Black sheep 黑棉羊

Have you ever seen a black sheep? Most of the time sheep are white. Sheep’s wool is turned into material for making different clothes or objects, and white wool is usually the easiest to sell. This is because it is easier to dye white wool than it is to dye black wool.

But sometimes, in a family of all white sheep, a black sheep is born. The wool of these sheep can be difficult for their owners to sell since it is much more difficult to change the color of black wool.

In English, the term “black sheep” is used to mean anyone in a family or group who is different than all the others. The differences are often not in the way the “black sheep” looks, but in the way he or she acts or feels.

Usually, this means people think the person is bad in some way because of these differences. The person is not as easy for the group to understand or get along with since he or she is the only person who has these differences.

Of course, differences can be good, and black sheep need love too!

(Lynn Steger, Staff Writer)

你曾經看過黑綿羊嗎？綿羊多半是白色，而綿羊毛會被織成布料以製作不同衣服或物件。白色羊毛最容易賣，因為染白色羊毛要比染黑色羊毛容易多了。

不過有時候，白綿羊的家族中出生一隻黑綿羊，主人就不容易賣掉黑羊的毛，因為要將黑羊毛染色困難許多。

英文中的「黑綿羊」用以表示與家族或團體相異的個體。通常不是就「黑綿羊」的外觀而論，而是他或她的行為或感覺。

通常表示因為有這些不同點，大家認為這個人在某方面不好。他不易被團體了解，也不易和他人相處，因為他或她是唯一有相異處的人。

當然，有所不同也可以是優點，再說，黑綿羊也需要關愛！

（翻譯︰鄭湘儀）