莫惹是非
Let sleeping dogs lie
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei.
大家好，欢迎来到地道英语栏目。我是菲菲。
And I’m Neil.
我是尼尔。
So come on Feifei, you’ve been grumpy all morning – what’s upset you?
菲菲，你一早上都挺不高兴的——什么事惹到你了？
We have a new tea-making rota, and it seems that Rob will be making less tea than me.
咱们排了一个新的沏茶值班表，但是上面我的排班比罗伯的多。
Are you sure?
是吗？
Yes. Look! Feifei – Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning and every other Friday.
是的。你看！菲菲——周一早上、周二中午、周四早上、周五（每隔一周）！
Rob – just Wednesday morning.
罗伯——只有周三早上。
This tea-making rota is so unfair.
这个沏茶值班表一点都不公平。
I’m really going to complain about this at the next team meeting. He always has it easy.
下次部门会议我一定要提出来这个问题！他总是很轻松。
Is it that important Feifei? If I were you, I’d let sleeping dogs lie.
菲菲，这件事有这么重要吗？如果我是你，我“不会惊动睡着的狗”。
You could make things worse.
你这样只会让事情更糟。
Let sleeping dogs lie? You mean ’leave things as they are to avoid causing trouble or restarting an old argument’?
不惊动睡着的狗？你的意思是“让事情该怎样就那样，免得惹出是非或重新挑起旧的纷争”？
Exactly! We had this argument before and the result was this new tea-making rota.
是的！之前我们就争论过这件事，争论的结果就是这个新的排班表。
So, just like avoiding waking up a dog and making it angry, let sleeping dogs lie.
所以，就像是不要叫醒睡着的狗，免得惹它生气那样，我们也不要自找麻烦了。
Let’s hear some more examples of this phrase.
下面咱们来看看有关这个短语的例句吧。
I was going to mention the argument we had last night, but decided to let sleeping dogs lie.
我本来打算谈一下我们昨晚的争论，但后来决定不自找麻烦了。
Let’s not go over last night’s performance: let sleeping dogs lie and move on.
我们不要再想昨天晚上的表现了，事情过去就过去了，别多事，朝前看吧。
Don’t remind her about the divorce. Let sleeping dogs lie and talk about something else.
不要提醒她离婚的事了。莫惹是非，说点别的吧。
This is The English We Speak from the BBC and we’re finding out about the phrase ‘let sleeping dogs lie’, meaning to ‘leave a situation as it is and avoid causing trouble or restarting an old problem’.
这里是BBC地道英语栏目，我们在讨论“let sleeping dogs lie”这个词组，它的意思是“让事情该怎样就那样，免得惹出是非或重新挑起旧的纷争”。
That’s all very well, but it still seems unfair that I’m the one who has to make tea the most.
这样确实很好，但是我沏茶的次数最多，这似乎还是有点不公平呀。
Come on, Feifei. Can’t you remember why we had a new tea-making rota?
别这样，菲菲。你还记不记得我们为什么要排一个新的沏茶值班表？
It was because Rob makes such awful tea that we wanted him to make less of it!
那是因为罗伯沏的茶实在太难喝了，我们想让他少沏几次茶。
Oh, yes! Rob does make awful tea.
呀，对！罗伯沏的茶太难喝了。
You’re right Neil, it’s not worth making a fuss - we definitely don’t want Rob to be making our tea too often.
你说的对，尼尔，这不值得大惊小怪——我们确实不想经常喝罗伯沏的茶。
Yes. Let sleeping dogs lie.
是呀。别多事了。
But hold on. I didn’t see your name on the rota.
打住！我没有在值班表上看到你的名字。
Shouldn’t you be making tea?
难道你不应该沏茶吗？
I thought you were keeping quiet. You never make tea!
我记得你一直都不吭声。你从来都不沏茶！
I’m going to say something about this.
这一点我要提出来。
Don’t wake up the sleeping dogs. I’ll go and make some tea now, OK? Bye.
别旧事重提了。我现在就去沏茶，好吗？拜~
Bye. And don’t forget, two sugars!
拜拜。别忘了，加两块糖！