英语口语畅谈世界文化之中国17:Dragons 龙

英语口语畅谈世界文化

之中国17:Dragon龙

M: Museum curator     V: Visitor
M：博物馆馆长    V：参观者

V: This picture we see here is of a very traditional Chinese dragon.
M:我们看到的这张照片上是一条非常传统的中国龙。

V:I'm sorry, but this dragon looks friendly unlike Western dragons which are fierce. Why?
V:可是，打断一下，这条龙看起来很友好，不像西方的龙那么凶，为什么？

M：Why? Well, in China dragons are not seen in the same way as in England. For example, they are not evil, but lucky.
M:为什么？噢，是这样，中国人与英国人对龙的看法是不一样的。比如说，龙不是邪恶的，而是吉祥的动物。

V: Lucky, in what way?
V:吉祥的？怎么吉祥？

M: Did you know we also connect dragons with the number 9? And 9 for us is a very lucky number.
M:你知道我们还把龙跟数字9联系在一起吗？而9对我们来说是非常吉利的数字。

V: In Western countries 7 is usually lucky and we think 13 is unlucky, but I don't think we have any special feeling about 9.
V:在西方国家，通常7是幸运数字．13是不吉利的数字，但我想我们对9没有什么特别的感情。

M: Although we don't know the exact origins, we are sure they predate history. We can find them in literature, poems, songs and architecture.
M:尽管我们不知道龙确切的由来，但我们确信那是很早以前的历史了。在文献、诗词、歌曲和建筑中都可以发现有关信息。

V: So they are very important to Chinese people. Right ?
V:所以龙对中国人非常重要，对吧？

M: Yes, they are part of our conscience.
M:是的，它是我们意识形态的一部分。

V: In this display the clothing is decorated with dragons. Why are they so significant?
v:这次展览的服装上都饰有龙的图案。它们为什么那么重要？

M: This is an imperial dragon robe from the Qing Court. We also have a very famous Dragon Dance which dates back to the Song dynasty, and nowadays the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated internationally.
M:这是一件清朝皇帝穿的龙袍。我们还有个非常有名的舞龙表演，可以追溯到宋朝，还有，现在世界各地都在过龙舟节‘。

V:  Yes, last year I was in Chinatown in London and we saw the dancing, but also a special type of boat race.
v:没错，去年我在伦敦的中国城就看见了舞龙表演，而且还有专门的赛龙舟活动。

M: Yes, a Dragon Boat race. It is celebrated during the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It commemorates a great poet called Qu Yuan.
M:嗅，有赛龙舟。那是在中国阴历5月举行的庆祝活动，是为了纪念一个叫屈原的伟大诗人。

V: OK. So where else do we 6nd dragons?
V:好了，那么在哪儿还能找到龙？

M: Well, there are many famous Chinese stories about the dragon. There is even a famous Chinese idiom " Lord Ye's Love of Dragons" ,  which means an apparent love of something one really fears.
M:是这样，中国有很多关于龙的故事，甚至还有一个成语“叶公好龙”，意思是说爱上一个实际上害怕的东西。

V: Really? What's the story behind the idiom?
v:真的吗？这个典故是怎么说的？

M: Lord Ye had a fascination about dragons. He had dragons everywhere and he was thinking about dragons all the time.  His love of dragons moved a real dragon, so the dragon came to visit him one day. When he saw the real dragon, he was frightened to death.
M:有个叫叶公的人非常喜欢龙。他每时每刻想着龙：生活的周遭环境里龙的形象也是无处不在。他对龙的喜爱感动了一条真芘，所以有一天这条龙就来拜访他。可是当叶公看见真龙时，却吓得要死。

V: So you do agree that dragons can be scary, then?
V:那你是不是也认为龙很可怕呢？

M: For Lord Ye, yes!
M:对叶公来说是很可怕！

【单词词组讲解】
In the same way as  与……一样
date back追溯到
predate 时间上先于
What’s the story behind 。。。。的来历，典故

【背景介绍】
龙舟节：也叫端午姐．时问是农历5月5日，是纪念战囤时期适因诗人屈原（约前340 -约前278）的日子。传当时楚国人听说屈原投江后，纷纷划船追赶，并投棕子入河。让鱼吃粽子不吃屈原的尸体， 从此有了在农历端午这天赛龙舟、吃棕子的习俗。