中英對照讀新聞》Emperor’s aide in hot water for Olympic, virus comment 日本天皇助理因奧運與病毒相關評論而惹禍上身

◎張沛元

Shock waves are reverberating over concerns attributed to Emperor Naruhito by his key aide about the wisdom of the government’s decision to host the Tokyo Olympics in July while the novel coronavirus pandemic is raging.

（日本）德仁天皇的主要幕僚轉達天皇對於政府決定仍要在7月份新冠病毒大流行猖獗之際舉辦東京奧運的明智性深感憂慮，已引發軒然大波。

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The issue goes to the heart of the role the emperor plays in postwar Japan. As the symbol of the state, the emperor, like monarchs everywhere, has only a limited role, such as attending important ceremonial functions. It is strictly taboo for the emperor to comment publicly on government policy.

此議題的關鍵在於天皇在二戰後的日本的角色。身為國家象徵，日本天皇一如其他地方的君王，所扮演的角色有限，像是出席重要的儀式性場合。天皇公開評論政府政策更是一大禁忌。

But Yasuhiko Nishimura, grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, stirred up a hornet’s nest by inferring at a June 24 news conference that Naruhito is deeply concerned about holding the Olympics while Japan continues to battle the pandemic.

但宮內廳長官西村泰彥卻捅了這個馬蜂窩，他在6月24日的記者會上暗示，德仁對於日本在持續抗疫之際舉辦奧運，深感憂慮。

新聞辭典

in hot water：慣用語，陷入困境；惹上麻煩。例句：He found himself in hot water for making remarks on controversial issues. （他發現自己因就爭議性議題發言而惹上麻煩。）

attribute to：慣用語，歸因於。

stir up a hornet’s nest：慣用語，惹禍上身，引發騷動，捅馬蜂窩。stir up：片語，攪動，煽動；hornet，名詞，大黃蜂。例句：The politician’s careless remark stirred up a hornet’s nest among victims’ families.（這名政治人物的隨意發言在罹難者家屬間引發譁然。）