠！之後牠便望出了窗外。許多航空公司和國家都會容許細小的狗隻上客艙，但香港是不容許的。
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧