20180308-Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：Draw Your Curtains
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：Draw Your Curtains
2018-03-08
Do you draw your curtains every night before going to sleep? I have a habit of drawing my curtains before going to bed. It is now more common to say “close your curtains” instead of “draw your curtains”. It is also more common to say “open your curtains” instead of “draw back (open) your curtains”. Actually, “draw your curtains” can mean either opening your curtains or closing your curtains. That’s why it’s less confusing to say “open your curtains” or “close your curtains” even though it’s less formal. When I got out of bed last Saturday I drew back my living room curtains. What I saw stunned (surprised, shocked) me.
The fog was so thick that it covered the entire view from my balcony. I couldn’t see the buildings across the road or even next to me. I couldn’t see the street below, the people, the traffic, and the partial view of the harbor. I had never seen fog that thick before. It could be that the fog was thicker because I live on a very high floor. I waited much of the day for the fog to lift but it did not lift completely. It lifted only a bit by late afternoon. The word “lift” has several meanings but when you say “the fog has lifted” it means the fog has cleared.
Some people confuse the words “fog” and “mist”. They are similar but not the same. Both mean tiny drops of water hanging in the air at or near the earth’s surface. The difference between fog and mist is the thickness. Fog is much denser (thicker) than mist and lasts longer. Experts use visibility to tell the difference. If you can only see things that are less than one kilometer away, it is fog. If you can see things between one and two kilometers away, it is mist. The fog lifted a bit more by early evening. I could see the buildings across the road and people walking in the streets. I could even see the harbor in the distance, which meant the fog had become mist.
***
你每晚睡覺前會拉（draw）窗簾嗎？我就有習慣在睡覺前拉上（drawing）窗簾。現在，說“close your curtains”比“draw your curtains”更普遍；要說開窗簾時，也是“open your curtains”比“draw back your curtains”更普遍。事實上，“draw your curtains”可解作拉開或拉上窗簾，因此說“open your curtains”或“close your curtains”就不會那麼混淆，即使這比較不正統。當我上星期六起牀時，我拉開（drew back）睡房的窗簾，觸目所見實在使我驚歎（stunned）。
那霧（fog）非常濃厚，濃得掩蓋了我露台的整個視野，我完全看不見對面馬路甚或旁邊的樓宇，也看不見下面的街道、人、車及海港的部份景觀。我以前從未見過這麼濃的霧（fog）。或許因為我住高層，霧（fog）會更濃厚一些。我差不多一整天都在等濃霧（fog）消散（lift），但它還是沒有完全消散（lift）。到了下午稍晚的時間，它也只是消散（lifted）了一點點。 Lift有幾個意思，但當你說“the fog has lifted”，意思即是霧（fog）已消散。
有些人會將“fog”和“mist”二字混淆。它們確實很相近，但其實是不同的。二字也解作接近地球表面、在空氣中懸浮的小水滴或水汽，但fog和mist的分別就在濃度。Fog 比 mist 更為濃密（denser），而且持續的時間更久。專家會用能見度來區分：若你只能見到少於一公里的事物，那就是fog ；若你能見到一至二公里外的事物，那就是mist 。濃霧（fog）黃昏的時候更為消散（lifted），我可以見到馬路對面的樓宇和街上行走的路人了。我甚至能見到遠方的海港，那就表示濃霧（fog）已轉為薄霧（mist）了。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
2018-03-08
Do you draw your curtains every night before going to sleep? I have a habit of drawing my curtains before going to bed. It is now more common to say “close your curtains” instead of “draw your curtains”. It is also more common to say “open your curtains” instead of “draw back (open) your curtains”. Actually, “draw your curtains” can mean either opening your curtains or closing your curtains. That’s why it’s less confusing to say “open your curtains” or “close your curtains” even though it’s less formal. When I got out of bed last Saturday I drew back my living room curtains. What I saw stunned (surprised, shocked) me.
The fog was so thick that it covered the entire view from my balcony. I couldn’t see the buildings across the road or even next to me. I couldn’t see the street below, the people, the traffic, and the partial view of the harbor. I had never seen fog that thick before. It could be that the fog was thicker because I live on a very high floor. I waited much of the day for the fog to lift but it did not lift completely. It lifted only a bit by late afternoon. The word “lift” has several meanings but when you say “the fog has lifted” it means the fog has cleared.
Some people confuse the words “fog” and “mist”. They are similar but not the same. Both mean tiny drops of water hanging in the air at or near the earth’s surface. The difference between fog and mist is the thickness. Fog is much denser (thicker) than mist and lasts longer. Experts use visibility to tell the difference. If you can only see things that are less than one kilometer away, it is fog. If you can see things between one and two kilometers away, it is mist. The fog lifted a bit more by early evening. I could see the buildings across the road and people walking in the streets. I could even see the harbor in the distance, which meant the fog had become mist.
***
你每晚睡覺前會拉（draw）窗簾嗎？我就有習慣在睡覺前拉上（drawing）窗簾。現在，說“close your curtains”比“draw your curtains”更普遍；要說開窗簾時，也是“open your curtains”比“draw back your curtains”更普遍。事實上，“draw your curtains”可解作拉開或拉上窗簾，因此說“open your curtains”或“close your curtains”就不會那麼混淆，即使這比較不正統。當我上星期六起牀時，我拉開（drew back）睡房的窗簾，觸目所見實在使我驚歎（stunned）。
那霧（fog）非常濃厚，濃得掩蓋了我露台的整個視野，我完全看不見對面馬路甚或旁邊的樓宇，也看不見下面的街道、人、車及海港的部份景觀。我以前從未見過這麼濃的霧（fog）。或許因為我住高層，霧（fog）會更濃厚一些。我差不多一整天都在等濃霧（fog）消散（lift），但它還是沒有完全消散（lift）。到了下午稍晚的時間，它也只是消散（lifted）了一點點。 Lift有幾個意思，但當你說“the fog has lifted”，意思即是霧（fog）已消散。
有些人會將“fog”和“mist”二字混淆。它們確實很相近，但其實是不同的。二字也解作接近地球表面、在空氣中懸浮的小水滴或水汽，但fog和mist的分別就在濃度。Fog 比 mist 更為濃密（denser），而且持續的時間更久。專家會用能見度來區分：若你只能見到少於一公里的事物，那就是fog ；若你能見到一至二公里外的事物，那就是mist 。濃霧（fog）黃昏的時候更為消散（lifted），我可以見到馬路對面的樓宇和街上行走的路人了。我甚至能見到遠方的海港，那就表示濃霧（fog）已轉為薄霧（mist）了。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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