在乌兹别克斯坦举行的一场国际会议上，一名政府官员突然摔倒在地。
Other government workers casually carried the man away.
其他政府官员淡定地把他抬了下去。
Just a few minutes earlier, the man was seen moving from one side of the room to the other, making sure even the smallest details of the conference were just right.
就在几分钟前，有人看到这名男子从房间的一侧走到另一侧，确保这场会议即便最细微的细节都恰到好处。
The Reuters news agency reports that what happened to him was not an unusual event.
路透社报道称，发生在他身上的这种情况并不罕见。
The Central Asian nation is slowly opening its economy to other areas. To get the nation ready, some government workers have been working 15-hour days, seven days a week, for more than three years.
这个中亚国家正在慢慢向其它地区开放经济。为了做好准备，一些政府工作人员每周工作7天，每天工作15个小时，这样已经持续了3年多。
Foreign businessmen who go to Uzbekistan face an unusual problem – making sure the officials they are meeting stay awake.
前去乌兹别克斯坦的外商面临了一个特别难题，那就是确保他们会见的官员保持清醒。
"He fell asleep twice during an afternoon meeting," said one Western businessman after meeting a mid-level Uzbek official.
一位西方商人在会见乌兹别克斯坦一位中级官员后表示：“他在下午的会议上睡着了两次。”
Uzbekistan, once part of the Soviet Union, is home to 33 million people. Government workers there have a tradition of not leaving the office before their boss does.
曾经隶属苏联的乌兹别克斯坦有3300万人口。该国政府工作人员有着不能比上司早下班的传统。
But since the death of Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 2016, working all day long, every day has become a way of life.
但是自从乌兹别克斯坦总统伊斯兰·卡里莫夫于2016年去世以来，政府官员全天无休地工作已经成为了一种生活方式。
His replacement, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, says he wants the country to move forward. He has asked government workers to be more responsible to the needs of Uzbekistan's citizens.
他的继任者沙夫卡特·米尔济约耶夫表示，他希望国家发展进步。他要求政府官员对乌兹别克斯坦人民的需求承担更大责任。
"When President (Mirziyoyev) came to power, he declared an emergency for (government workers) and said that officials would not rest until we please the people," said one Uzbek official. He spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity for fear of openly criticizing the system.
乌兹别克斯坦一位官员表示：“米尔济约耶夫总统上台时宣布政府工作人员进入紧急状态，并称直到我们让人民满意才能休息。”因为不敢批评这一体系，他匿名接受了路透社采访。
The president usually works long hours, so everyone below him feels they must do the same.
这位总统经常长时间工作，所以他下面的官员觉得自己也必须这样做。
Perhaps sensing that his country's workers are tired, the president last month ordered officials to leave their offices at five in the afternoon on Saturdays and spend Sundays with their families.
可能是看到工作人员很累，总统上月下令官员们在周六下午五点下班，并与家人一起度过周日。
"But in reality nothing has changed," said the same Uzbek official.
前面提到的那位乌兹别克斯坦官员表示：“但是实际上没有任何变化。”
"I still go to work at eight in the morning and come back at midnight," he said. "Sometimes I don't see my children for several days...they are already asleep when I come home and leave for school earlier in the morning," he added.
他说：“我还是早上8点来上班，半夜才回家。”他还说：“有时候我好几天见不到我的孩子。我下班回来时他们睡了，一早又去上学了。”
I'm Susan Shand.
我是苏珊·尚德。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)