又中又英——reversal of fortune

　　The Year of the Rat is just two days away. Will it bring a reversal of fortune? No one knows for sure. But I know for sure many Hong Kong people are hoping the Year of the Rat will bring a reversal of fortune. The expression "reversal of fortune" means a big change in something so that it becomes the opposite of what it was. There have been many reversals of fortune in Hong Kong in the Year of the Pig, which will end tomorrow. Many shops and hotels which made big bucks (a lot of money) from mainland tourists are now losing money because anti-government protests caused by the government's now-withdrawn extradition bill have frightened away tourists.
　　Hong Kong's police have gone through the biggest reversal of fortune in the Year of the Pig. Many Hong Kong people used to admire and respect the police, but opinion polls now show people hate the police for the way they handled the protests. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has also gone through a reversal of fortune. Hong Kong people supported her when she replaced Leung Chun-ying as leader. But now she is despised (hated) because she ignored huge protest marches against her extradition bill. Hong Kong's democracy camp has gone through a big reversal of fortune. Previously, it never did well in district council elections. But it won almost all the seats in the November elections because voters supported the protest movement.
　　In my previous column, I explained some rat idioms. One of my favourite rat idioms is "rat race". This means a way of life in which people compete with each other for power and money. The rat race is common in places such as Hong Kong, New York, and London. It is less common in mainland China because even though people can compete for money, they cannot compete for power. The Communist Party controls power. There will be a rat race for power in September when the establishment and democracy camps compete to win the Legislative Council elections.
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　　还有两天就到鼠年了。究竟这一年会否带来命运的逆转（reversal of fortune）？没有人能确定。但我肯定，许多香港人都希望鼠年会时来运转（reversal of fortune）。习语reversal of fortune意即转运，命运有了一百八十度的大逆转。猪年明天就结束，香港在这个猪年经历了许多翻天覆地的逆转（reversals of fortune）。政府现已撤回的引渡条例所引致的反政府示威，吓怕了游客不敢来港，许多以前从内地游客身上赚大钱（big bucks）的商店和酒店因而蚀钱。
　　香港警队也在猪年经历了最大的命运逆转（reversal of fortune）。从前许多香港人都欣赏和尊敬警察，但现在的民意调查显示，人们因着他们处理示威活动的手法而厌恶他们。特首林郑月娥也经历了一场命运逆转（reversal of fortune）。
　　她取代梁振英成为领袖时，香港人亦支持她；但因为她无视那些反对她的引渡条例的大型示威游行，现在她已被蔑视厌弃（despised）。香港的民主派阵营亦经历了翻天覆地的变化（reversal of fortune）：从前，他们在区议会选举中从未有好的成绩，但在十一月的区选中竟夺取了差不多全部议席，因为选民都支持这场抗争运动。
　　在上一篇专栏中，我解释了一些关乎老鼠的俗语，其中一个我最喜欢的老鼠成语是rat race，意即激烈的龙争虎斗，人们为了权力和金钱拼个你死我活。这种日常在商界无休止的争权夺利（rat race），在香港、纽约和伦敦这些地方是很普遍的；而在中国内地，这就没那么普遍，因为即使人们可以为了金钱而竞争，他们不能争夺权力——共产党手握一切权力。而在九月，建制派与民主派为求争夺立法会议席，又会有一番龙争虎斗（rat race）了。
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中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁