实战口语情景对话 第1378期:Health Idioms 健康习语(2)

Todd: Okay, so how about one not related to food: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, which I guess means if you just work all the time and you don't rest and relax and have fun, then you'll just be a boring person.
托德：好，现在来说一个和食物无关的习语：只工作不娱乐使人愚钝，我认为这个习语的意思是，如果你一直工作，不休息、不放松、也不玩，那你会成为一个无趣的人。

Olga: Well, actually any kind of extreme has health consequences. We talk a little bit about toxicity and deficiency as roots of any health problems, so when you don't have enough of something, or too much of something, both cause problems.
奥尔加：实际上任何极端情况都会产生健康影响。毒性作用和营养缺乏是所有健康问题的根源，如果你身体里缺乏某种物质或是某种物质过多，都会引发问题。

Todd: Wow, that's fascinating. Okay, so let's talk about sleep. The early bird gets the worm. So I think it means that people that go to bed early and wake up early, they're more productive? Do you think that's what it means?
托德：哇哦，有意思。好，现在我们来谈谈睡眠相关习语。早起的鸟儿有虫吃。我认为这句话的意思是人们应该早睡早起，这样效率会更高，对吧？你认为是这个意思吗？

Olga: Well, I'm not sure. Honestly, I've seen people really individualize their life, and some people go to bed late and wake up late, and they're still productive. And in different times of our lives we have different periods when it's better to go to bed early and wake up earlier, and other times it's okay to go to bed late and wake up late. But in general, yes, Chinese medicine talks a lot about their times for the different meridians that represent organs. For example, from 11:00 in the evening until 3:00 in the morning, it's liver and gallbladder time. So if you're up during that time, these organs do not rejuvenate, they don't repair, and it's tremendous stress for them.
奥尔加：嗯，我不太确定。说实话，我知道有人的生活方式极具个性化，有些人晚睡晚起，他们依然很有效率。我们人生中的不同时期有不同的阶段，有时早睡早起比较好，有时晚睡晚起也可以。不过总的来说，中医认为不同的子午线对应不同的器官。举例来说，晚上11点至次日凌晨3点是肝和胆工作的时间。如果你在这个时间段还没有睡，那这些器官就不能恢复活力，不能修复，在这个时间段熬夜会对肝胆造成巨大的压力。

Todd: Wow. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about medicine and seeking help. How about a stitch in time saves nine?
托德：哇哦。好，我们来谈谈与医学和寻求帮助有关的习语。比如，小洞不补，大洞吃苦。

Olga: Well, I think it's true for a lot of things in the healing world. It's much, much easier to prevent disease than to reverse it. So a lot of times if you get the disease, the best-case scenario in modern medicine is just to control the symptoms and to slow down the progression. But if you use the natural preventive medicine, it's actually much less effort, and you can enjoy life and you can enjoy that first stitch without ever thinking or needing the nine that would be needed if you didn't do something preventive.
奥尔加：我认为就治疗来说，这在很多情况下都是正确的。预防疾病比治疗疾病要简单的多。许多时候，得病以后，现代医学中的最佳情况是控制病情并减缓发病进程。但是如果采用自然的预防医学，那会省力很多，你可以享受生活，及时预防可以不去想甚至不需要担心问题，可是如果你不采取任何预防措施，那你就会担心，无法享受生活。

Todd: Okay, wow, fascinating. And the last one, I think this is ... you've talked about this before. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
托德：好，哇哦，有意思。最后一个习语，我记得你之前说过。一件事太好的话可能就是坏事了。

Olga: Yes, again, I can refer to Oriental wisdom of yin and yang. If you can visualize the symbol of yin-yang, usually it's two half-circles, and there is a seed of the opposite color right in the middle of it. So in the white you would have a seed of black, and in the black a seed of white, and they constantly turn into each other. So too much of something turns into its exact opposite.
奥尔加：对，我要再次引用一下东方智慧中的阴阳学说。如果你能想一下阴阴的象征，通常是两个半圆，在每个半圆正中间有个与半圆颜色相反的圆点。也就说是，白色半圆中的圆点是黑色的，而黑色半圆中的圆点是白色的，它们之间可以互相转换。一件事太多了就会转变成与其正相反的事物。

Todd: Wow, fascinating. Thanks a lot.
托德：哇哦，真有趣。非常谢谢你。

Olga: Most welcome.
奥尔加：不客气。