又中又英｜Pie in the sky

Everyone hopes to have a good night’s sleep. Supposing you go to bed at 10 in the evening and sleep until 6 the next morning without waking up during the night. That would be an excellent night’s sleep because it means sleeping for eight continuous hours without waking up. I would give an arm and a leg to be able to sleep for eight continuous hours. But that is pie in the sky for me. Sleep experts say it is pie in the sky for most people too.

To give an arm and a leg for something means to be willing to give a lot of money for something. A luxury house on the Peak costs an arm and a leg, which means a lot of money. The expression “pie in the sky” means something good that people hope will happen but is unlikely to happen. Sleep experts told the Washington Post it is normal to wake up a few times during the night. People come out of a deep sleep every 90 minutes to two hours. But people who wake up too often are not getting the deepest stages of sleep.

This causes stress and other health issues. I wake up two or three times mostly to urinate. My solution is to drink less water before bedtime. Sometimes it is hard to fall asleep again because many things go through my mind. Some people believe alcohol improves sleep but too much alcohol before bedtime disturbs sleep. Reading a book before bedtime helps me sleep but experts say using a smartphone before bedtime will make it harder to fall asleep. It also disturbs sleep.

人人都希望能有一觉好眠。假设你晚上10时上床就寝，睡至早上6时起床，半夜也没有醒来，那就是一夜绝佳的睡眠，因为那代表着你睡了连续8小时而没有睡醒过。要是能睡上连续8小时，我会不惜一掷千金（an arm and a leg）。然而，那对我来说实在是痴人说梦（pie in the sky）。睡眠专家们也说，那对于大部分人来说，亦是不切实际的空想（pie in the sky）。

To give an arm and a leg for something是指愿意为某事物花费一大笔金钱。山顶的豪宅就价值an arm and a leg，意即非常昂贵。习语“pie in the sky” 是指某事好得像空中楼阁，人们希望实现但机会渺茫。睡眠专家告诉《华盛顿邮报》，晚间睡觉中途苏醒几次是正常的。人们每90分钟至2小时，便会从深层睡眠里出来。但那些太频繁苏醒的人，并未进入最深层的睡眠阶段。

这就会带来压力和其他健康问题。我会半夜睡醒几次，通常是去小便。我的解决方法是睡前喝少些水。有时会很难重新入睡，因为有太多事情闪过我脑海。有些人相信，酒精可以改善睡眠，但睡前喝太多酒也会干扰睡眠。睡前读一本书，也能帮助我入睡，但专家们指，睡前用智能电话会令人更难入睡，亦会干扰睡眠。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻