【明報專訊】Dr Panda has been reading very quietly in his study (書房) for hours. MoMo and Bill are very curious.

“ Dr Panda: I love Twelfth Night... ”

“ MoMo: So you are a devout Christian? ”

“ Dr Panda: Nope, I didn't mean the festival... ”

“ Bill: So you are a rock fanatic? ”

“ Dr Panda: Nope, I wasn't talking about the band... ”

“ Dr Panda: I'm just a fan of Shakespeare. Stop making wild guesses! ”

■Culture tips

Twelfth night

Twelfth night originally refers to the night before Epiphany (主顯節). It is the twelfth night after Christmas, often on 5 or 6 January. People celebrate by drinking a hot cider (蘋果酒) called wassail and eating a pastry (油酥糕點) named Kings' ring. Shakespeare (莎士比亞) also wrote a comedy titled Twelfth Night. It is a story between Viola, a girl who disguises herself as a man, Olivia, who is in love with Viola and the Duke, who has been pursuing Olivia. A rock band from England is also called Twelfth Night. Its famous pieces include Fact and Fiction and Love Song.

■English highway﹕wild guess

A wild guess is a speculation that is not based on evidence.

e.g. The media always make wild guesses about what would happen.

■Glossary

devout (adj) 虔誠的

fanatic (n) 狂熱分子

disguise (v) 假扮

speculation (n) 猜測

[Smarties' Power English 第203期]