又中又英｜Letting the grass grow under its feet

Some people spend hours patiently watching birds to learn about them. When Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was the chief executive, he told me he liked birdwatching as a hobby. He also enjoyed watching his many goldfish at Government House. I once watched him feed his goldfish in a pond at the garden of Government House. Leung Chun-ying likes to grow vegetables. He had a vegetable garden at Government House when he was chief executive and watched his vegetables grow. He once invited me to lunch at Government House and served vegetables he grew himself. Whale-watching is also a hobby of some people.

Is watching the grass grow a hobby? I don’t think so! But there is an expression about it. Some of my friends say watching speeches on TV by government officials is like watching the grass grow. This means it's boring. A recent news report I read made me think of the expression "letting the grass grow under their feet". This means wasting time or delaying for a long time in doing something important. The report was about taxi drivers demanding government action against ride-hailing apps such as Uber. The government bowed to the taxi trade by promising new laws to regulate unlicensed ride-hailing services.

But the government has said this before. It is letting the grass grow under its feet with its delays. The government's own surveys show most HK people prefer ride-hailing services. Uber provides clean, punctual, and polite service. Many taxi drivers are rude and dishonest. That's why I prefer ride-hailing services. The government should stop letting the grass grow under its feet and legalize ride-hailing services. Legalizing ride-hailing services will make taxi drivers provide better services.

有些人会花上无数个小时，满有耐性地观鸟，去了解牠们多一点。当曾荫权还是特首的时候，他跟我说他的嗜好是观鸟。他也喜爱观赏礼宾府的许多金鱼。我曾经见过他在礼宾府的花园喂他那池塘内的金鱼。梁振英喜欢种植蔬菜，他当特首的时候，在礼宾府有个蔬菜园圃，会观看蔬菜长成。他有次邀请我在礼宾府共晋午餐，以他自己种的蔬菜奉客。赏鲸也是一些人的嗜好。

盯着草长大（watching the grass grow）又是不是嗜好？我认为不是吧。但我们却有这样一个习语。我有一些朋友说，在电视上看政府官员发表讲话，就像 watching the grass grow，意即沉闷之至。我最近读到的一则新闻报道，让我想到习语"letting the grass grow under their feet"，意即浪费或耽误时间，没有去做一些重要的事情。报道是关于的士司机们要求政府采取行动，打击网约车程式例如Uber。政府屈从于的士业界，承诺会立新例去规范无牌网约车服务。

然而，政府之前已经说过了。这样耽误，就像什么事也不做，让草在脚底下长出来（letting the grass grow under its feet）。政府自己的调查显示，大部分香港人较喜欢网约车服务。Uber提供整洁、准时和有礼的服务。许多的士司机都是粗鲁无礼又不诚实。因此我也较喜欢网约车。政府不应再拖延（letting the grass grow under its feet），给网约车服务合法化。网约车服务合法化可以令的士司机提供更优质的服务。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻