雙語美文閱讀：玫瑰的傳說

　　人類有史以來就鐘情于玫瑰。 據(jù)說，克婁巴特拉宮殿的地面就鋪滿了嬌嫩的玫瑰花瓣，博學的孔子有600冊藏書專門講述如何培育玫瑰。

　　The rose is a legend on its own. The story goes that during the RomanEmpire, there was an incredibly beautiful maiden named Rhodanthe.Her beauty drew many zealous suitors who pursued her relentlessly.Exhausted by their pursuit, Rhodanthe was forced to take refuge from her suitors in the temple of her friend Diana. Unfortunately, Diana became jealous. And when the suitors broke down her temple gates to get near their beloved Rhodanthe, she became angry tuming Rhodanthe into a rose and her suitors into thorns

　　玫瑰本身就是一個傳說，在羅馬帝國時代，有一個名叫羅丹斯的美麗絕倫的少女。她的美麗引來了無數(shù)狂熱的求婚者鍥而不合地追求她。羅丹斯實在招架不住了，不得不到朋友狄安娜的神廟里躲避她的求婚者。不幸的是，狄安娜產(chǎn)生了嫉妒之心。當求婚者沖進了神廟的大門，要接近他們所愛戀著的羅丹斯時，狄安娜一怒之下將羅丹斯變成了一枝玫瑰花，將她的求婚者變成了花刺。

　　In Greek legend, the rose was created by Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers. It was just a lifeless seed of a nymph that Chloris found one day in a clearing in the woods. She asked the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who gave her beauty. Dionysus, the god of wine, added nectar to give her a sweet scent, and the three Graces gave her charm, brightness and joy. Then Zephyr, the West Wind, blew away the clouds so that Apollo, the sun god, could shine and made this flower bloom And so the Rose was born and was immediately crowned the Queen of Flowers.

　　在希臘傳說中，玫瑰是希臘花神克羅斯創(chuàng)造的。當初玫瑰只是林中一個仙女的尚無生命的一粒種子。一天，花神克羅斯偶然在森林的一塊空地上發(fā)現(xiàn)了它。克羅斯請求愛神阿佛洛狄特賦予了它美麗的容貌，讓酒神狄俄尼索斯?jié)矠⒘松窬疲顾鼡碛辛朔曳嫉臍馕丁Ｓ钟忻阑萑駥Ⅶ攘Α⒙敺f和歡樂賜予了它。隨后，西風之神吹散了云朵，太陽神阿波羅用光茫將其照耀并使它開花。玫瑰就這樣誕生了，并立即被封為花中之皇后。

　　The frist true primary red rose seen in Europe was"Slater's Crimson China" introduced in 1792 from China, where it had been growing wild in the mountains. Immediately, rose breeders began using it to hybridize red roses for cultivation. Ever since, the quest for the perfect red rose has been the Holy Grail ofrosarians: a fragrant, disease-resistant, long-lasting, Iong-stemmed, rebloaming, perfectly formed rose with a clear non-fading vivid red color. Absolute perfection still hasn't been attained, and of course never will!

　　歐洲見到的第一枝真正的原色紅玫瑰叫做“斯萊特中國深紅”，于1792年從中國引進。當時，它.直生長在中國山區(qū)的野地里口玫瑰培育者馬上開始用它進行雜交種植。從此，尋求完美的紅玫瑰一直是玫瑰栽培者所追求的理想。這種玫瑰應具有芳香的氣味、抵御疾病的能力，持久的花期、修長的花莖、反復開花的本領、優(yōu)美的體態(tài)以及不褪色的純鮮紅顏色。然而，絕對的完美卻始終未達到，當然也永遠無法達到!

　　There is a special rose language invented as a secret means of communication between lovers who were not allowed to express their love for one another openly. In the mid 18th century the wife of the British ambassador in Constantinople described this in her letters, which were published after her death. These letters inspired many books on the language of flowers, each describing the secret message hidden in each flower. A red rose bud stands for budding desire.An open white rose asks "Will you love me?" An open red rose means "I'm full o flove and desire",while an open yellow rose asks "Don't you love me any more?"

　　人們發(fā)明了_一種特殊的玫瑰語言，作為不被允許公開示愛的情侶間秘密交流的方式。18世紀中期，英國駐君士坦丁堡大使的夫人在信中對此做了描述。這些信件激發(fā)了許許多多關于花草語言書籍的問世，每一本書都對每種花所隱藏的信息進行了描述。一朵紅玫瑰花蕾代表萌發(fā)中的情欲，一枝盛開的白玫瑰則是在探問：“你會愛我嗎?井一枝綻開的紅玫瑰的含義是：“我對你滿懷著愛意和渴望竹，而一枝開放的黃玫瑰則是在詢問：“你是不是不再愛我了?”

　　雙語美文閱讀：情人節(jié)的由來

　　There are varying opinions as to the origin ofValentine's Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Chrishanity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries.

　　關于情人節(jié)的起源有許多種說法。有關人士認為情人節(jié)是一個名叫圣瓦倫丁的人士發(fā)起的。他是羅馬人，因拒絕放棄____而慘遭殺害。他去世的時間是公元前269年2月14日，這一天也正好是全城專心于愛情抽簽的日子。

　　Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his lover, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

　　而另外一種說法更具有傳奇色彩，相傳圣瓦倫丁曾留下一本日記給了獄卒的女兒，署名為“你的情人”，據(jù)說這名獄卒的女兒就是圣瓦倫丁的情人。還有其他的說法也頗為有趣。比如說有人認為在克勞狄君王統(tǒng)治時期，圣瓦侖丁曾經(jīng)是一名神父，因為公然挑戰(zhàn)克勞狄君王的權威而身陷囹圄。所以，公元前496年羅馬教皇基拉西烏斯特意將2月14日作為一個特別的日子以紀念圣瓦倫丁。

　　Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers.There was often a social gathering or a ball.

　　此后2月14日就成為了_一個具有特殊意義的日子。這天人們向自己心儀的人傳遞信息以示愛意。圣瓦侖丁也理所當然地成為了為戀愛中的男女們牽線搭橋的人。人們這一天會特意做詩或者將一些小禮物，如鮮花送給自己心愛的人。而且人們還會組織各種各樣的聚會來慶祝這個特殊的節(jié)日.

　　In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentline cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the date is very commercialised. The town of Loveland,Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14. The spirit of 800d continues as valentines are sent out with sentimenkl verses and children exchange valentine cards at school.

　　埃斯特·豪蘭小姐是美國第一位因為發(fā)送情人節(jié)卡片而受到榮譽獎勵的人。早在19世紀初，情人節(jié)就已初露商業(yè)化的端倪，而如今情人節(jié)已經(jīng)完全被商業(yè)化了，比如每當每年2月14日來臨的時候，在科羅拉多的拉夫蘭這樣的城鎮(zhèn)里，人們都要派送大量的為情人節(jié)特別準備的卡片.而在這天人們往往吟歌做詩并且把這些寫入卡片中送給自己喜歡的人以表達自己的愛意，學校里孩子門也喜歡互贈賀卡