节日快乐！ Eid Mubarak!

Hello I’m Rob.Welcome to 6 Minute English.I’m joined today by Neil.Hello Neil.
大家好，我是Rob。欢迎收听六分钟英语。今天Neil和我一起主持节目。你好，Neil。
Hi there Rob. And I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing our Muslim listeners Eid Mubarak!
你好，Rob。我想你今天来是要和我一起向我们的穆斯林听众们祝贺他们节日快乐的吧！
Yes, indeed, Eid Mubarak!The end of Ramadan is approaching and they will be celebrating ’Eid-ul-Fitr’,the Festival of the Breaking of Fast.
没错，穆斯林朋友们节日快乐！随着斋月的结束，穆斯林朋友们就要开始庆祝“开斋节”了，开斋节就是庆祝斋戒结束的节日。
’Fast’ is the word for a period of time when you don’t eat. And when you eat after a fast you break your fast.
“斋戒”就是人们在某段时期内不能吃食物。当斋戒结束后，人们开始吃东西，这就是开斋。
Today we are going to talk about Ramadan. But first a question for you, Neil.
今天我们就要来一起聊聊斋月。不过Neil，我要先问你一个问题。
OK. What is it?
好的，你问吧。
Well, many people around the world are celebrating Ramadan at the moment.But how many people follow Islam? Is it about: a) 1.2 billion b) 1.5 billion or c) 1.8 billion people
每年的这个时候都有很多人在庆祝斋月。但是你知道到底有多少人信奉伊斯兰教吗？选项有：a) 12亿b) 15亿c) 18亿
Right. This is going to be a complete guess. I’ll go for the middle option, b) 1.5 billion.
好的这个我只能猜了。我选中间项，b) 15亿。
OK, interesting guess.And do you know which country has the biggest Muslim population?Do you want to risk a guess?
好的，猜得不错。那你知道穆斯林人口最多的国家是哪个吗？敢不敢再猜一次？
I think I know this.I’m going to say Indonesia.
这个问题我好像知道答案。我想说是印度尼西亚。
OK, well, all will be revealed at the end of the programme. First, let’s understand what this celebration is all about.
好的，那按老规矩来，我们在结尾来揭晓答案。首先，让我们先来了解一下这个节日吧。
Muslims believe in a God called Allah.Eid is an occasion when they thank Allah for helping them to have bettered themselves by giving up food.
穆斯林教徒信奉真主阿拉。为了感谢阿拉赐予他们美好的生活，穆斯林信徒们通过一段时间的斋戒来表达谢意，这就是斋月节。
It is. I asked Muna, our colleague from the Arabic Service at the BBC World Service, to explain the main purpose of Ramadan. Listen out for the word which means the ability to control yourself.
没错。我曾经请教过我们的同事Muna，她是BBC全球广播频道阿拉伯频道的工作人员，请她告诉我斋月的主要目的。请大家尽力去听并找出那个表示控制自己的能力的单词。
Ramadan is the holy month when we fast.We begin the day with one meal after dawn.We finish our fast with another meal with the sunset.After this whole month comes Eid to reward ourselves for this worship.And it’s a kind of discipline,to discipline ourselves and to let us feel how people in need feel when they don’t have enough food. And every Muslim should give an amount of money to the people in need after this fasting.
斋月节是我们实行斋戒的一个神圣的月份。人们在天晓前吃“封斋饭”。在日落时再吃一餐以示开斋，这个月结束之后就是开斋节，来表达对我们虔诚信念的奖赏。这就是一种控制自己的能力。通过这种控制自己饮食的方式来让我们感同身受那些缺乏食物的穷人们的生活。斋戒结束后，每个穆斯林教徒还要向那些穷人捐赠一些善款。
Muna uses the word ’discipline’.When you fast you resist the temptation of eating.
Muna用到了这个单词“discipline”。当斋戒的时候，人们就要控制想吃东西的欲望。
And she also talks about reward.after a month of fasting and worship,which means showing a strong admiration and respect for God –Allah in this case – the followers of Islam reward themselves with the festival called Eid.
她还提到了奖赏。经过了一个月的斋戒和做祷告，显示出了人们对真主的真诚的信仰。当然在这里的上帝就是真主阿拉——伊斯兰教的信徒们通过庆祝开斋节来奖赏自己。
She says people fast in order to understand the way others in need live.
她说人们通过斋戒的方式来让自己了解那些需要帮助的人们的生活。
People in need – poor people –don’t have enough food to eat and might feel hungry for most of the time and this period of fasting helps Muslims to experience that.
需要帮助的人——穷人——他们没有足够的食物，常常处在饥饿之中。斋月使穆斯林信徒们体验那种生活状态。
And then every Muslim is required to donate –that’s give money or gifts - to the poor.And what does Muna do during Eid?
然后，每一个穆斯林们还要捐赠——捐一些钱或物给穷人们。那么在开斋节Muna都做些什么呢？
Well, Muna, who is a Palestinian living in London,tells us. Listen out for what she does in the mosque, or the Islamic temple.
Muna是巴基斯坦人，现居伦敦，她一会就会告诉我们了。下面就让我们来听听Muna来说说她在清真寺——即伊斯兰的寺庙里面都做些什么。
We go to the mosque after the sunset and we pray together.Then we have coffee and sweets together.We visit each other.We spend the whole night talking and celebrating and… in Saudi Arabia for example they can go to festivals, go to coffee shops… yes, (there are) different ways of celebrating Ramadan and Eid.
太阳落山后我们就会去清真寺，一起做祷告。然后大家会一起喝咖啡吃甜点。也会互相拜访。大家一起整夜聊天、庆祝……在沙特阿拉伯，人们还会去看电影，或者去咖啡店……是的，庆祝斋月和开斋节的方式有很多种。
Pray –it’s when you speak to God privately or in a religious ceremony,when you want to express love for God or ask for something or just say ’thank you for helping me’. Ramadan and Eid also seem to be very social occasions.
祷告——就是人们自己与真主交流的时候，或者是在宗教仪式上的活动，如果你想表达对真主的爱或者祈求什么，只需要说“感谢真主”就可以了。斋月和开斋节看起来也是非常社会化的活动。
Muna will go to the mosque and after she prays with other Muslims, they eat together and talk a lot.
Muna会和其他穆斯林信徒一起去清真寺祷告，他们还会一起去吃东西，一起聊天。
So, there’s a personal challenge of fasting, when you have to have discipline. And also the social aspect of making donations to the poor and sharing a meal with friends and fellow Muslims.
所以，在挑战禁食的时候，穆斯林们是自己一个人，这个时候他们就要学会控制自己。而当到了捐赠钱物以及和朋友们分享食物的时候就是大家一起的活动了。
And there’s another Eid coming up, Neil.It’s called ’Eid-ul-Adha’.It’s going to be celebrated in October. Let’s listen to what Muna has to say.What happens before that other Eid is celebrated?
Neil,又有一个节日要到了噢。这次是“牺牲节”。在每年的十月。下面再把时间交给Muna。在庆祝这个节日之前都会发生些什么呢？
The other Eid comes after (the) pilgrimage to the holy places in Saudi Arabia and in this Eid also the other worship we do is to slaughter sheep or cow or camel and give this meat to people in need.
这个节日是在去沙特阿拉伯的圣地朝圣之后开始庆祝，在“牺牲节”里，我们会杀牛宰羊或者骆驼来庆祝，当然我们还会把这些肉分给穷人。
Ah, a pilgrimage –it means a visit to a special place to show respect. In this case, it is a visit to holy places in Saudi Arabia. It’s after the ’Hajj", the journey to Mecca.
啊，朝圣——意思是到达一个特别的地方来表示对真主的敬意。在伊斯兰教里面，这个圣地就在沙特阿拉伯。即前往圣地麦加朝圣。
And again there’s a concern about the poor.Muna said the meat of an animal is offered to those who haven’t got enough to eat.
在“牺牲节”里，穆斯林们依然还会表达自己对穷人的关怀。Muna说会把屠宰的动物的肉分给那些没有足够食物吃的人们。
And now I’m very keen to know how many Muslims there are in the world, Rob. Was I right at the beginning of the programme?
Rob，现在我非常好奇想知道世界上到底有多少穆斯林了。在节目一开始我说的那个答案对吗？
Well, the options were a) 1.2 billion; b) 1.5 billion; and c) 1.8 billion people.
恩，选项有a) 12亿; b) 15亿; 以及c) 18亿。
And I said b) 1.5 billion.
我猜的是 b) 15亿人口。
You did, didn’t you?And you were right.According to a 2010 study by the Pew Research Center in the US,Islam is followed by 1.57 billion people,making up over 23% of the world population.The largest Muslim population in a country is in Indonesia,a secular nation home to 12.7% of the world’s Muslims. Well done!You got both questions right, Neil.
是的，是吧？好吧，你还真答对了呢。根据美国皮尤研究中心2010年的调查显示，全球有15.7亿人信奉伊斯兰教，占了全球总人口的23%。伊斯兰教人口最多的国家是印度尼西亚，是全球12.7%伊斯兰人的世俗家园。干得好！两个问题你都答对了，Neil。
Fantastic!
太棒啦！
Unfortunately, we’re running out of time but before we go, could you please remind us of some of the English words we’ve heard today?
不过，我们今天的节目要结束啦，在这之前，你来和大家再来复习一下我们今天提到的单词吧？
We heard: fast breaking (a fast) reward worship discipline in need to donate mosque pray pilgrimage
好的，我们今天听到过：斋戒、禁食开斋奖励、奖赏崇拜、信仰控制、训练、纪律有需要的捐赠清真寺祷告朝圣
Thank you, Neil. Well that’s it for this programme.Please join us soon again for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
谢谢你，Neil。好的，以上就是今天节目的全部内容。希望大家下次继续关注我们的六分钟英语节目。
Bye and Eid Mubarak!
再见并祝穆斯林朋友们节日快乐！