当情人节遇上元宵节

2014年注定是不平凡的一年，今年2月14日是元宵节(Lantern Festival)，恰好与西方情人节(Valentine's Day)重叠。据悉，以上两节相遇十分难得，19年才能碰到一次，而且据民俗学家称，古代元宵节也有情人节寓意!小伙伴们，如此甜蜜的日子，这不是要全球大脱单的节奏么!本期沪江英语教研课堂为大家解析中西方“情人节”文化。

很多人都知道在情人节要吃巧克力和送玫瑰花，那为何情人节命名为Valentine's Day ，而不是Lovers' Day? 教研君考证了下，得到如下文字：

In the third century AD, there was a tyra

nt in the ancient Rome called Claudius. This era of ancient Rome has been a continuous war, the tyrant recruited a large number of citizens went to the battlefield. In order to ensure that people loyal to the war, he ordered a ban on people to marry at this time, even people who have been engaged immediately to lift the marriage. In this way many young people bid farewell to their love, full of anger towards the battlefield. But Valentine, a priest, helped soldiers to hold their wedding ceremonies quietly. The news finally reached the Claudius's ears. He ordered the soldiers to arrest Valentine. On February 14th, 270 AD, Valentine was tortured in the dungeon to die. People named that day as "Valentine's Day" to memorize Valentine.

重点词汇解析：

ancient Rome 古罗马;

Claudius 克劳迪亚斯(古罗马帝王);

Valentine 瓦伦丁;

tyrant 暴君;

engage 同……订婚;

bid farewell to 告别;

priest 牧师;神父;

wedding ceremony 结婚典礼;

dungeon 地牢。

也就是说啊，情人节是为了纪念一个叫Valentine的修士，他不理古罗马暴君禁止结婚的禁令，秘密替人主持婚礼，结果被收监，在2月14日被处死。从那以后人们为了纪念Valentine，将2月14日定为情人节，相互心仪的情侣在这一天互相馈赠礼物，表达情意，并确定恋爱关系。

而在中国古代，辛弃疾早已用 “众里寻它千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在灯火阑珊处。” 把元宵之夜的场景描述的惟妙惟肖了(元宵节经典诗词英译赏析>>>)。古代的女孩子平常都是“大门不出二门不入”，待字闺中，罕见有机会能够出来走走，只有在元宵节这天晚上才会被长辈们允许出来看灯，借游灯之际结识其他未婚男子，亦或者与自己心仪的男孩子约会。

教研君也为大家准备了一些民俗的英语，如：

猜灯谜 riddle solving;

红灯笼 red lantern;

灯会 lantern fair;

团圆 enjoy a family reunion

[当情人节遇上元宵节]