An hour before midnight is worth two after or so my mother used to tell me as I sat down to breakfast after a particularly late night. But is it really true that sleep before 12 p.m. is twice as good for you as sleep after that hour? At the time, like most young people, I regarded this proverb as an old women's tale with no relevance to my own life.
每當在頭一天晚上我睡得特別晚，第二天早晨坐下來去吃早餐時，我母親過去總是會對我說"上半夜睡一個小時勝過下半夜睡兩小時"之類的話。但是半夜12點以前的睡眠質量真的會比半夜12點以後的睡眠要好一倍嗎？當時，我像絕大多數年青人一樣，認為這一句諺語是跟我自己的生活毫無關係的，這是一句老太婆們瞎編的愚蠢的話。
I mean, an hour is an hour … it's 60 minutes, a.m. or p.m. However, now older and wiser, I remember my mother's words as I scramble into bed at 11 o'clock. I am now a firm believer in the value of getting at least one hour's sleep before midnight!
我認為，一小時就是一小時，不管是上半夜還是下半夜，反正都是60分鐘。可是現在，因為我年齡大了，也比以前更懂事了，每當我在晚上11 點鐘爬進被子裡時，我就想起了我媽所說的話。現在我堅信在半夜零點以前至少要提前一個小時入睡，這的確大有好處。
Advice about how to live a healthy life is one example of the type of received wisdom which is condensed and passed on to the next generation in the form of proverbs. Proverbs also serve to express general truths in a short and colorful way, for example, There's no smoke without fire, meaning that there is generally some truth in even the wildest rumors.
關於如何才能活得健康的忠告就是公認的智慧的一個很典型的例子，並把這些智慧濃縮成諺語的形式代代相傳。條條諺語都能用簡明生動豐富多彩的方式表達普遍的真理。例如："無火不生煙，無風不起浪。"說的就是，即使是言過其實的流言蜚語，一般說來也總會有點真實的成分在裡面的。
Another type of proverb acts as a reminder of the correct way to behave, for example, Don't wash your dirty linen in public. This means don't discuss personal or family problems in front of strangers or in public.
還有一種類型的諺語，它所起的作用就是提醒人們舉止行為要得體。例如，"別在公眾面前洗你的髒襯褲--家醜不可外揚。"這意思就是說，不要在陌生人群中或當著大家的面來討論個人隱私或者家務事。
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