英语PK台 第449期:和爱尔兰大使共迎国庆日

 　　Track One

　　Ambassador, today 17 March—a very special day for Ireland and the Irish diaspora worldwide

　　今天是3月17日，对于爱尔兰和爱尔兰人民以及旅居海外的爱尔兰裔人都是非常重要的一天

　　Thank you very much Bruce. Thanks for coming along. A real pleasure to meet you again.

　　感谢布鲁斯，感谢你到来采访，很高兴又见面了。

　　To chat about St Patrick's Day—the biggest day of our year—National Day

　　我们来谈谈圣帕特里克节，这是爱尔兰的国庆节，一年中最重要的日子。

　　The Irish Diaspora—people who say they have Irish blood in their veins¹ runs to about 70 million worldwide

　　据说，有爱尔兰血统的爱尔兰裔人在世界范围内已经接近7千万了。

　　A big party going on right around the world

　　一个盛大的聚会正在世界范围内拉开帷幕

　　The world is going green today with the Irish

　　世界将会在今天为爱尔兰人变成绿色

　　Of course, the fact that the Irish diaspora's really celebrating worldwide—it draws in communities literally² every single country of the world—where there are any Irish and all their friends join into this wonderful harmony of friendship

　　爱尔兰移民们在全世界各地庆祝这个节日—他们确实让世界上每个国家都参与了进来—只要有爱尔兰人的地方，他们的朋友们都参与到这个睦且令人愉快的友谊的团体庆祝活动中来。

　　That's right—all over the world

　　这样很好，遍及世界

　　I was reading about a man called Carney who emigrated from Ireland in the 1850's

　　我正在读一本书，关于19世纪50年代一个爱尔兰的移民，Carney

　　He went to New York City—his great granddaughter had a famous son and she gave him the name Barack—I don't have to tell you his second name!!

　　他去了纽约，他的曾孙女有一个非常出名的儿子，她给他取名为Barack，我想就不必告诉你他的姓了。

　　So Irish descendants show up in all corners of the world and in places where you might least expect them—and on the main highways including here in China

　　所以，爱尔兰后裔遍布世界的各个角落，有可能在一个你最想不到的地方出现，在世界上那些重要的有领导力的国家，包括在中国。

　　You have witnessed St Patrick's Day in many parts of the world—you must have seen some wonderful parades

　　你曾经参加过世界各地举办的庆祝圣帕特里克节（的活动），一定见过很多精彩的游行吧。

　　The principal one in New York City but also in Tokyo, Paris and elsewhere

　　主要在纽约，东京，巴黎，还有一些其他地方的

　　We don't have a parade here in Beijing but we have a big Hooley (One Hundred Thousand Welcomes)—we have a great party

　　在北京还没有这样的庆祝游行，但是我们办了一个Big Hooley（十万次的欢迎仪式）—我们的大型派对

　　The Irish Ball which took place last Saturday here in Beijing—we had about 700 people

　　爱尔兰舞会上周六在北京举行，有700人（参加）

　　It went on quite late, I can't remember how late—I think there were more people left than arrived!!

　　舞会进行到很晚，记不清到底有多晚—那会儿走的人比刚到时的人数多多了。

　　It was one of those affairs

　　这仅是其中的一次盛事

　　Track Two

　　We had a parade in Shanghai—a good Irish community in Shanghai

　　我们曾在上海举办过一次庆祝游行—上海也有一个不错的爱尔兰人群体

　　We had a significant parade in Hong Kong—there are about 6000 Irish people living in Hong Kong

　　香港举办了一次很有意义的游行，在香港居住的爱尔兰人有将近6000个

　　It's part of the Irish culture—telling of stories, raconteurs³, reciting of poetry

　　这也是爱尔兰传统文化的一部分—讲故事，诵诗歌

　　There were centuries of illiteracy⁴ in Ireland—the culture was transmitted by oral means—it was the same in Scotland

　　至少有百年，爱尔兰人不识字—文化被大家口口相传—在苏格兰也是这样

　　That tradition has been handed down of reciting and then of writing

　　人文传统现实用记忆背诵，然后书写的方式被传承下来

　　Literature, modern literature has grown out of that tradition

　　那样的传统显然已经承载不了文学，尤其现代文学的发展了

　　The Irish love to tell a story—they are a bit like our cousins from Scotland

　　爱尔兰人喜欢讲故事—他们有点像来自苏格兰的姊妹

　　You and I are first cousins here in the room

　　在这房间里，你和我就是第一次见面的姊妹

　　That tradition lives on in all corners of the world

　　那样的传统在世界每个角落生机勃勃地延续着。

　　Dublin—earlier this year at the Chinese New Year Dublin went red

　　都柏林—今年年初的时候，都柏林在中国春节的时候换上了红色

　　It went red by illuminating⁵ our municipal buildings in the national colour of China

　　中国红点亮了我们的市政大厅

　　Which is also the colour that celebrates marriage and all festive⁶ and joyous⁷ occasions in Chinese culture.

　　（红色）同样也是中国传统文化中庆祝新婚，节日和喜事的颜色。

　　We did so as a mark of respect and friendship with the Chinese people

　　这么做，是我们向中国人民展示友好和尊重的方式。

　　It was very much appreciated by the Chinese leadership, by Chinese circles here in Beijing

　　中国的领导人对此举亦十分欣赏。

　　It was a reciprocal gesture on our part—because for the last 3 (4) years China has illuminated⁸ the Great Wall of China in green as a mark of friendship towards Ireland—on the occasion of St Patrick's Day—we did it again last night at Badaling

　　对我们而言，这是一个互惠互利的双边友好姿态—因为在过去的3（4）年，中国把长城装扮成了绿色，以向爱尔兰人民表达友好。恰逢圣帕特里克节—昨夜在八达岭长城再着绿装，十分美丽。

1 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 raconteurs   

n.善于讲轶事的人( raconteur的名词复数 )

参考例句：

4 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

5 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

6 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

7 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

8 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市