當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間11日，美國“第一女兒”伊萬卡·特朗普在社交媒體平臺推特上發(fā)了一句話。
答案似乎并不能一眼看出來……于是，中國網(wǎng)友開始文思泉涌，腦洞大開。
Chinese social media users are scratching their heads over a "Chinese proverb" US President Donald Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka posted to Twitter as her father prepared for his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.
在特朗普準(zhǔn)備與金正恩會(huì)晤之時(shí)，特朗普的女兒和顧問伊萬卡在推特上發(fā)了句“中國諺語”，這句話讓中國網(wǎng)友想得直撓頭。
法新社報(bào)道稱，中國網(wǎng)友猜測的熱情頗為高漲，網(wǎng)絡(luò)瞬間被點(diǎn)燃了（China's internet quickly lit up），網(wǎng)友們你一言，我一語，卻無法達(dá)成一致（arriving at a consensus）。
"She saw it in a fortune cookie at Panda Express," one user wrote.
“伊萬卡在熊貓快餐的幸運(yùn)餅干里看到了這句話，”一個(gè)用戶說。
Another said: "It makes sense, but I still don't know which proverb it is."
另一個(gè)人說：“聽著有道理，但我還是不知道這句諺語是什么。”
"One proverb from Ivanka has exhausted the brain cells of all Chinese internet users," a commenter admitted.
“伊萬卡的一句話燒掉了無數(shù)中國網(wǎng)友腦細(xì)胞，”一個(gè)網(wǎng)友評論稱。
美國新聞網(wǎng)站Bustle就表示，伊萬卡這個(gè)時(shí)間發(fā)推，字里行間明顯是在給自己的父親打氣：
Ivanka Trump is tweeting during her dad's North Korea summit, and it's anything but subtle. Some of the president's critics have questioned whether anything can be accomplished, but it seems the president's daughter thinks it's worth trying — you'll just have to read between the lines.
伊萬卡發(fā)推正是在父親特朗普與朝鮮領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人會(huì)晤之時(shí)，這是很明顯的。一些批評的聲音質(zhì)疑這次會(huì)晤會(huì)不會(huì)有實(shí)質(zhì)性成果，但看來總統(tǒng)的女兒認(rèn)為這值得一試，你在字里行間可以看出。
一個(gè)名叫“引言調(diào)查者”（Quote Investigator: QI）的網(wǎng)站曾研究過這句話的出處，發(fā)現(xiàn)這句話其實(shí)是美國“親生”的。
1903年，這句話頻繁出現(xiàn)在美國的報(bào)章雜志上，用來形容世紀(jì)之交美國的時(shí)局變化之快：
QI hypothesizes that the modern expression evolved from a comment about the rapidity of change and innovation at the turn of the century that was printed in multiple newspapers and journals in 1903.
“引言調(diào)查者”假設(shè)這個(gè)現(xiàn)代的表達(dá)曾經(jīng)用來評論世紀(jì)之交的快速變化和創(chuàng)新。1903年很多報(bào)紙雜志都用過這句話。
一個(gè)名叫Puck的幽默雜志就曾這樣引用過：
Things move along so rapidly nowadays that people saying: “It can’t be done,” are always being interrupted by somebody doing it.
如今，時(shí)局變化實(shí)在是太快，人們都說“這事兒做不成，”但卻總是被做成的人打臉。
后來美國作家阿爾伯特·哈伯德（Elbert Hubbard）曾用“某人說過”引用過這句話，卻因此被后來的報(bào)紙文章誤當(dāng)成了是這句話的出處。
到了1960年代，美國人民終于把這句話和遙遠(yuǎn)的東方文明扯上了關(guān)系。1962年，美國一本成人教育類雜志直接把這句話的出處安在了中國的孔老夫子頭上，當(dāng)時(shí)是這么用的：
THOUGHTS WHILE SHAVING（剃須時(shí)的思考）:
Confucius say: Man who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt man doing it. How’s that for a good adult education motto? Aren’t there several times that motto can be used?
子曰：說事情做不成的人，不應(yīng)該打擾正在做的人。這句話是不是一句很好的成人教育箴言？這句話是不是經(jīng)常能用上？
接下來，從60年代到今天，這句名人名言帶著“孔夫子說過”、“中國的古老諺語說過” 的帽子在美國各種報(bào)紙期刊雜志的文章中登場，這也大概是伊萬卡推特稱其為中國諺語的原因。
（來源：中國日報(bào)雙語新聞編輯部）
