Y ou are all so kind to send me e-mails wishing me a speedy recovery. The word speedy means happening very quickly. The expression “speedy recovery” is similar to the expression “get well soon”. When you say to a sick person: “I wish you a speedy recovery”, it means you hope he will get better very quickly. My mouth ulcer (canker sore) has now gone and I no longer feel any pain. It is not possible to reply to all the readers who sent me e-mails with suggestions to soothe my canker sore and wishing me a speedy recovery. Let me use this column to thank all of you for being so considerate (thoughtful, caring, kind).
Several readers suggested I eat tortoise jelly to get rid of my mouth ulcer. A tortoise is a reptile with a very hard shell on its back. It is similar to a turtle. But a turtle can live in water while a tortoise lives on land. A tortoise is bigger than a turtle and can live much longer. Other readers suggested I use licorice (liquorice in British English) to soothe the pain from my ulcer. Some suggested I use vitamin C, vitamin B2, salt, and salt water. A few readers suggested I use a medicine called Watermelon Frost (西瓜霜). I hope I’ll never get a canker sore again but if I do, I’ll try these suggestions.
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我真的lost for words，即是說我驚喜得不知該說甚麼。那麼多的讀者傳來電郵，給我有用的建議如何紓緩（soothe）我那疼痛的痱滋（mouth ulcer），令我感動得說不出話來（lost for words）。Soothe 這個字可以有不同的用法。去soothe一個憤怒的人就是令他平復下來。去soothe一粒口瘡（mouth ulcer）、頭痛或其他病痛，就是去減輕那痛楚。那麼多的讀者關心我的健康，令我感動莫名（touched）。你可以用手觸摸（touch）某樣事物，但若你被touched，即是說你對其他人向你展現的好意滿心感激。
你們寫電郵祝我早日康復（speedy recovery），真的很體貼。Speedy 解作迅速的，習語speedy recovery類似另一個習語“get well soon”。當你跟個病人說： “I wish you a speedy recovery”，即是說你希望他能快快康復。我的口瘡（mouth ulcer）現在已消失，我已不再感到疼痛了。那些寫電郵建議我怎樣紓緩（soothe）痱滋痛楚的，還有祝我快快康復（speedy recovery）的讀者，我實在無法一一回覆，就讓我在這裏向你們所有人致謝，感激你們如此體貼（considerate）。
有幾位讀者建議我吃龜（tortoise）苓膏，以消除我的痱滋（mouth ulcer）。Tortoise就是烏龜，背上有硬殼。牠類近turtle，但turtle 是海龜，而tortoise是陸龜。陸龜（tortoise）比海龜（turtle）大得多，而且更長壽。另外一些讀者建議我吃甘草(licorice，英式串法為liquorice) 以紓緩（soothe）痱滋（ulcer）的痛楚。有些則建議我用維他命C、維他命B2、鹽和鹽水。有幾個提議我用一種叫西瓜霜的藥。我希望我永遠也不再生痱滋，但若真的再有，我會試試這些提議。mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=282843§ion_name=wtt&kw=126