Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - gone into oblivion.|又中又英

Another one bites the dust, this time it's the iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen. It did not sail into the sunset last week. Instead, it sailed to an unknown overseas destination with the aid of tugboats. Many iconic Hong Kong structures with historical value have bitten the dust over the past decades. The beloved Hong Kong side Star Ferry Pier is no more, which means it no longer exists. The historic Queen's Pier in front of City Hall was dismantled to make way for a highway. I still cannot understand why the government dismantled a pier rich with history. Queen Elizabeth II landed there in 1975. Prince Charles and his late wife Diana landed there in 1989. All the British governors also landed at Queen's Pier.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Station near the Kowloon side Star Ferry has also gone into oblivion. In its place is a cultural centre without windows even though it faces one of the world's most beautiful harbours. The expression“bite the dust”has several meanings. As I have explained before, it can mean to fall in a way that your body hits the ground heavily. It can mean to die or to fail. It can also mean something no longer exists, such as Queen’s Pier. To sail into the sunset means to have a happy ending, but the Jumbo Restaurant did not have a happy ending. It bit the dust. If something is rich in history, it means it has a lot of, mostly good, history.

To go into oblivion means to be completely forgotten. It is sad that most Hong Kong people have forgotten the Kowloon-Canton Railway Station. The station has a rich history because train services between Kowloon and Canton, now known as Guangzhou, started in 1910. I am happy the historic King Yin Lei mansion will not bite the dust but I am sure many other iconic historical structures will bite the dust as Hong Kong erases its colonial past.

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又有一個倒下了(another one bites the dust),這次是位於香港仔極具代表性的珍寶海鮮舫。

上星期,它並未駛向圓滿的結局(sail into the sunset),而是在拖船的協助下,駛向海外一個不明之目的地。香港許多標誌性及具歷史價值的建築,在過去幾十年都已一一倒下(bitten the dust)。

人人愛戴的港島天星碼頭已是no more——意即它早已不復再;在大會堂前,具歷史性的皇后碼頭亦已拆卸,好讓路給高速公路。我迄今依然不能明白,為何政府要拆除這個富有歷史意義(rich with history)的碼頭。一九七五年,英女皇伊利沙伯二世在那裏上岸;查理斯王子及其已故的妻子戴安娜,亦於一九八九年在那裏上岸。所有英籍港督,也是在皇后碼頭上岸。

在九龍天星碼頭附近的九廣鐵路總站,亦早已湮沒,被世人遺忘(gone into oblivion)。遺址現時為沒有窗戶的文化中心,即使它面向着世上最美的海港之一。習語“bite the dust”有幾個意思,正如我以前解釋過的,它可以指你倒下時,身體重重地摔在地上;它也可以解作陣亡,又或敗下陣來;它亦可以指某事物已不再存在,例如皇后碼頭。To sail into the sunset是指有一個大團圓結局,但珍寶海鮮舫的結局並不圓滿。它已完蛋了(bit the dust)。若某事物是rich in history,意即它有着豐富且大多風光的歷史。

To go into oblivion即完完全全被遺忘。大多香港人已忘記了九廣鐵路的九龍車站,實在令人傷感。

這個車站有着深厚的歷史(rich history),因為連接九龍與廣州(當時稱為Canton,現稱Guangzhou)的鐵路,於一九一○年開始投入服務。我很高興有悠久歷史的景賢里並未倒下(bite the dust),但我肯定,隨着香港要抹掉其殖民時代的過去,其他許多具代表性的歷史建築,將會陸續倒下(bite the dust)。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
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