《中英對照讀新聞》New Year’s Eve in Japan:Watching a hit TV show about a man who eats alone-日本除夕夜:看有關孤男獨食的電視夯劇
◎張沛元
In Japan, New Year’s Eve is all about watching TV at home with your family, a reward after you’ve done your end-of-year deep clean.
在日本,除夕夜就是在家裡跟家人一起看電視,為結束年終大掃除後的犒賞。
Usually, Japanese families gather to watch the "Year-end Song Festival" on NHK, the public broadcaster, where popular singers are divided into teams - red for women, white for men - and battle it out, with the winner announced shortly before midnight.
日本家庭通常會聚在一起看公共電視台NHK的年終歌唱比賽,當紅歌手在節目中分組—女生紅隊、男生白隊—一較高下,並在近午夜前夕公布贏家。
But this year a show that for many Japanese "salarymen" is pure escapism will take on the entertainment programs. "The Solitary Gourmet" will broadcast its first New Year’s Eve special, in which the star, a character named Goro Inogashira, will travel by himself to the western coastal area of Setouchi and eat. All by himself.
但今年,有一個對許多日本上班族而言純粹是逃避現實的節目,將與(其他除夕)娛樂秀對壘。「孤獨美食家」將首度播放除夕特別節目,該劇主人翁井之頭五郎將獨自前往瀨戶內海西岸與用餐。就他一個人。
"I think TV Tokyo has given up trying to win audience for this slot," Yutaka Matsushige, the actor who plays Inogashira, joked about the channel’s decision to broadcast a New Year’s special on a night that, for almost 70 years, has been defined by the red-and-white singing contest on NHK.
「我想東京電視台已經放棄衝這個時段的收視率,」飾演井之頭的男星松重豐對於該電視台決定在這個近70年來都由NHK的紅白歌唱大賽所定義的夜晚播放「孤獨美食家」新年特別節目,如此打趣說。
《新聞辭典》
battle it out:慣用語,一決勝負,雙方比賽直到分出勝負。
take on someone/something:慣用語,與…較量。例句:The champion took on all his challengers.(冠軍與所有挑戰者較量。)
(all) by oneself:慣用語,自己一人。例句:You can’t finish this all by yourself. Get someone to help you.(你自己一人是無法做完的。找人幫你。)