I t was after he swore (used bad language) that I nearly made a scene. I wanted to tell him loudly that he was being selfish by blocking other people from moving to the middle of the carriage. I wanted to say loudly that many Hong Kong people behave selfishly by blocking the train doors and playing with their mobile phones once they enter the train. But I knew if I said all those things, people would stare at me and think I was crazy. So I decided not to make a scene. I tried to get rid of my anger by listening to soothing (calming, relaxing) music with my iPod.
The expression "make a scene" means to behave in a loud and rude way in public. For example, mainland visitors have, on several occasions, made a scene when they felt they had been cheated by travel agencies. The separate sections of a train are called carriages. To shove someone means to push someone in a rough way. When someone is in your way it means he is blocking you. To mutter means to say something in a low voice so it is difficult to hear. I do not understand why so many MTR passengers stand by the train doors instead of moving to the middle of carriages so other passengers can board. It is very selfish.
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上星期我在旺角上一列擠逼的港鐵列車時,差點兒大吵大鬧(made a scene)。一位排在我前面的中年男人,一上車便即站在車門邊,令我和其他排在後面的乘客難以登車。列車車廂(carriage)的中間位置沒那麼擠逼,他卻自私地站在門邊。我把他推向(shoved)一邊,努力上車。他移動了一點兒,但仍然阻着(in my way)我走進車廂(carriage)中間。當我再次推開(shoved)他,他卻輕聲(muttered)用粗口罵我,他用的粗口發音類近英文"delay no more"。
就在他爆粗(swore)過後,我差點要跟他吵鬧(made a scene)。我很想大聲跟他說,他沒有移進車廂(carriage)中間,阻礙其他人,是很自私的行為。我很想大聲說,許多香港人都很自私,一上車便擋着車門和玩手機。但我知道,要是我說這些話,人們便會盯着我看,以為我是瘋的,因此我決定不大吵大鬧(make a scene)。我嘗試用iPod聽紓緩(soothing)的音樂,好讓自己不那麼憤怒。
習語make a scene解作在公眾地方大吵大鬧。例如,當內地遊客覺得自己被旅行社欺騙時,便曾大吵大鬧(made a scene)過幾次。列車的車廂便叫做carriages。To shove someone即是粗魯地推開某人。當某人in your way即是說他擋着你去路。 To mutter就是低聲嘀咕,音量小得令人差點聽不見。我不能理解,為何那麼多港鐵乘客會站在車門邊,而不走進車廂(carriages)中間,好讓其他乘客能上車。這實在太自私了。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=282169§ion_name=wtt&kw=126