又中又英——Hong Kong people have gone berserk

　　Hong Kong people have gone berserk. Every time I go to the supermarket I see hysterical people buying everything and anything they can lay their hands on. Everyone is following a herd mentality. For days now, I have avoided going to the supermarket. I hate to see hysterical people following a herd mentality. Luckily, I still have a few cans of food, several packets of frozen fish and vegetables, and a packet of pasta at home. I also have three rolls of toilet paper left. Hopefully, people will no longer be hysterical after a few days when I will need to buy more food and toilet paper.
　　The word “berserk” used this way means crazy or insane. If you are hysterical, it means you are unable to control your feelings or behaviour. The expression “lay your hands on” something means to manage to find or obtain something that is difficult to get. The expression “herd mentality” means large numbers of people all following each other in doing the same thing. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, when a sheep jumps over a cliff, the rest follow, all dying. This is a herd mentality. Hong Kong people are all following each other in buying more rice, toilet paper, and other types of food than they need. They are afraid the Wuhan coronavirus will soon cause a shortage of these things.
　　There is a shortage of facemasks but no shortage of rice, toilet paper, and food. The food and toilet paper shortage in supermarkets is caused by panic-buying, which means buying more than you need because you fear something bad will happen. Many hysterical people are buying much more rice than they need. They need to know rice can spoil (go bad) in hot weather and insects can get into the rice. People who buy much more than they need are selfish because it means there will be none left for others. I hope these selfish people will get diarrhea from eating spoiled food. They can then use up all the toilet paper they got from panic-buying.
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　　香港人已经发疯（berserk）了。每一次我去超市，都见到歇斯底里（hysterical）的人买尽一切和任何弄得到手的（lay their hands on）货物。人人都是羊群心理（herd mentality）。至今我已经有多日不去超级市场了，我讨厌见到歇斯底里（hysterical）的人有着羊群心理（herd mentality）。幸好，我家里还有几罐罐头、几包急冻鱼和菜，以及一包意大利面食。我也还有三卷厕纸。希望几天过后，当我需要买更多食物和厕纸的时候，人们不再是那么歇斯底里（hysterical）。
　　Berserk在这里解作发狂的、精神失常的。若你是hysterical，即是指你不能控制自己的情绪与行为。习语“lay your hands on” something意即把一样很难得到的事物弄到手。习语“herd mentality”即是指一大群人追随大众的想法与行为，去做同一件事。有时候，不知何故，当一只羊跳下悬崖，其余的羊群也会跟随，以致所有羊都堕崖而死，这就是羊群心理（herd mentality）。香港人也是见别人做甚么便跟着做，买更多的米、厕纸以及多于自己所需用的食物。他们担心，武汉新冠状病毒肺炎很快会导致这些物资短缺。
　　市面上确实是缺口罩，但米、厕纸和食物的货源并未短缺。超市的食物和厕纸缺货，是源于panic-buying，即是你因为担心不好的事将会发生而去疯狂抢购，买多于你所需用的。许多歇斯底里（hysterical）的人买的米，是多于自己所需要的。他们须知道，米在炎热的天气会腐坏（spoil），也会有虫走入米缸中。买多于自己需用的那些人是自私的，因为这就令其他人买不到了。我希望这些自私的人会因为吃到变坏的（spoiled）食物而腹泻；这样，他们便可以用掉他们抢购（panic-buying）回来的所有厕纸了。
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中译：七刻

Michael Chugani 褚简宁