I f you are envious of someone, it means you are jealous of that person and want to have what he has. For example, you can be envious of a person who is rich or good-looking. The word exorbitant used this way means unreasonably expensive. Landlords charge exorbitant rents for shops in popular areas of Causeway Bay. During my walk in the upper Mid-Levels I saw many domestic helpers walking the dogs of the rich people in the district. Walking the dogs means taking the dogs out for a walk. Every few steps I took, I saw dog shit. The slang word "shit" means excrement or feces (faeces in British English). Some people feel it is a swear word but it is commonly used nowadays. The slang word "poop" has the same meaning and is acceptable to most people.
Seeing so much dog shit (noun) made me wonder why the rich people who pay exorbitant rents allow their dogs to shit(verb) everywhere near their expensive homes. Surely, people who pay exorbitant rents to live in rich districts would want their districts to be clean. Why would they pay exorbitant rents yet allow the streets in their district to be full of shit? The law in Hong Kong requires dog owners to clean up the excrement of their dogs but this law is often ignored by dog owners and the domestic helpers who walk the dogs. I have stepped on dog poop before, which made me very angry.
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許多年前，當房租還沒有像現在般高昂時，我住在半山區某舊樓一個小小的（modest）單位裏。上星期，我在昔日住過的那區閒逛，看看半山區可有大改變。我見到許多又新又豪華的高層（high-rise）大樓。這令我很羡妒（envious）住在這些豪宅裏的人，因為我知道我根本負擔不起那過高（exorbitant）的租金。我想我甚至負擔不起半山一個小小的（modest）單位了。Modest有幾個意思，在這裏則解不太大或不很貴的。
若你對某人很envious，即是你妒忌那人，想得到他所擁有的。例如，你可以羨慕（envious）某個富有或貌美的人。Exorbitant在這裏解作不合理地昂貴。在銅鑼灣最興旺的地區，業主往往索取過高（exorbitant）的舖租。當我在半山區散步時，我見有許多家傭替區內的有錢人遛狗（walking the dogs），Walking the dogs就是遛狗。我每走幾步就見到狗屎（shit），俚語 shit就是糞便。有些人認為它是粗言穢語，但現已很常用。俚語 poop也是同一個意思，廣為人所接受。
見着這麼多的狗屎（shit，名詞）令我很好奇，為甚麼付高昂（exorbitant）租金的有錢人，會容許狗隻在他們的豪宅附近隨處大便（shit，動詞）呢？當然，付高昂（exorbitant）租金去住在富裕地區的人，會希望他們的區域是整潔的。他們又為何會付貴（exorbitant）租，但又容讓區內糞便（shit）滿街？香港的法律要求狗主清理狗隻的糞便，但這條法例常被遛狗（walk the dogs）的狗主和家傭忽視。我以往就曾踩中狗糞（poop），令我很憤怒。mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=311246§ion_name=wtt&kw=126