又中又英｜Squeamish

Many years ago, a Japanese acquaintance persuaded me to try whale meat at a dinner party. The thought of eating whale meat made me squeamish. But I was young and carefree at the time and decided to take the plunge by eating a small piece. It had an unusual taste which I didn’t like. I agreed to eat it because I wasn’t familiar with green groups like WWF (World Wildlife Fund) at the time. That was the only time I ate whale meat. I will never eat it again. I stopped eating shark fin soup many years ago.

An acquaintance is a person you have met but don’t know well. To be squeamish means to be easily upset or disgusted by things you consider unpleasant. The sight of blood makes some people squeamish. The expression “young and carefree” is used to describe a time when someone is young and doesn’t have worries. To take the plunge means to decide to do something after being uncertain about it or thinking about it for a long time. A recent news article about whaling (hunting whales) reminded me of the time I ate a small piece of whale meat.

The article was about an anti-whaling campaigner detained in Greenland. Excessive whaling had almost made whales extinct but a 1986 ban on hunting whales for profit allowed whales to reproduce. Only Japan, Norway, and Iceland still allow whaling. Over a thousand whales are still killed each year for their meat and other uses. Sharks are killed in a cruel way for their fins. Whales are also killed in a cruel way. The world needs to do more to stop this.

許多年前，在一個晚餐派對上，一個不熟稔的日本友人（acquaintance）游說我去試試鯨魚肉。吃鯨魚肉這個想法已令我有點反胃（squeamish），但我當時年輕又了無牽掛（young and carefree），便決定冒險一試（take the plunge），淺嘗一口。它有一股不尋常的味道，是我不喜歡的。我答應吃是因為當時我並不很認識世界自然基金會這些綠色團體。那是我唯一一次吃鯨魚肉，我亦永遠不會再吃了。我在許多年前開始也不再吃魚翅了。

An acquaintance是一個你相識但不大相熟的人。To be squeamish是指因為你認為討厭的東西而很易感到噁心或反胃，許多人單單見到血便感到 squeamish。習語“young and carefree”是用來形容人年輕又無憂無慮的一個時期。To take the plunge是指在猶疑不決或思前想後、考慮了一段時間後，下定決心去做某件事。最近一則關於捕鯨（whaling）的新聞報道令我回想起那次我吃了一小塊鯨魚肉的事。

那則報道是關於一個反捕鯨（whaling）運動人士在格陵蘭被拘留。過度捕鯨（whaling）幾近導致鯨魚絕種，但一個一九八六年禁止捕鯨以牟利的公約，容讓鯨魚得以重新繁殖。只有日本、挪威以及冰島現在還容許捕鯨。為了取得鯨魚的肉以及其他目的，每年仍有過千條鯨魚被殺。為了鯊魚的鰭，鯊魚亦被殘酷地殺害。捕殺鯨魚的方式亦相當殘忍。世界各國應該做更多的事去制止這件事。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻