留学党百科：如何用英文向你的同学介绍端午节传统文化？,美国高中留学指南微信公众号文章

中国传统节日端午节(the Dragon Boat Festival)，又称重五节，于每年农历五月初五庆祝。这是广泛流传2000多年的民间节日，也是中国最重要的节日之一。端午节当天举行各种庆祝活动，吃粽子和赛龙舟(dragon boat racing)是其中的重要习俗。

关于端午节的起源，有很多传说。一部分人认为端午节是为了纪念诗人屈原，另一部分人则认为是为了纪念战国时期的著名将领伍子胥。然而，屈原的传说流传最广。人们非常欣赏这位爱国诗人的高尚情操和出众才华，更对他投江自尽的结局深表同情。

2008年的英语高考作文就是写端午节。属于端午节的专有名词太多啦：粽子、龙舟、艾草、雄黄酒、爱国诗人等等，翻译错了就糗大了，快来对号入座吧。

英语情景对话

A:We have another traditional holiday-the Dragon Boat Festival.

A:我们还有一个传统的节日：端午节。

B:When is it?

B:它是在什么时候？

A:It falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar I month.

A:是在农历五月初。

B:Could you tell me the origin of the two festivals?

B:你能告诉我它的来历吗？

A:OK. The Dragon Boat Festival is a way to commemorate1 a great ancient poet named Quyuan.

A:好。端午节是为了纪念一位古代的伟大诗人屈原。

On that day, people will hold a boat race as a symbol of the attempt to save him who threw himself into the river.

A:人们在那天要举行划龙舟比赛，象征他们在奋力救投江自尽的屈原。

B:Why do people eat rice cakes on that day?

B:那为什么人们要在那天吃棕子？

A:In order to prevent the fish from eating the poet's body.

A:为了不让鱼吃掉诗人的身体。

B:It sounds so moving.

B:听起来很感人。

重点词汇：

1 commemorate [kəˈmeməreɪt]

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。

We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

The Dragon Boat Festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had a history of more than 2,000 years.

端午节(农历5月5日)是中国古老的传统节日，始于春秋战国时期，至今已有2000多年历史。

It is usually in June in the Gregorian calendar.

端午节通常在阳历的六月份到来

听上面的A和B两人说了这么多我们发现Dragon Boat Festival: 端午节，英语直接就是“龙舟节“。

如果对外国人说端午节不要说Duanwu Festival，因为大多数外国人不明为何物，而dragon boat许多人却很熟悉。其实有学者专家建议“端午节”应译为 Duanwu Festival，网络的英文《维基百科》（Wikipedia）也以 Duanwu Festival 作为词目（headword）。真是这样子吗？

世界最大最权威的《牛津英语词典》（The Oxford English Dictionary，简称 OED）收录了“端午节”的英文 Dragon Boat Festival（字面意为“龙舟节”），其定义如下：The dragon boat festival, believed to have been celebrated for over 2,000 years, takes place on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar throughout China and in Chinese communities worldwide. It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan (c340–278 b.c.), China's first known poet, who drowned himself when his home state of Chu was overthrown; the dragon boat races traditionally represent the search for his body.

端午节在农历 5 月 5 日，相信已有 2000 多年的历史，中国各地和全球的华人小区均有庆祝。这个节日纪念的是中国第一位已知的诗人屈原，他因故土楚国灭亡而投江自尽。传统上，龙舟竞渡代表的是搜寻他的遗体。

美国最大、地位最崇高的《韦氏三版新国际英语词典》（Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language，简称 W3）也收录了 Dragon Boat Festival，不过定义精简模糊了许多：Dragon Boat Festival: a Chinese festival held just before the summer solstice that has as its chief event a race among long narrow boats resembling dragons.

端午节：夏至前不久所庆祝的一个中国的节日，主要活动是划着像龙的长形窄船竞速比赛。

牛津、韦氏这两部执英文词典牛耳的权威巨著都没有收录 Duanwu 或 Duanwu Festival。时下有人主张把“端午”按汉语拼音直译为 Duanwu，“端午节”依此译为 Duanwu Festival，但传统的英译 Dragon Boat Festival 行之有年，大家早已习惯接受，上 Google 搜寻一查，新式的 Duanwu Festival 只有不到 6 万笔的网页数据，而传统的 Dragon Boat Festival 则以 350 万笔的惊人数量压倒性超过。

“端午节”的英文该用哪个，答案不言而喻。同学们get到了吗？

端午节习俗

在中国，不同的地方有不同的关于端午节传说和庆祝方式，跟大家说说最熟悉的几种：

端午节吃什么？“粽包分两髻，艾束著危冠。旧俗方储药，羸躯亦点丹。”端午节不可不吃的美味食物就是粽子。

rice-dumpling粽子

粽子在端午节的地位应该是最重要的了。粽子的英文是:rice-dumpling，这是比较书面的表达，更常用的表达是zongzi，就是粽子的拼音直译。因为是中国特有的食物，所以直译过来也没问题，类似还有很多是中文拼音直译过来的，如饺子的“jiaozi”。还有不是完全拼音，近似的直译豆腐的“tofu”，功夫的“kung fu”。

Glutinous rice filled with meat, nuts or bean paste and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It is associated with Dragon Boat Festival with historical meaning.The custom of eating zongzi is now popular in North and South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

糯米一般先用肉、坚果或者豆沙馅填充起来，然后再用竹叶包裹起来。这是和端午节的历史意义紧密结合在一起的。吃粽子的习俗，现在已经在朝鲜、韩国、日本和东南亚国家流行开来。

1 glutinous [ˈglu:tənəs] = sticky

adj.粘的，胶状的

参考例句：

The sauce was glutinous and tasted artificial.这种酱有些黏，尝起来不是非常地道。

The coat covering the soft candies is made from glutinous rice.包裹软糖的江米纸是由糯米做成的。

端午节喝什么？“樱桃桑椹与菖蒲，更买雄黄酒一壶。”端午节尝试一下雄黄酒吧。

Adults drink Xiong Huang Wine, which can fend off evil spirits.

成年人喝雄黄酒，相传可以抵御百病。

2 fend [fend]

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。

He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

端午节玩什么？ “鼓声三下红旗开，两龙跃出浮水来。棹影斡波飞万剑，鼓声劈浪鸣千雷。”端午节最应景的节目就是赛龙舟。

Dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival, held all over the country. As the gun is fired, people will see racers in dragon-shaped canoes pulling the oars harmoniouslyand hurriedly, accompanied by rapid drums, speeding toward their destination.

赛龙舟是端午节重要的组成部分，在全国上下都会进行。枪声一响，人们就会看到龙舟上的运动员，伴随着快速的鼓点，迅速又整齐划一地划动船桨，冲向终点

3 racing [ˈreɪsɪŋ]

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。

The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 oars [ɔ:z]

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。

The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。来自《简明英汉词典》

5 harmoniously [hɑ:'məʊnɪəslɪ]

和谐地，调和地

参考例句：

The president and Stevenson had worked harmoniously over the last eighteen months. 在过去一年半里，总统和史蒂文森一起工作是融洽的。

China and India cannot really deal with each other harmoniously. 中国和印度这两只猛兽不可能真心实意地和谐相处。

端午节戴什么？端午节最有特色的饰物就是香包(sachet)。小孩佩戴香包，传说有避邪驱瘟之意。

On Dragon Boat Festival, parents also need to dress their children up with a perfume pouch. They first sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, then fill the bags with perfumes or herbal medicines, and finally string them with silk threads. The perfume pouch will be hung around the neck or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. They are said to be able to ward off evil.

在端午节，父母也会为孩子们佩戴香囊。他们首先用色彩鲜艳的丝布缝一个小袋子，然后在里面装上香料或者草药，最后用丝线串起来。香囊通常挂在脖子上，或是作为一种饰品系在衣服前面。相传它们有避邪驱瘟的功效。

6 ward [wɔ:d]

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。

During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

7 pouch [paʊtʃ]

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。

The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

8 ornament [ˈɔ:nəmənt]