A Chinese holiday is gaining worldwide popularity 一個(gè)逐漸受到全球歡迎的中國(guó)節(jié)日

　　Some holidays are so much fun that they catch on outside of their culture. The most obvious example is probably Christmas, which is celebrated around the world by people who aren’t even Christian. Similarly, in recent years, the Dragon Boat Festival has moved beyond China to become an international holiday celebrated by people who may know little about the holiday’s origins.

　　 有些節(jié)日實(shí)在是很有趣，所以在本土文化以外的地方也很受歡迎。最明顯的例子可能就是圣誕節(jié)，世界各地的人都會(huì)慶祝圣誕節(jié)，即使是非基督徒。同樣，最近幾年端午節(jié)已經(jīng)不局限于中國(guó)，成為國(guó)際性節(jié)日，而慶祝的人可能對(duì)節(jié)日的由來(lái)并不太了解。

　　 The Dragon Boat Festival is one of three major Chinese holidays, along with the Spring and Moon Festivals. Of the three, it is possibly the oldest, dating back to the Warring States Period in 227 B.C. The festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a minister in the service of the Chu Emperor. Despairing over corruption at court, Qu threw himself into a river. Townspeople jumped into their boats and tried in vain to save him. Then, hoping to distract hungry fish from his body, the people scattered rice on the water.

　　 端午節(jié)與春節(jié)和中秋節(jié)并列為中國(guó)三大節(jié)日。這三個(gè)節(jié)日中，它可能是最古老的一個(gè)，可以追溯到公元前227年的戰(zhàn)國(guó)時(shí)代。這個(gè)節(jié)日是為了紀(jì)念楚國(guó)的大夫屈原，他因?yàn)閷?duì)朝廷的貪污腐敗感到絕望而投河自盡。鎮(zhèn)上的人紛紛沖上船去救他，卻沒(méi)有成功。后來(lái)大家把米撒到水里，希望把饑餓的魚(yú)群從他的軀體邊引開(kāi)。    

　　Over the years, the story of Qu’s demise transformed into the traditions of racing dragon boats and eating zongzi – a kind of rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. The races have certainly captured the imagination of people from all over the world. Every spring there are nearly 60 dragon boat races held outside of China in cities from Vancouver to Sydney, from Gdańsk, Poland to Cape Town, South Africa. Canada alone has nearly 50 dragon boat teams and Germany has nearly 30.

　　多年以后，屈原逝世的故事逐漸演變成賽龍舟和吃粽子(一種包在竹葉中的米食)的傳統(tǒng)。這些競(jìng)賽顯然激起了世界各地人們的想像，每年春天有將近60場(chǎng)龍舟賽在中國(guó)境外的城市舉辦，從溫哥華到悉尼，從波蘭的格但斯克到南非的開(kāi)普敦。單單字加拿大就有將近50支龍舟隊(duì)伍，德國(guó)則有近30個(gè)。

　　So what is it about the Dragon Boat Festival that appeals to foreigners? “It’s an unusual sport,” says one racer from Germany. “It’s not like everybody’s doing it. That’s one of the reasons that there’s such great team spirit in a dragon boat team – everybody feels like we’re doing something special.” And what about the zongzi? “Ehhh, they’re not bad, I guess,” he says. “Something of an acquired taste. I just haven’t really acquired it yet.”

　　那么，為什么端午節(jié)賽龍舟會(huì)吸引外國(guó)人呢？“這是一項(xiàng)不尋常的運(yùn)動(dòng)。”一位來(lái)自德國(guó)的參賽者說(shuō)，“這并不是所有的人都在從事的運(yùn)動(dòng)。這正是龍舟隊(duì)的團(tuán)隊(duì)精神如此高昂的原因之一，每個(gè)人都覺(jué)得自己在做一件很特別的事。”那么粽子呢？“喔，我覺(jué)得它不難吃。”他說(shuō)，“那是一種需要后天培養(yǎng)的品味。我只是還沒(méi)培養(yǎng)出來(lái)罷了。”

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