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.

许多年前，在一个晚餐派对上，一个不熟稔的日本友人（acquaintance）游说我去试试鲸鱼肉。吃鲸鱼肉这个想法已令我有点反胃（squeamish），但我当时年轻又了无牵挂（young and carefree），便决定冒险一试（take the plunge），浅尝一口。它有一股不寻常的味道，是我不喜欢的。我答应吃是因为当时我并不很认识世界自然基金会这些绿色团体。那是我唯一一次吃鲸鱼肉，我亦永远不会再吃了。我在许多年前开始也不再吃鱼翅了。

An acquaintance是一个你相识但不大相熟的人。To be squeamish是指因为你认为讨厌的东西而很易感到恶心或反胃，许多人单单见到血便感到 squeamish。习语“young and carefree”是用来形容人年轻又无忧无虑的一个时期。To take the plunge是指在犹疑不决或思前想后、考虑了一段时间后，下定决心去做某件事。最近一则关于捕鲸（whaling）的新闻报道令我回想起那次我吃了一小块鲸鱼肉的事。

那则报道是关于一个反捕鲸（whaling）运动人士在格陵兰被拘留。过度捕鲸（whaling）几近导致鲸鱼绝种，但一个一九八六年禁止捕鲸以牟利的公约，容让鲸鱼得以重新繁殖。只有日本、挪威以及冰岛现在还容许捕鲸。为了取得鲸鱼的肉以及其他目的，每年仍有过千条鲸鱼被杀。为了鲨鱼的鳍，鲨鱼亦被残酷地杀害。捕杀鲸鱼的方式亦相当残忍。世界各国应该做更多的事去制止这件事。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻