用英语讲好中国故事

一、龙抬头节——The Introduction of Longtaitou Festival

龙抬头，也被称为Eryue'er节（二月二），是中国民间传统节日。它的名字意为“龙抬起头”。

The Longtaitou Festival , also known as the Eryue'er Festival（二月二）, is a traditional Chinese festival falls on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar each year. Its name means "Dragon raising its head". 

龙在中国文化中被认为是掌管雨的神,而雨是古代农业的重要因素。传说在这一天，会降雨的龙王会从冬眠中醒来，抬起头来，这标志着春天和农耕季节的开始。该节日有时简称为“ 2月2日”（Er Yue Er，二月二）。

The dragon is considered to be the deity in charge of rain，an important factor in ancient agriculture in Chinese culture. Legends say that on this day the rain-bringing Dragon King will awake from hibernation and lift his head, which marks the start of spring and the farming season.The festival is sometimes simply called "2 Month 2" (Er Yue Er, 二月二) for short.

二、节日传说‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍  The Legend of Longtaitou Festival

传说有一年天下大旱，饿死了许多人。一条青龙不愿意看到百姓受灾挨饿。未经玉帝允许，偷偷给人间降雨。为了惩罚青龙，玉帝把青龙压在一座大山下。并颁下圣旨，除非金豆开花,否则它永远别想出来。然而，聪明的人们发现大豆和玉米粒都是金色的，而且炒的时候会爆开花。于是人们在院子用炒开花的大豆和玉米祭奠玉帝，玉帝不能违背诺言，下令在农历二月二释放青龙。从此以后，民间便有了这个风俗，每年二月二这天，家家户户都要炒玉米花。有的还边炒边唱：“二月二，龙抬头，大仓满，小仓流。”

Legend has it that one year a drought struck the land and people were starving to death. A Blue Dragon,having compassion for people, gave them some rain without permission. To punish the Blue Dragon the Jade Emperor imprisoned it in a mountain and said he would never release it unless golden beans bloomed. However, clever people found that soybeans and corn kernels were golden and more importantly, they could bloom when roasted. So the clever people worshipped the Jade Emperor with bloomed soybeans and corn kernels on the yard. Not to break his promise, the Jade Emperor ordered to release the Blue Dragonon the second day of the second Chinese lunar month. From then on there was a custom on the earth that on the second day of the second lunar month, every family would roast popcorn. Some people sang while roasting:”The dragon lifts its head on the second day of the second lunar month. Large barns will be full and small ones will overflow.”

三、传统习俗——The Customs of Longtaitou Festival

在中国传统文化中

二月二也有一系列习俗

比如龙抬头、剃龙头、吃龙食等

那么这些习俗用英语怎么说呢

我们一起来看看吧

 1、 剃龙头

民间流传“正月剪头死舅舅”的说法，很多人都不在正月光顾理发店，直到“二月二”才解禁。

正月不剃头源于“思旧”。正月一个月不剃头，以缅怀传统。“思旧”相沿既久，与“死舅”谐音，所以民间避讳。

Since it's a folk taboo in traditional Chinese culture to have haircut in Zheng Yue, the first lunar month, Dragon Head-raising Day is the first time in the new year to have a haircut

因此，这一天理发，有两个原因：一是因为可以赶走霉运going to the barber today can get rid of bad luck.二是因为一月剪头发会❌舅舅getting a haircut during the first month of the lunar calendar cause your uncle to die.（虽然这只是迷信~）发型的一些英语表达

straight hair   直发

wave hair   大波浪

curly hair   卷发

crew cut   平头

waist-length hair   齐腰长发

shoulder-length hair   齐肩长发

long hair   长发

medium-length hair   中长发

short hair   短发

2、吃龙食

在龙抬头节，人们会做很多事情来拜龙。一是准备带有“龙”含义的食物。也有以龙命名的食物。饺子、春卷和爆米花都有龙的名字。面条叫龙须，饺子叫龙耳，春卷叫龙鳞，馄饨称为“龙眼”，爆米花叫龙子。据说在“二月二”享用这些美食会带来好运。

On the Longtaitou Festival, people do many things to worship the dragon. One is to prepare dishes based on the dragon elements of this day.There are also food with dragon names. Dumplings, spring rolls, wontons and popcorn are all given dragon names. Noodles are called dragon's beard (long xu), dumpling are dragon's ears (long er), spring rolls are dragon's scales (long lin), wontons are “dragon eyes” or “Long Yan”, and popcorn is called dragon seeds (long zi). and It’s said that eating these foods at the Longtaitou Festival can bring good luck.

豆腐球

撑腰糕

炒豆

在福建省，人们在这个节日期间吃豆腐球。

People eat toufu balls in East China's Fujian province during this festival.

苏州当地人会买撑腰糕，因为当地人在这一天吃撑腰糕的传统。

Traditional chengyao cakes are sold in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

山东部分地区的人们吃炒豆来庆祝二月二。

People in parts of Shandong province eat fried beans to celebrate the festival.

tip：

1.二月二吃的不是面条是“扶龙须”，寓意是：顺顺溜溜一整年being lucky the whole year.

2.据说，龙王为给民间降雨，触犯了天规被贬下界，玉帝规定：除非金豆开花，不然龙王别想回天庭。The God of Rain can't go back to heaven unless the golden beans bloom.所以就有了炸爆米花的传统，这样金色的豆子就开花了。

3、耍社火

社火是一种起源于汉族的民间艺术形式，是指人们在节日和祭祀仪式上进行的各种杂技表演。在龙抬头节这一天，村民们会在古老的寺庙里祭拜，并通过民俗活动庆祝，希望来年丰收和幸运。“Shehuo” is a form of folk art that derives from the Han ethnic group and refers to various acrobatic performances put on by people during festivals and sacrificial rites. On the day of the Longtaitou Festival, villagers worship in the ancient temple and celebrate with folk activities to wish for a good harvest and lucky year ahead.

二月二，龙抬头，

在农耕文化中标示着阳气自地底而出

阳气生发，雨水增多，万物生机盎然

春耕由此开始

自古以来人们亦将龙抬头日作为一个祈福纳祥

驱邪攘灾的日子

祝愿疫情过去

如约而至的除了春天还有平安健康的你！

图、文 | 来源于网络

视频 | 张昕、张晗、李宁、李鹏敏、赵雯、郭赛

本期编辑 | 张昕

行政主编 | 张喆

总策划 | 范勇慧 李松奇