VOA慢速英语--泰国少年足球队员举行佛教剃光头仪式

Thai Soccer Boys Shave Their Heads for Buddhist¹ Ceremony

The boys rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand earlier this month have cut all the hair off their heads. Their coach, who also was rescued, has done the same. The head shaving ceremony Tuesday was in preparation for their training to become Buddhist clergy².

Eleven boys and their coach prayed and offered drinks and food to spirits at a Buddhist temple. One team member who was rescued did not take part because he is not Buddhist.

The chief of Chiang Rai's Buddhism³ office said the boys will do their Buddhist service in honor of Samarn Gunan. He was the Thai former navy SEAL who died on a dive in the cave’s waterway to help the trapped team.

Tradition calls for Buddhist males in Thailand to enter the clergy at some point in their lives. The service is to show thanks, often toward their parents for raising them. It is also believed that they will gain goodness and protection through such service, and that those qualities will extend to their parents.

The provincial⁴ governor said the boys and their coach will be ordained⁶ on Wednesday. After that, the group will stay for more than a week at a religious center near Thailand’s northern border with Myanmar.

The team and coach were released from a hospital last Wednesday. They had been trapped on June 23. British divers⁷ found them July 2 and a three-day effort to rescue them ended successfully July 10.

Around 200 people gathered to observe the head shaving ceremony.

Apinya Winthachai, a local Buddhist religious worker, said, “I was so happy to see them alive and I thought it would be good to attend the ceremony to show them our support.”

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

ordain⁵ - v. to officially make someone a minister, priest, rabbi, monk⁸...

1 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。

2 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

3 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 ordain   

vi.颁发命令；vt.命令，授以圣职，注定，任命

参考例句：

• The church's ruling body voted to ordain women as priests.该教会的管理机构投票通过接纳女性为牧师。
• The essence of management refers to its internal inevitable ordain quality,and is also called ultimate attribute.管理的本质是指管理自身内在的必然的规定性，即根本属性。

6 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

7 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

8 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。