不时不食

我刚才在超市买了西红柿，冬天也能买到，又大又红，可是吃起来一点味道都没有。

I just bought tomatoes at the supermarket. You can even get them in winter now, big and red, but they don't taste like anything at all.

那是因为冬天的西红柿不是在外面长大的，是在暖房里，用灯光和暖气种出来的，跟夏天在太阳下长大的，味道当然不一样。

That's because winter tomatoes aren't grown outdoors, they're grown in a greenhouse under lights and heating. Naturally they taste different from ones grown outside under summer sun.

那为什么商店还要卖呢？如果味道不好，为什么大家还要买？

So why do stores still sell them, then? If they don't taste good, why do people still buy them?

因为大家已经习惯了，一年四季都能吃到同样的东西，好像西红柿冬天夏天都应该有，没有人愿意等到夏天来了才吃。

Because people are already used to being able to eat the same things all year round. It's as if tomatoes are supposed to be there in both winter and summer, and nobody wants to wait until summer comes to eat them.

我听说很久以前，孔子有一个习惯，叫不时不食，是什么意思？

I heard that long ago Confucius had a habit called 'not the season, not eaten'. What does that mean?

意思是说，不是这个季节的东西，他就不吃。比如说，不是西红柿的季节，他就不吃西红柿，要等到季节到了才吃。

It means if something wasn't in season, he wouldn't eat it. For example, if it wasn't tomato season, he wouldn't eat tomatoes, he'd wait until the season actually came round.

这个习惯是因为那时候没有暖房，没有办法在冬天种出西红柿吗？

Was that habit just because there was no greenhouse back then, no way to grow tomatoes in winter?

一部分原因是这样，那时候确实没有别的办法。不过我觉得，这也是一种生活态度，不是什么都非要马上得到，等待也是有意思的一部分。

Part of the reason is that, there really was no other way back then. But I think it's also a kind of attitude toward life, not everything has to be gotten right away, waiting is part of what makes it enjoyable too.

可是现在不一样了，我们已经有了暖房，有了从别的国家运过来的水果，为什么还要学孔子，等季节到了才吃？

But things are different now, we already have greenhouses, and fruit shipped in from other countries. Why should we still follow Confucius and wait for the season to come round?

我不是说一定要完全学他。我是说，如果你吃了冬天的西红柿，觉得没有味道，那你自己已经知道答案了，等到夏天，你会更喜欢吃到的那一个。

I'm not saying you have to copy him completely. I'm saying, if you eat a winter tomato and think it has no flavor, then you already know the answer yourself. When summer comes, you'll enjoy the one you get then even more.

那我们现在要不要把这些西红柿吃完？

So should we finish these tomatoes now, then?

吃完吧，已经买了。不过下次冬天，也许我们可以试试不买，等到夏天，看看会不会更想吃。

Let's finish them, we already bought them. But next winter, maybe we could try not buying any, and wait until summer to see if we want them even more.