又中又英——rotten apple

　　A few weeks ago, I boiled an egg to make an egg and tomato sandwich for lunch. There was a foul smell when I removed the egg shell. I knew immediately it was a rotten egg and threw it into my kitchen trash (rubbish) bag. A few days later I noticed a hole in an apple for my breakfast. I cut away the hole and realized it was caused by a worm. It was a rotten apple. I threw that away too. I was reminded of these two incidents after I read an interview security secretary John Lee Ka-chiu gave to a state-run newspaper. The expression “state-run” when used to describe the media means newspapers and TV stations controlled by the central government.
　　Lee Ka-chiu claimed there are bad apples in Hong Kong’s teaching profession who radicalize students. The expression “bad apples” used this way means dishonest people or troublemakers who can have a bad influence on others. The expression “rotten apple” has the same meaning. They both can mean an apple with a worm inside or a bad person who can influence others. The expression “bad egg” has the same meaning as “rotten egg”. When used to describe an egg, it means the egg has become rotten and no longer edible. But when used to describe a person the expressions “bad egg” and “rotten egg” have the same meaning as “bad apple” and “rotten apple”.
　　The expression “black sheep” has a similar but not exactly the same meaning as a “bad apple” or “rotten egg” when used to describe a person. This expression normally applies to a person in a family. If someone does something bad or brings embarrassment to the family, that person is the black sheep of the family. The expression originated from the fact that sheep are usually white but there are black sheep in rare cases. Many of my friends said the real bad apples are in the government, not the teaching profession. Some said it jokingly. But others meant what they said. They criticized Lee Ka-chiu for insulting the teaching profession.
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　　几个星期前，我煮了一只蛋，去弄番茄蛋三文治做午餐。当我剥开蛋壳的时候，有一股发臭的气味。我立即知道那是一只坏了的蛋（rotten egg），就丢进厨房的垃圾（trash）袋里去了。几天后，我早餐吃苹果时，留意到苹果有一个小窿。我切开了那个窿，意识到那是因为虫蛀而成的。那是一个腐烂了的苹果（rotten apple），我又把它丢掉了。当我读到保安局局长李家超接受官方（state-run）报纸访问后，就想起这两件事来。习语“state-run”用来形容传媒时，是指受中央政府控制的报章和电视台。
　　李家超声称，在香港的教育界里有bad apples，令学生变得更激进。习语“bad apples”在这里是指不诚实或惹麻烦，会给他人带来坏影响的人。习语“rotten apple”也是同一意思。这两个词同样可以指有蛀虫的苹果，又或害群之马。习语“bad egg”就跟“rotten egg”的意思一样，用来形容一只蛋时，它是指鸡蛋已经坏了，不能再吃了；但当用来形容人的时候，习语“bad egg”和“rotten egg”就跟“bad apple”和“rotten apple”的意思一样。
　　用习语“black sheep”来形容人的时候，就跟“bad apple”或“rotten egg”有着相近但不完全一样的意思。这个习语通常是用来说家族中的一员——若某人做了一些坏事，又或令家族蒙羞，那败类就是家族中的black sheep。此习语是源于一个事实：羊通常都是白色的，但在罕有的情况下，亦会有黑羊（black sheep）。我的很多朋友说，真正的害群之马（bad apples）其实并非在教育界而是在政府内。一些朋友是开玩笑地说；但另一些朋友却是实话实说，他们批评李家超出言侮辱教育界。
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中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁