又中又英 | Piping hot water | 褚简宁
Summer is here. Most people like ice-cold drinks or ice cream to cool down during hot summer days. It is also popular in many Western countries to have cold soups such as gazpacho or vichyssoise. Gazpacho is a Spanish soup made with tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Many people mistakenly believe vichyssoise is a French soup, but it is a French/American soup. The soup, made with potatoes and leeks, is named after the French town Vichy but a Frenchman created the chilled soup in New York City. I never drink iced water and rarely eat ice cream.
I like piping hot water and piping hot soup even on hot summer days. Piping hot water or soup means very hot water or soup. I thought about cold and hot dishes after reading a news article that had an interesting expression. The expression was "revenge is a dish best served cold". This means it is more satisfying to wait for some time to take revenge against your enemies than to take revenge quickly. The article said that US President Donald Trump likes to take revenge as soon as he can instead of waiting. For him, revenge is a dish best served hot!
Some people are hell-bent on revenge. If you are hell-bent on doing something, it means you are determined to do it whatever the cost. But for most people, wanting to take revenge against those who mistreated you is usually an initial emotion which eventually subsides. People hell-bent on revenge should remember this saying: Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. It means seeking revenge affects not only the person you target but also yourself because it is not a solution and can hurt you emotionally. You are digging a grave for your enemy and for yourself.
夏天来了。在炎热的夏日，大多数人都喜欢喝冰冻的冷饮或雪糕去凉快一下。西方国家也很流行去喝一些冻汤如 gazpacho或 vichyssoise。Gazpacho是一款西班牙冻汤，由番茄、洋葱和蒜头制成。许多人误以为vichyssoise是法国汤，但其实它是法式加美式的汤。以薯仔和韭葱煮成的维希汤，以法国小镇维希命名，但它其实是一个法国人在纽约市创制的一款冷汤。我从不喝冰水，也很少吃雪糕。
即使是炎炎夏日，我仍喜欢滚水（piping hot water）和滚烫的热汤（piping hot soup）。Piping hot water或soup是指非常滚烫的热水或热汤。我想到一些冷盘跟热食，是源于我读到一则新闻报道，当中用到一个有趣的习语，那就是"revenge is a dish best served cold"。这个习语的意思是去等待好一些年日才向你的敌人报仇雪恨，比你赶急地报仇更有满足感，所谓「君子报仇，十年未晚」。那篇文章指，美国总统特朗普总喜欢急着报仇，要多快有多快，而不是慢慢等待报仇的机会。对他而言，revenge is a dish best served hot，报仇最好不要放凉，趁热上菜才是正道！
一些人对于报仇是不顾一切的（hell-bent on revenge）。若你是hell-bent on doing something，意即你非常有决心去做某事，不惜一切代价。但对大部分的人而言，想向那些苛待自己的人报复，通常只是一个初始的情绪，而这种情绪逐渐便会消退。那些不顾一切想要报复（hell-bent on revenge）的人，好应记得这句说话：Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves——走上复仇之路前，须挖两个坟墓。它的意思是，寻仇不单单影响你想报复之人，也影响你自己，因为它不是一个解决之法，并且可能反过来在情感上伤害自己。你是为仇人掘坟墓，也是在自掘坟墓。
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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻
