又中又英 | Lingering memories | 褚簡寧

　　Most memories are short-lived in today's busy world. If something is short-lived, it means it only lasts for a short time. It is normal for people to forget what they did a few days or a few weeks ago. But people often have lingering memories of past events that deeply affected their lives. About six years have passed since the Covid pandemic, which killed millions globally. Many Hongkongers still have lingering memories of shutdowns. The word "lingering" means lasting for a long time. Lingering memories are memories that people don't easily forget.

　　The tragic Wang Fuk Court fire, which killed at least 160 people, was Hong Kong’s worst fire in more than seven decades. It traumatized not only those affected but the whole of Hong Kong. If people are traumatized, it means they are severely shocked in a way that causes lasting emotional pain. Memories of this traumatic tragedy will not be short-lived. They will linger in our collective memory for a very long time. It will be almost impossible for those whose family members died in the fire to erase this tragedy from their memories.

　　It is normal for people to be emotionally affected when a close family member, such as a parent, dies. There is a saying that time heals. It is human nature for people to deal with the death and get on with their lives as time passes. That will be much harder for those who have lost family members in the Wang Fuk Court fire because of the tragic and unnatural way they died. All we can hope as Hongkongers is for them to eventually find closure. To find closure means eventually finding a sense of peace that allows people to finally accept something and move forward.

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　　在今天忙碌的世界中，大部分的記憶都是short-lived－－若某事物是short-lived，意即它只存在很短的時間。人們會忘掉幾日前或幾個星期前的事情是很正常的。然而，人們對於一些影響自己人生至深的往事，則常有揮之不去的記憶（lingering memories）。自新冠肺炎世紀大疫症首次爆發，奪去全球數以百萬人的生命，至今已過了差不多6年。許多香港人對於封關的記憶仍然縈繞不去（lingering memories）。Lingering解作持續很長一段時間，lingering memories則是指人們不會輕易忘掉那些記憶。

　　悲慘的宏福苑大火，導致至少160人喪生，是香港超過70年來最嚴重的大火。它不單traumatized受影響的人，更是整個香港。若人們是 traumatized，意即他們極為震驚，以至帶來長久的精神損傷。這種痛苦（traumatic）慘劇的記憶，並不是短暫的（short-lived），它們會在我們集體記憶中留存（linger）。而那些有家人在大火中喪生的，要從記憶中抹除這次慘劇，更是幾近不可能的。

　　當有一個至親的家人如父母逝世，人們受情緒影響是很正常的。有俗語說，時間會治癒一切。當時間流逝，人們能應對死亡，繼續生活，這是人性使然。但這對於那些在宏福苑大火中失去家人的就難很多，這是因為他們悲慘和非自然的死亡方式。我們身為香港人對他們所能期盼的，是他們最終能find closure－－to find closure是指最終能找得平靜之感，讓人最後得以安然接受某事情，繼續向前走。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻