有了光,才可以看見;如果看清楚了,就會恍然大悟,也許正是這原因,「看到光」就象徵着明白了、想到了。比如,漫畫中的人物想通了某些問題,有了新點子,頭頂會加上一盞燈,就像中文說「靈光一閃」,就是突然冒出一個想法,有嶄新的思維。光的英文是light,亦不時用來比喻知識和智慧。

例如說某些人see the light,字面解作見到光,實際是形容人明白了、終於領悟了,有恍然大悟的意思。通常是描述某些人理解到以前不明白的事情,或者說終於清楚了,認同了以前長期不同意的觀點。最初,光具有宗教意味,see the light說的是信奉了某個宗教,後來亦泛指對其他事物有了體會和理解。

He has finally seen the light and decided to give up his plan of increasing taxes.

他終於想通了,決定放棄加稅的計劃。

Manpower is an important asset. Some bosses are just not able to see the light.

人力資源是重要的資產,一些老闆就是不懂得這個道理。

After a number of setbacks, he saw the light and understood how bad the situation was.

經過多次挫敗,他看清楚了真相,明白到情況有多壞。

類似的意思,亦可以說light dawns,光比喻知識,dawn則是破曉,用作動詞,即是開始見到曙光。light dawns二字在意義上有點重複,light dawns on someone強調某些人突然看清楚,掌握了一些概況、資訊,終於開始明白了一些事情。

After they saw the photos, the light dawned and they knew that their son was not telling the truth.

他們看到那些照片後,一切都明白了,知道他們的兒子並沒有說出真相。

When the man she met on social media asked her for more money, light dawned on her. She then realized that she had fallen into a romance scam.

當她在社交媒體上認識的男子向她索要更多金錢的時候,她恍然大悟,才知道自己墮入了網戀騙局。

He was in hospital for two weeks. Light dawned on him and he started to take greater care of his health.

他住院住了兩個星期,然後便想通了,開始更加關注健康。

某人得到了啟示,可以用someone sees the light或者light dawns on someone。如果一些事物或資料給了人啟示,令人明白了,可以說這些事物cast/shed/throw light(投下光),即是提供了解釋或因由,而cast/shed/throw light on something則是使某事情更清晰,令問題更易理解。

An interview with one of the witnesses has cast light on the case. That helped the detective to finally solve the mystery.

與其中一名證人的對談投下了曙光,幫助偵探終於破解了謎團。

Hopefully, results from studies conducted by the universities will shed some light on the cause of the disease.

希望那些大學研究得出的結果有助於查明這個疾病的成因。

These ideas do not seem to throw light on how to improve the situation.

這些想法,對於改善當前狀況似乎不那麼有作用。

雖說現今世代不再是seeing is believing(眼見為憑),但是光可以讓人把事情看清楚一點,先看清楚再加研究和分析,才有知識和智慧。

●Lina CHU [ linachu88@gmail.com ]