2015托福阅读之元宵节的来龙去脉

　　关于元宵节的来历，民间还有几种有趣的传说：

　　关于灯的传说

　　传说在很久以前，凶禽猛兽很多，四处伤害人和牲畜，人们就组织起来去打它们，有一只神鸟困为迷路而降落人间，却意外的被不知情的猎人给射死了。天帝知道后十分震怒，立即传旨，下令让天兵于正月十五日到人间放火，把人间的人畜财产通通烧死。天帝的女儿心地善良，不忍心看百姓无辜受难，就冒着生命的危险，偷偷驾着祥云来到人间，把这个消息告诉了人们。众人听说了这个消息，有如头上响了一个焦雷。吓得不知如何是好，过了好久，才有个老人家想出个法子，他说：“在正月十四、十五、十六日这三天，每户人家都在家里张灯结彩、点响爆竹、燃放烟火。这样一来，天帝就会以为人们都被烧死了”。

　　大家听了都点头称是，便分头准备去了。到了正月十五这天晚上，天帝往下一看，发觉人间一片红光，响声震天，连续三个夜晚都是如此，以为是大火燃烧的火焰，以中大快。人们就这样保住了自己的生命及财产。为了纪念这次成功，从此每到正月十五，家家户户都悬挂灯笼，放烟火来纪念这个日子。

　　Yuanxiao

　　Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of theLantern Festival,or Yuanxiao Festival is eating small dumpling balls made ofglutinous rice flour. We call these balls Yuanxiao or Tangyuan. Obviously, theyget the name from the festival itself. It is said that the custom of eatingYuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth centuty, thenbecame popular during the Tang and Song periods.

　　The fillings inside the dumplings or Yuansiao are either sweet or salty.Sweet fillings are made of sugar, Walnuts(胡桃), sesame, osmanthus flowers(桂花),rose petals, sweetened tangerine peel, bean paste, or jujube paste(枣泥). A singleingredient or any combination can be used as the filling . The salty variety isfilled with minced meat, vegetables or a mixture.

　　The way to make Yuanxiao also varies between northern and southern China.The usual method followed in southern provinces is to shape the dough of riceflour into balls, make a hole, insert the filling, then close the hole andsmooth out the dumpling by rolling it between your hands. In North China, sweetor nonmeat stuffing is the usual ingredient. The fillings are pressed intohardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled in a flat basket containingdry glutinous rice flour. A layer of the flour sticks to the filling, which isthen again dipped in water and rolled a second time in the rice flour. And so itgoes, like rolling a snowball, until the dumpling is the desired size.

　　The custom of eating Yuanxiao dumplings remains. This tradition encouragesboth old and new stores to promote their Yuanxiao products. They all try theirbest to improve the taste and quality of the dumplings to attract morecustomers.

　　汉文帝时为纪念“平吕”而设

　　另一个传说是元宵节是汉文帝时为纪念“平吕”而设。汉高祖刘邦死后，吕后之子刘盈登基为汉惠帝。惠帝生性懦弱，优柔寡断，大权渐渐落再吕后手中。汉惠帝病死后吕后独揽朝政把刘氏天下变成了吕氏天下，朝中老臣，刘氏宗室深感愤慨，但都惧怕吕后残暴而敢怒不敢言。

　　吕后病死后，诸吕惶惶不安害怕遭到伤害和排挤。于是，在上将军吕禄家中秘密集合，共谋作乱之事，以便彻底夺取刘氏江山。

　　此事传至刘氏宗室齐王刘囊耳中，刘囊为保刘氏江山，决定起兵讨伐诸吕随后与开国老臣周勃，陈平取得联系，设计解除了吕禄，“诸吕之乱”终于被彻底平定。

　　平乱之后，众臣拥立刘邦的第二个儿子刘恒登基，称汉文帝。文帝深感太平盛世来之不易，便把平息“诸吕之乱”的正月十五，定为与民同乐日，京城里家家张灯结彩，以示庆祝。从此，正月十五便成了一个普天同庆的民间节日——“闹元宵”。

　　元宵节英语词汇

　　元宵节：festival of lanterns，lantern festival dumplings

　　元宵： the rice glue ball

　　灯谜：riddles written on lanterns

　　灯具：lamps and lanterns

　　灯花 snuff

　　灯笼裤 bloomers galligaskins knickers pantalettes plus fours

　　灯笼 lantern scaldfish

　　灯塔 beacon lighthouse pharos

　　灯语 lamp signal

　　灯油 kerosene lamp oil

　　灯心蜻蜓 damselfly