端午传说:白蛇饮雄黄现原形的故事

 There is a very famous traditional Chinese story that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned themselves into beautiful maidens¹ and set off on a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou. 

另一个与端午节息息相关的中国传统故事是“白蛇传”。从前，在峨眉山上有两只蛇精，白蛇与青蛇。这两只蛇精运用法力将自己变成美丽的女子，并到杭州西湖游玩。

When they arrived at West Lake they met a man named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love with Xu Xian and they were soon married. A Buddhist² monk³, named Fa Hai, warned Xu Xian of his wife's deceptive⁴ appearance and suggested to him a plan. 

当她们在西湖游玩时，遇到一位名叫许仙的男子，白蛇与许仙很快的相恋并且随即结婚。当时一位名叫法海的和尚，曾经警告许仙注意他妻子惑人的外表，并建议他一个揭开真相的计划。

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging on the doors of people's houses.Her husband prepared, according to Fa Hai's instruction, some realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her magic would protect her from the effects of the realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the wine she became very ill and was barely able to get to her bed.When her husband came to her side, he found not his wife but a huge white snake. So great was Xu Xian's shock that he fell to the floor dead. 

端午节当天，白蛇待在家里以避开人们挂在门上驱邪的艾草，而许仙则依照法海的建议准备了大家在端午节时都会喝的雄黄酒。白蛇自认魔力可以抵挡雄黄酒对她的影响，因此喝了一杯。但是在她喝下那杯酒之後，她却变得精疲力竭，几乎走不到床上。当许仙回到白蛇身边，看到的不是自己美丽的妻子， 而是一只巨大的白蛇，许仙震惊不已，从楼梯上摔死了。

After recovering from the realgar wine and regaining⁵ her human form, White Snake was grief-stricken to find her husband dead.She set off on a journey to obtain a potent⁶ medicinal herb, which could revive her husband. After returning and reviving her husband with the medicine, she explained to Xu Xian that the white snake he saw was actually a dragon and that this vision was indeed a very good omen⁷. Xu Xian's fears were put to rest for the moment by his wife's fanciful story. 

当白蛇恢复精力及人形时，她才发现自己丈夫已经身亡，因此白蛇外出寻找能使许仙起死回生的强效药草。许仙在服用药草，并起死回生之後，白蛇告诉许仙他看到的那条白蛇，其实是一只代表吉相的龙。而在那时，许仙也在白蛇引人入胜的故事中将恐惧抛诸脑后。

1 maidens   

处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功，少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

3 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

4 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

5 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

6 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

7 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？