A Spanish mayor has issued an official edict insisting that all those living and working in his town be allowed to take a three-hour nap every afternoon.
西班牙一位市長頒布了一個官方法令，要求所有生活工作在本市的人每天下午午休3小時。

Joan Faus Vitoria, the mayor of Ador in the province of Valencia, has formally designated the hours between 2pm and 5pm as a time for locals to take their afternoon siestas.
巴倫西亞省阿爾多市市長瓊·福斯·維多利亞已經(jīng)正式指定下午兩點到五點是本地人午休時段。

During the official nap time - the first of its kind to be introduced in Spain - parents have been told that children must be kept indoors and residents and tourists are instructed not to make unnecessary noise.
這是西班牙首次引入官方午休時段。在此期間，家長必須讓孩子待在室內(nèi)，居民和旅客不能制造多余的噪音。

Mr Vitoria said the plan was introduced as a way for farm employees and manual laborers to take a break from work at a point in the day when temperatures reach their peak.
市長維多利亞表示，這項計劃是為了讓農(nóng)場員工和體力勞動者在一天氣溫最高的時候停下工作休息一會兒。

His edict states that the three-hour pause be respected by employers.
這項法令標明雇主必須遵守這項規(guī)定。

As well as allowing residents to return to their properties and spend a few hours catching up on sleep, the siesta time is also intended to bring quiet to municipality of Ador.
除了允許居民回到家中午休幾個小時外，規(guī)定午休時間也意在使阿爾多市更清靜。

A key rule is that locals who choose not to spend their time sleeping are not allowed to use the siesta period to carry out work that makes any noise. Mechanics, for example, wouldn't be allowed to test cars engines in case in wakes neighbors.
一個關(guān)鍵的規(guī)定就是，選擇不午休的居民不得利用午休時間來開展任何制造噪音的工作。比如，機械師不得在此期間測試汽車發(fā)動機，以防打擾鄰居。

Meanwhile parents have also been asked to ensure their children play indoors during the three-hour period to avoid noise travelling into open windows.
同時，父母要保證孩子在午休期間在家中玩耍，以免噪音從開著的窗戶傳出。

Mr Vitoria said that those found guilty of breaking the rules will not face penalties, adding that the edict should be treated as 'merely a suggestion' rather than an 'obligation'.
市長維多利亞表示，違規(guī)的人不會受到懲罰，而且此規(guī)定“只是一個建議而已”，并非“義務(wù)”。

'Many people here work in the countryside, so it's very usual to take a long lunch break and have a siesta after eating,' according to a Town Hall spokesman.
市政廳一位發(fā)言人表示，“這里很多人都在鄉(xiāng)下工作，因此午飯后的午休時間長點也是很常見的?！?/p>

Researchers say that an hour long power nap in the afternoon could repair the damage caused by a lack of sleep. Having a 30-minute snooze can help relieve stress and bolster the immune systems by restoring hormones and proteins to normal levels.
研究人員認為，午休一個小時可以修復睡眠不足造成的損傷。午休30分鐘有助于緩解壓力，使激素和蛋白質(zhì)恢復到正常水平，從而增強免疫力。

While siestas are common in southern European countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, many northern European nations say the culture of sleeping while the rest of Europe is hard at work puts these nations at a competitive disadvantage and has had a negative impact on their economies.
午休在西班牙、意大利、希臘等南歐國家很常見，但是很多北歐國家認為，當歐洲其他國家人們在努力工作的時候，他們卻在午休，這會使得本國處于競爭劣勢，給本國經(jīng)濟帶來負面影響。

Vocabulary
edict: 法令
siesta: 午睡，午休
catch up on: 補（覺）
snooze: 午睡，打盹
insomnia: 失眠
mitigate: 緩解

英文來源：每日郵報
譯者：實習生馮佳佳
審校&編輯：許晶晶