07. 第七篇 Dragon Boat Festival朗读音频-英音

PASSAGE 7: DragonBoat Festival

TheDragon Boat Festival is one of three major Chinese holidays, along with theSpring and Moon Festivals. Of the three, it is possibly the oldest, dating backto the Warring States Period in 227 B.C. The festival commemorates Qu Yuan, aminister in the service of the Chu Emperor.

Despairingover corruption at court, Qu threw himself into a river. Townspeople jumpedinto their boats and tried in vain to save him. Then, hoping to distract hungryfish from his body, the people scattered rice on the water.　

Overthe years, the story of Qu’s demise transformed into the traditions of racingdragon boats and eating zongzi–a kind of rice wrappedin bamboo leaves. The races have certainly captured the imagination of peoplefrom all over the world.

Everyspring there are nearly 60 dragon boat races held outside of China in citiesfrom Vancouver to Sydney. Canada alone has nearly 50 dragon boat teams andGermany has nearly 30.

Sowhat is it about the Dragon Boat Festival that appeals to foreigners? “It’s anunusual sport,” says one racer from Germany. “It’s not like everybody’s doingit. That’s one of the reasons that there’s such great team spirit in a dragonboat team–everybody feels like we’re doingsomething 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.”

端午节与春节和中秋节并列为中国三大节日。这三个节日中，它可能是最古老的一个，可以追溯到公元前227年的战国时代。这个节日是为了纪念楚国的大夫屈原。

他因为对朝廷的贪腐感到绝望而投河自尽。镇上的人纷纷冲上船去救他，却没有成功。后来大家把米撒到水里，希望把饥饿的鱼群从他的躯体边引开。

多年以后，屈原逝世的故事逐渐演变成赛龙舟和吃粽子(一种包在竹叶中的米食)的传统。这些竞赛显然激起了世界各地人们的想象。

每年春天有将近60场龙舟赛在中国境外的城市举办，从温哥华到悉尼，从波兰的格但斯克到南非的开普敦。单单字加拿大就有将近50支龙舟队伍，德国则有近30个。

那么，为什么端午节赛龙舟会吸引外国人呢？“这是一项不寻常的运动。”一位来自德国的参赛者说，“这并不是所有的人都在从事的运动。这正是龙舟队的团队精神如此高昂的原因之一，每个人都觉得自己在做一件很特别的事。”那么粽子呢？“喔，我觉得它不难吃。”他说，“那是一种需要后天培养的品味。我只是还没培养出来罢了。”