Surviving Without Sleep For 41 Years？

王萍萍

導讀：越南64歲的老人Thai Ngoc，自從1973年高燒退后，夜晚就再也沒有睡著覺過。在將近15000個夜晚中，他數過無數次的羊，但還是睡不著。經檢查，雖然夜夜不眠，但是他的各項身體健康指數一切正常，除了肝功能有點不良。Thai Ngoc居住在山腳下的農地里，每天打理莊稼，飼養豬雞，生活一切正常，還利用不眠之夜建造了兩個池塘來養魚。

Thai Ngoc， a Vietnamese farmer born in 1942， claims to have stayed awake for over 40 years. His story was that after coming down with a fever in 1973， he hadnt been able to sleep. Hes tried medication， traditional folk remedies， and even doses of alcohol. Yet， nothing seems to have an effect； this man has endured nearly 15000 sleepless nights！

Now in his sixties， Ngoc Thai is certain that a lack of sleep does not affect him physically， showing off that he is able to carry two 110 pounds sacks of rice over 2 miles to his house every day. Still， Thai isnt only to show off， or break a record. In fact， he has tried everything in order to get some shut eye. Be it medications or even traditional folk remedies for insomnia， Thai remains wide awake； alcohol doesnt even seem to succeed yet. According to physicians whove examined him， Thai seems in perfect health， except slightly bad liver function.

In 2006 Ngoc told Thanh Nien News， “I dont know if the insomnia has influenced on my health or not， but Im still healthy and I can do the farm work normally like others.” Over thirty years without going sleep and Thai is still going strong. What could be behind this sleepless wonder？

According to Dr. Wadhwa， one explanation could be in perception. He says that for some insomniacs， the ability to clearly know the difference between sleep and wakefulness may be lacking. “They may feel they are only resting when in actual they are sleeping. They may also be having very short sleep for minutes，” he said.

While Ngoc has received some public attention， scientists have yet to study his case in any detail. Meanwhile， Thai uses his additional evening hours—time not afforded to the rest of us—to do extra farm work. Guarding the farm against theft， digging large ponds to raise fish， and waking fellow members for work， Ngoc has endured nearly 12，000 sleepless nights.

Vocabulary

medication n. 藥物治療，藥物處理

folk remedy 偏方

dose of alcohol 一劑量的酒精

endure v. 忍受

insomnia n. 失眠（insomniac 失眠的人）

liver n. 肝

（Have you ever experienced insomnia？ If so， what is your feeling about it？）