美国国家公共电台 NPR--You've heard about the 12 days of Christmas. In some cultures, they celebrate 9

You've heard about the 12 days of Christmas. In some cultures, they celebrate 9

Transcript¹

In Colombia the days leading up to Christmas are known as the novena, a time for prayer, music and celebration. We hear how one family carries out the tradition.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

You've heard about the 12 days of Christmas. In some cultures, they celebrate nine. NPR's Carmen Molina Acosta brings us her family's Colombian tradition.

CARMEN MOLINA ACOSTA, BYLINE²: There's this thing my family does every year around Christmas, but it's kind of hard to explain. We celebrate for nine days, but it's not Hanukkah or even Chrismukkah (ph). It's a tradition most people have never heard of. It's called the novena, the novena de aguinaldos. Technically³ speaking, a novena is a series of prayers, a Catholic practice where you pray for nine days straight. This particular novena was written by a friar in the 1700s, and over time, it's become a Colombian Christmas tradition. Colombia is a majority-Catholic country, though my family isn't religious, and we left Colombia when I was 2 months old. But every year we gather with a group of Colombian friends for as many of the nine nights as we can.

There's three parts to the novena de aguinaldos. The first is the most nerve-wracking - the readings.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).

ACOSTA: It's like a Spanish oral exam. We pass around a prayer book, and each kid takes a turn reading.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).

ACOSTA: But it gets better - the gozos, which literally⁴ translates as the joys. That's where the music comes in. Grab a maraca, a drum, a tin can. Whatever you can use to make noise, you better make it. And then my favorite part, the villancicos - Spanish Christmas carols. Very few of us know all the lyrics⁵, and no one is ever in tune⁶. But that's not the point.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #2: (Singing in Spanish).

ACOSTA: Oh, and then all the food - empanadas, bunuelos, pan de yuca, arepas, ajiaco.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOE ARROYO⁷ SONG, "EN BARRANQUILLA ME QUEDO")

ACOSTA: And on weekends, dancing late into the night.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOE ARROYO SONG, "EN BARRANQUILLA ME QUEDO")

ACOSTA: Like a lot of immigrant communities, it sometimes feels like we're carrying on a tradition from a place of memory. My cousins in Colombia don't really celebrate novenas, and if they did, they probably wouldn't look anything like ours. More and more each year in Maryland, the novenas feel a little more fragile. People move away, go off to college and grow up. But somehow, still, every year, we all come together one more time.

Carmen Molina Acosta, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EN BARRANQUILLA ME QUEDO")

JOE ARROYO: (Singing in Spanish).

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。