美国国家公共电台 NPR The British Celebrate Pancake Day With Sweet Races

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's Shrove Tuesday on the Christian¹ calendar, the last day to indulge before the beginning of Lent. So in New Orleans, people are celebrating Mardi Gras. In Brazil and elsewhere, it's Carnival². The British do things differently. In the United Kingdom, people are racing³ around with frying pans, flipping⁵ pancakes. NPR's Frank Langfitt reports from London on the ancient and colorful traditions of Pancake Day.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Three, two, one - go.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE⁶: And they're off.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Unintelligible). Oh, that James Landau - he's got some speed on him, hasn't he?

LANGFITT: Oh, my gosh, somebody's already dropped a pancake.

Teams from Parliament and the House of Lords took on national media this morning in a relay race around a garden along the Thames. They flipped⁷ pancakes as they ran, all to raise money for rehab, a health charity that helps people with brain injuries. That worthy⁸ cause, though, did not hinder the race's traditional shoving and cheating. Member of Parliament Liz McInnes said the Upper House took the brunt of it last time around.

LIZ MCINNES: There were lords on the floor last year. I was running over lords who'd fallen over.

LANGFITT: Really?

MCINNES: (Laughter).

LANGFITT: People do crash.

MCINNES: Oh, yeah, yeah.

LANGFITT: Really?

MCINNES: Yeah, yeah. I stopped to pick my pancake up last year, which was a mistake. Never pick it up if you drop it.

LANGFITT: Is it cheating to carry an extra pancake?

MCINNES: No, no, that's part of our tactics.

LANGFITT: Are there no rules?

MCINNES: Any rules are made to be broken I think.

LANGFITT: The race has more civilized⁹ routes. Story goes that a woman lost track of time while cooking pancakes on Shrove Tuesday back in 1445. When she heard the church bells ring, she rushed out the door still holding her frying pan. Some of today's racers grew up with this tradition, including Tim Loughton, an MP with the Tory Party and the son of a minister.

TIM LOUGHTON: We used to do it at school. My father was a vicar, so Pancake Day and so Easter and the build up to it - to that was always a big thing for us. So yeah, pancakes are in my blood.

LANGFITT: British racing pancakes bear no resemblance to the fluffy¹⁰ ones Americans eat. The U.K. version is flat and tends to split apart by the third flip⁴.

CLIVE LEWIS: And there's a big debate now over what you should have in the pancakes.

LANGFITT: Clive Lewis is a parliamentarian with the Labour Party.

LEWIS: You can have, like, Nutella on it or butterscotch. Back in the day, the tradition is just lemon and sugar. I'm going to go. Look; I've got to go (unintelligible).

LANGFITT: What's your favorite?

LEWIS: Lemon and sugar. I'm a traditionalist (laughter).

LANGFITT: After 10 grueling laps...

And there it is. The MPs won. The MPs have won.

The members of Parliament finished first by a frying pan length. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, London.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PANCAKE DAY")

MAID MARIAN AND HER MERRY MEN: (Singing) It's Pancake Day. Yes, it's Pancake Day. Yes, it's Pancake Day.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

3 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。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

5 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

8 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

9 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

10 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。