如有用英文介绍端午节？

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated around the world, but did you know of it’s dark and tragic origins? It connects the downfall of a kingdom and a poet’s tragic suicide to sticky rice dumplings and, off course, dragon-boats. 

世界各地都在庆祝端午节，但你知道端午节黑暗而悲惨的起源吗？它把一个王国的垮台和一个诗人的悲惨自杀与粽子和龙舟联系在一起。

The dragon boat festive explained：The Dragon Boat Festival. A traditional Chinese holiday with a marvelous name. It’s celebrated across Asia, from China, to Indonesia. In Mandarin Chinese it is most commonly called Duan wu jie . That’s Duan wu jie.

端午节说明：端午节。一个有着奇妙名字的中国传统节日。从中国到印尼，整个亚洲都在庆祝这个节日。在普通话中，它最常被称为端午节。这就是端午节。

This literally means “opening the fifth” in reference to the festival’s position on the Chinese lunisolar calendar: the fifth day of the fifth month. And while its English name rightly conjures awesome imagery of oars and dragons, the heartbreaking legend behind it dates back more than 2000 years. 

这个词的字面意思是“开斋节”在中国日历上的位置：第五个月的第五天。虽然它的英文名字让人联想到令人敬畏的桨和龙的形象，但它背后令人心碎的传说可以追溯到2000多年前。

The tragedy of Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan was a senior minister in service to Chu huai wang, King Huai of Chu. Legend has it, the King allied with the state of Qin. Chu against Qu’s advice. He labeled Qu as a traitor for his opposition and banished him from the kingdom.

屈原的悲剧。屈原是楚怀王楚怀的高级大臣。传说中，国王与秦国结盟。楚王反对屈原的劝告。他把屈原列为叛徒，并将他逐出国门。 

Qu was an exile. He travelled across ancient China, compiling myths and legends, and wrote some wonderful poetry. However, he still missed his homeland and suffered from severe bouts of depression and anxiety.

屈原被驱逐。他游历中原，编撰神话传说，写了很多精彩的诗词，他始终思念他的故乡，饱受忧愁和焦虑的折磨。  

Whenever this happened, it is said that Qu would walk near a well and peer inside at his reflection on the water’s surface. That same well is still said to be around in what is now Hubei, China. Though we can’t confirm that.

据说，每当这个时侯，屈原就会走到一口井边，凝视着他在水面上的倒影。据说在现在的中国湖北也有同样的井，但我们不能证实。

Years later, news would reach Qu that his King had been overthrown by the state of Qin. Not long after, Qu made his way into the into the Mi luo river and gave himself to the water, never to return. 

多年后，屈原听说楚国被秦国攻陷。不久，屈原自投汨罗江，再也没有回来。

Some, however, reckon he became a water god. It is said that people rushed after him in dragon boats, banging drums and throwing rice dumplings into the river so fish would eat them and not Qu’s body. 

后来，人们认为他变成了水神。据说，人们划着龙舟追赶着他，往江里投粽子，希望鱼虾吃了粽子就不会再吃屈原的身体了。

Sticky rich dumplings. The making of Zongzi is a family past time that requires all hands on deck. This food and the boat are staples of Dragon Boat Festival. In Mandarin, these rice dumplings are called Zongzi.

黏黏的粽子。过去做粽子需要全家出动。粽子和船是端午节最基本的东西。汉语中把这种黏黏的米团叫做粽子。

They’re wrapped with bamboo leaves and contain sticky rice and a filling. They’re typically filled with pork but other fillings include various beans, mushrooms, eggs, nuts, chicken, scallops, red meat and vegetables.

他们用竹叶包裹，里边有糯米和馅料。典型的有肉馅的，有蘑菇和蔬菜的，还有红豆馅的。

Wrapping the rice and filling in bamboo leaves is a skill unto itself that is passed from one generation to the next. The time needed to boil or steam them depends on how much rice and filling is involved.

包粽子是代代相传的技艺，粽子蒸煮多长时间取决于你包的米和馅的多少。

Racing dragon boats. To honor the memory of Qu Yuan, people also race dragon boats every year worldwide on the date of his demise. The practise itself is thousands of years old and is thought to have spread from ancient China all the way to Greece.

赛龙舟。为了纪念屈原，世界各地的人们每年在他的遇难日举行龙舟比赛。这种做法本身已经有数千年的历史，被认为从中国古代一直流传到现在，一路向西传到欧洲的希腊。

The first boats were made of wood, but their modern counterparts usually comprise lightweight materials such as carbon fiber. 

最早的船是用木头做的，但它们的现代同类船通常是由诸如碳纤维之类的轻质材料制成的。

Today, teams usually consist of around 20 paddlers, a drummer and steersperson. Following the drummers’ beat -- the heart of the dragon -- paddlers race against other teams down a waterway.

如今，团队通常由20名左右的桨手、一名鼓手和舵手组成。随着鼓手的节拍——龙舟的心脏——桨手们在水道上与其他队伍比赛。

The beat determines the speed, rate and cadence of the paddlers’ stroke. The steerer stands at the back of the boat and uses a 9 ft long oar to direct the dragon boat. Most races involve a sprint over 500m, but there are longer ones of 1000 and 2000m. Dragon boat races happen worldwide, but in Hong Kong, it’s a competitive sport. 

击鼓者的速度决定了划手的频率和节奏。舵手站在船尾，用9英尺长的桨指挥龙舟。大多数比赛都是500多米的短线比赛，但也有1000和2000米的长线赛。世界各地都有龙舟比赛，但在香港，这是一项竞技运动。