美国文化脱口秀 第632期:端午节用英语怎么说?

 端午节

端午节在英语中叫做龙舟节：

Dragon boat festival: 端午节

维基百科上，也将端午节直接翻译为：

Duanwu Festival: 端午节

但如果对方不是非常了解中国文化的外国人，还是第一种说法更加易懂。

赛龙舟

端午节中国人要“赛龙舟”，英语可以这样说：

Dragon boat racing¹: 赛龙舟

赛龙舟并非中国独有，其实在北美这也是一项非常受欢迎的比赛活动。

划船这个动作叫做：

Row: 划船

船桨有多种说法：

Paddle: 船桨

Oar²: 船桨

节日日期

农历在英语中叫做：

Lunar calendar: 农历

Traditional Chinese calendar: 农历

如果要表达在哪一天，可以这样说：

It occurs on…

It is on…

具体用法：

When is Dragon Boat Festival this year? 今年的端午节是什么时候？

It's on June 18th this year. 今年是六月十八日

在中国，端午节有一天的公共假期，大家能度过一个小长假：

Public holiday: 公共假期

One day off: 放假一天

历史渊源

端午节有其非常悠久的历史，在说到历史渊源时，有一个词必须要掌握：

Origin: 起源

The story best known in China holds that the festival commemorates³ the death of the poet QuYuan:

端午节是为了纪念诗人屈原投江离世而来，这个故事在中国广为人知。

It's said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him, or at least retrieve⁴ his body.

相传，当地的百姓们曾在江上划着龙舟，试图救起屈原，或至少能找到他的遗体。

When his body could not be found, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi.

但百姓们最终还是失败了，为了不让水中的鱼把屈原的身体吃掉，他们将粽子投入江中。这也就是粽子的起源。

粽子

Wrapped in leaves of bamboo, zongzi has a special aroma⁵ and flavor to the sticky rice and fillings.

粽子用竹叶包裹，因此，它的糯米和馅料都会沾有一种特殊的香味和风味。

Sweet or dessert-styled zongzi, with bean paste, dates and nuts as fillings.

甜粽子一般用豆沙，枣和坚果作为馅料。

Savory⁶ zongzi, with a variety of fillings including marinated pork belly⁷, chicken, sausage and salted duck eggs.

咸粽子有很多种馅料，包括卤五花肉，鸡肉，香肠，和咸鸭蛋。

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

3 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

5 aroma   

n.香气，芬芳，芳香

参考例句：

• The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
• The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。

6 savory   

adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的

参考例句：

• She placed a huge dish before him of savory steaming meat.她将一大盘热气腾腾、美味可口的肉放在他面前。
• He doesn't have a very savory reputation.他的名誉不太好。

7 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。