A fire destroyed a church built in traditional Ukrainian fashion outside Toronto，報章用的標題是 “Church Ablaze”： Within minutes the whole church was ablaze，整間教堂很快就熊熊燃燒起來。Ablaze 有猛烈燃燒的意思，burning quickly and strongly。
火與燃燒的字眼，可以有：burn, flame, blaze, flare 不等。動詞有：set fire to, kindle, ignite。Set fire to 縱火，make it start burning；a fire breaks out 發生火災，a fire starts suddenly。
煙和火分不開：there is no smoke without fire，無風不起浪，無火不起烟，謠言很少空穴來風，rumour is usually based, however remotely, on fact。事出必有因：口傳的謠言雖經人加油添醋，往往有事實的根據，if something bad is being said about somebody, it usually has some truth in it: Where there is smoke, there is fire。
火有不同的種類，最需要避免的是戰火：baptism of fire 這句成語原初指殉道者被火燒死，法國皇帝拿破崙和拿破崙三世指：某人第一次上戰場的經驗，後來多用來表示初次經歷的洗禮，或者在新的環境，初次感到難堪和不愉快的滋味：an unpleasant first experience of something。英文成語的 fire，經常來自槍火，gun fire：play with fire 玩火，take extreme and unnecessary risk 冒險做不必要的危險事，you do something that could have a very dangerous or harmful result；fight fire with fire 你用相同方法及同等力量，和你的勁敵開戰，you use the same methods as your opponents in an argument。
野火燒不盡，春風吹又生：spread like wild fire，謠言往往像野火般迅速傳播，things such as rumour and gossip spread very rapidly。赴湯蹈火，在所不辭：go through fire and water, you are willing to face any danger and endure hardships: Peter told his sweetheart he loved her so much that he was willing to go through fire and water for her. 勿操之過急, 不要同時做太多的事：do not have too many irons in the fire 不要把太多的鐵放到火爐裏。一朝被蛇咬，十年怕草繩：a burnt child dreads the fire 灼傷過的小孩怕火，相似的諺語是：once bitten, twice shy 上一次當，學一次乖；每況愈下：jump out of the frying pan into the fire, you move from one difficulty to an even worse one，跳出油鍋又跌落火坑，你想逃脫小災難，反遭大災難，處境弄得更糟。
有火就有光
先列出 lilght 的同義詞：ray 光線，beam 光束，glow 火輝，gleam 亮光，glimmer 微光，lustre 光澤，shimmer 閃光，flash 閃爍，shine 光彩，burst 迸發的光芒，dazzle 眩目的強光。可見光有强度，質量及類別。強光：strong/bright light, blinding/dazzling light, cold/harsh light；微弱的光：poor/dim/fading light, soft/warm light。
Light 作動詞用，同義詞有：shine, shimmer, gleam, glimmer, flash, glow, beam, dazzle。而近義詞 illuminate 可作照明或照亮解，to give light to: God illuminates my soul 上帝啓廸我的靈魂；the illumination is too weak to show the details of the painting 燈光太微弱，看不清楚圖畫的細節。另一個詞 radiate 發射光和熱 = to give off light and heat：The sun radiates light and heat 太陽發出光和熱；She radiates happiness 她喜形於色；radiate 也有輻射或放射的意思。Light up is to give light to; make or become bright with light or colour：華燈初上，街道通明，the streets lit up when the lamps were turned on；太陽下山後，就該點燈了，when the sun sets, it’s time to light up；一見他來，她就笑逐顏開，her face lit up when she saw he was coming。
LIght 有很多生動用語：come to light/bring something to light 發現，暴露，變得眾所周知；in the light of something，考慮到，available information；shed light on 解釋，說明白，explain, make clear 使問題較容易理解；in a good, favourable light 從好、從有利的⻆度看事物；see the light 終於領悟，終於明白，最後接受；see the light of day 開始為人所知，發現事物的優點；the light dawned on me 豁然開朗，恍然大悟；see the light at the end of the tunnel 曙光在望，看到某事的最終結果，經過一段艱難或不愉快的景況，終於見到希望。最壞的情況可能結束，快要熬出頭了！
最後，一句出自聖經的諺語：hide not your light under a bushel 勿過份謙虛，隱藏才能，不要把你的光藏在容器下。This idiomatic expression comes from the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible，耶穌訓示門徒說：你們是世界的光。建在山上的城市不會被隱藏。人點燃蠟燭，不是要放在容器下，而要放在燭台上，好讓它的光照亮全家。讓你們的光普照天下，讓世人看見你們的善行。Hide your light under a bushel 不露鋒芒，to be secret about one’s good abilities，不顯露自已的才能。For a long time we did not know that Mary had a wonderful singing voice; she was hiding her light under a bushel. A bushel（容器）is a vessel used for measuring corn in the past.
本專欄逢周二、五刊登
