Taking a Roman Holiday 耶诞外一章
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2002年12月23日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年5月18日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：354
课文朗读
课文讲解
Larry and Maureen are doing their Christmas shopping downtown when they spot a nativity scene in a department-store window: 赖瑞和毛琳在市中心一起采购圣诞礼品时，在一家百货公司的橱窗中看见一幅耶稣诞生的景象：
L: Why do people still celebrate the birth of Jesus on December twenty-fifth? It’s generally accepted that he wasn’t born anyway near that date.
为什么人们还在十二月廿五日庆祝耶稣的诞生？大家都认为祂出生的日子又不靠近那天。
M: I know. It was chosen by religious leaders to be Christ’s birthday – three hundred years after his birth.
我知道。那是宗教领袖挑选出来的基督诞生日──在祂死后三百年。
L: It was already a day of worship centuries before Jesus was born, in cultures such as ancient Egypt, for example.
那天在耶稣出生前几百年就已经是个祭拜的日子了，例如在古埃及等文明中就是。
M: It was. It all had to do with the passing of the winter solstice: the Egyptians thought the sun was recovering from a day-shortening “illness.”
的确。那全跟冬至过去了有关：埃及人认为太阳正从白昼渐短的「疾病」中复原。
L: In the days before the Gregorian calendar, the winter solstice must have fallen on December twenty-fifth, right?
在使用格列高利历法[注]之前，冬至想必是落在十二月廿五日吧？
M: Right. Then you have the ancient Romans, who viewed the solstice more as the sun god’s rebirth; they celebrated it with revelry and debauchery.
没错。接着有古罗马人把冬至看得更像太阳的重生；他们狂观作乐、纵情声色来庆祝冬至。
L: A regular Roman holiday, I’m sure! Christmas is really an amalgamation of traditions and faiths from various countries and cultures, then.
跟一般罗马假日没两样！这么说来，圣诞节真是个混和了许多国家文化的传统及信仰的大杂烩。
M: So it’s no wonder some true Christians choose to ignore Christmas time: they know what’s what.
难怪有些忠贞的基督徒选择对圣诞节视而不见，他们知道真相。
L: Yeah – that December twenty-fifth was adopted as Jesus’ birthday in an attempt to overshadow popular pagan rituals.
是啊──之所以会采用十二月廿五日作耶稣的生日，是为了要让受欢迎的异教徒仪式蒙上阴影。
[注]：由1582年教皇格列高利十三世修订成的现行太阳历。
Vocabulary
单词发音
nativity [nəˋtɪvətɪ] n.（大写）耶稣的诞生；耶稣诞生图
Jesus [ˋdʒizəs] n. 耶稣
Christ [kraɪst] n. 基督
solstice [ˋsɑlstɪs] n. 至﹐ 至日〔一年中最长或最短的一天〕
revelry [ˋrɛv!rɪ] n. 寻欢作乐，狂欢；（喧闹的）欢宴
debauchery [dɪˋbɔtʃərɪ] n. 放荡；纵情酒色
amalgamation [ə͵mælgəˋmeʃən] n. 合并；混合
overshadow [͵ovɚˋʃædo] v. 使〔别的人或事〕显得较不重要﹐使相形见绌[黯然失色]
pagan [ˋpegən] n. 异教徒；非基督教徒
Sentence of the Day
They’re party poopers.
他们真是扫兴。
party pooper [ˋpɑrtɪ͵pupɚ] n.【俚】扫兴的人
课文朗读
课文讲解
Maureen and Larry continue their conversation: 毛琳和赖瑞继续聊天：
M: Christmas has quite an interesting history, it seems.
看来圣诞节真有一段有趣的历史。
L: It does. Did you know that holly and mistletoe were originally used in ancient Europe as pagan fertility symbols?
是啊。你知道在古欧洲，冬青和槲寄生原先是被异教徒用来当作丰收的象征吗？
M: I did – and that, to Germans, the evergreen “Christmas” tree was also an emblem of life which they decorated with apples.
我知道啊──我还知道，对德国人来说，常青的「圣诞树」也是生命的象征，他们在树上用苹果做装饰。
L: Do you know which country first embraced the tradition of sending Christmas cards?
你晓得寄耶诞卡的传统最先是在哪个国家实行吗？
M: Yep – the British. What about Santa Claus, then?
晓得啊──英国。那圣诞老公公呢？
L: A generous bishop called Nicholas, who later became the patron saint of children and seafarers.
他是一位名叫尼可拉斯的慷慨主教，后来成为孩子和出海人的守护神。
M: Very good! I only found out last year that the Santa we’ve all accepted as being bedecked in red and white is actually the result of clever advertising by Coca-Cola.
很好！我去年才发现，我们向来认定为一身红白装束的圣诞老公公，其实是可口可乐精明广告的结果。
L: That’s right; in fact, it was America that really took all these Christmas traditions and rolled them up into one big, jolly, festive package.
没错。事实上，是美国将这些耶诞传统照单全收，并将其结合成一整套大型欢庆节日的。
M: They managed to transform an essentially pagan festival with Christian overtones into the family-oriented day of food and fun that we know today.
他们设法将一个本属异教徒而带有基督色彩的节日，转变成今天我们认识的这个具有家庭色彩、吃喝玩乐的日子。
L: Yep. So Christmas isn’t quite as old as most people think.
对啊。所以圣诞节没有一般人想的那样古老。
M: True – but it’s also a lot older than most people realize, too!
这是事实──但另一方面圣诞节又比一般人了解的古老得多。
L: Happy Yule, Maureen!
毛琳，圣诞节快乐！
M: And a merry sun-rebirth to you, too, Larry!
也祝你「太阳重生日」快乐呀，赖瑞！
－byColin Gread
Vocabulary
单词发音
holly [ˋhɑlɪ] n. 冬青树; 〔常用作圣诞节装饰的〕冬青树叶及浆果
mistletoe [ˋmɪs!͵to] n.【植】槲寄生
fertility [fɝˋtɪlətɪ] n. 肥沃, 丰饶, 生产力; 生育能力﹐ 繁殖力
evergreen [ˋɛvɚ͵grin] adj. 常绿的，常青的
emblem [ˋɛmbləm] n. 象征；标志
bishop [ˋbɪʃəp] n.（天主教及英国国教等的）主教
patron [ˋpetrən] n.（土地，职业等的）守护神
saint [sent] n.（教会正式承认的）圣徒
seafarer [ˋsi͵fɛrɚ] n. 船员；航海家
bedeck [bɪˋdɛk] v. 修饰，装饰
roll up 把...卷起来 make into a bundle
jolly [ˋdʒɑlɪ] n.【口】令人愉快的，宜人的; 快活的，高兴的
overtone [ˋovɚ͵ton] n. 言外之意，弦外之音
oriented [ˋɑrɪɛntɪd] adj. 以……为方向的，以……为目的的
Yule [jul] n.（常作Y-）圣诞节；耶诞季节
Sentence of the Day
They know their stuff!
他们了解自己的本行。
know one’s stuff 了解本行, 精通业务