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Whatever happened to the silly season?
今年的新聞饑荒期是怎么回事？
You know, that time of the year when the wisdom of the 1st century poet Horace is adopted by news editors,
新聞饑荒期，眾所周知，就是每年記者們對公元1世紀的詩人賀拉斯說過的一句至理名言進行實踐的一段時期。
"Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans, it's lovely to be silly at the right moment".
"在你認真的計劃里添加一些愚笨，在恰當的時候裝糊涂是蠻可愛的。"
I was speaking to a national Sunday newspaper journalist this week who admitted that the choice of Prime Minister's holiday footwear was struggling to get its usual coverage this year.
這周我和一家行銷全國的周報的記者聊天時他說道今年首相度假穿的鞋子不能獲得以往規模的版面了。
The Olympics had got in the way for a start.
首先來搶版面的是奧運會，
And since then there has been a constant drip feed of diplomatic wrangles, train fares and franchises, university places and heinous crimes.
之后是斷斷續續的關于外交糾紛、車費、商業授權、高校校區和幾起重罪案件的報道。
It's hardly what the Americans call "the slow news season" or, much more dramatically in France, "la saison morte", the dead season.
以往這段時期被美國人稱為"新聞淡季"，而法國報界更是死氣沉沉。但是今年情況有所不同。
One of the great advantages of times like this if the traditional silly season has kicked in, is that the usual and relentless rhythm of life is positively disturbed.
每年如果"新聞饑荒期"到了會有一個好處，那就是它會良性地打斷我們一成不變的生活節奏。
Perhaps more than ever, in a 24 hours news culture we need those moments in the year, the period between Christmas and New Year is another, when we can pause a little.
在如今24小時的新聞文化中，也許我們比以往任何時候都更需要一段那樣的時期來歇一歇。圣誕節到新年期間也是一段這樣的時期。
In the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible we are told categorically that there is a right time to pause and to reflect. We work, we go about our business,
《圣經》第一卷第一章就明確告訴我們，有時我們需要停下來反省片刻。我們工作，我們處理日常，
but equally important is that time of the day and of the year when we should quite simply be more reflective and to take stock.
但同樣重要的是，一天當中或一年當中我們有時間去思考，反省，進行自我提高。
This is a recurring theme, again and again, in the Wisdom literature, be still, reflect, pause, stop it.
這是一個永恒的主題。在智慧文學中它一次又一次地出現--靜下心來，反思，暫停，然后回歸正常！
This understanding of human beings needing contrasting times of activity and non-activity has always been my spiritual argument for one day in the week to be different from all the others.
我一直努力讓一周中的一天與其他的日子有所不同。因為知道人類需要有兩種相對的狀態--靜止與活動。
Whilst the commercial reasoning in the depths of a recession for shops to be open longer on Sundays following the Olympic experiment might seem a good idea,
模擬奧運之后，在如今經濟嚴重衰退的時期，延長商店周日營業時間從商業邏輯上來說是個好主意，
isn't it really wonderful that one day stands out from all the others for the majority, even if we rely on the goodwill of others to keep the world going round? For we all need a change.
但是能夠享受一天與眾不同的時光不是更好嗎？雖然生活的運轉并非基于個人的活動，但是一周當中留出一天不同的時光難道不是更美妙嗎？因為我們大家都需要偶爾的改變。
Life shouldn't really be one concentrated mass of complicated issues where we have no time whatsoever to contemplate the meaning of what or who we are in it all?
Lifeshouldn't really be one concentrated mass of complicated issues where we haveno time whatsoever to contemplate the meaning of what or who we are in it all.
生活不應該像是由一系列問題緊密交織的一團亂麻，以至我們沒有時間考慮自己在其中究竟扮演怎樣的角色。
One of the Old Testament Proverbs suggests that if you answer a silly question you are just as silly as the one who asked it.
舊約圣經箴言之一，回答蠢人的問題會讓你和發問的人一樣蠢。
But silly questions and silly seasons can break the pattern and make us smile.
但有時一些傻問題可能在我們如一潭死水的生活中濺起漣漪，偶爾的停滯期能夠使我們愉悅身心。
