2-7 情人节的来历

The Origins of Valentine’s Day

　　

February14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated¹ as a lover's holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th century Rome as a tribute¹ to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop²².

　　

For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan³ celebration in mid³ February commemorating⁴ young men's rite⁴ of passage⁵ to the god Lupercus⁶. The celebration featured a lottery⁵ in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.

　　

In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate⁶⁷ the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.

　　

Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint⁸ of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who in AD 270 had been beheaded⁹ by Emperor Claudius.

　　

Claudius had determined⁷ that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed¹⁰ the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.

　　

During the days that Valentine was imprisoned⁸, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously⁹¹¹ heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, “From your Valentine.” The phrase has been used on his day ever since.

　　

Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid? February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection¹² of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

　　

The first Valentine card grew out of¹³ this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

　　

The reason why Cupid became associated with the holiday is because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.

 

注释：

1.tribute [5tribju:t] n. （表示敬意的）礼物；颂辞，称赞

2.bishop [5biFEp] n. （天主教、东正教、圣公会等的）主教

3.pagan [5pei^En] adj. 异教徒的

4.commemorate¹⁰ [kE5memEreit] vt. 纪念；庆祝

5.rite of passage （人类学用语）通过礼仪（指为人生进入一个新阶段如出生、命名、成年、结婚、患病、死亡而举行的仪式）

6.the god Lupercus 畜牧神 （该神代表生育繁殖）

7.emulate [5emjuleit] vt. 仿效，模仿

8.patron [5peitrEn] saint (教会等的)守护神，主保圣人

9.behead [bi5hed] vt. 砍……的头，斩……之首

10.reverse [ri5vE:s] vt. 使反向；使倒转

11.miraculously [mi5rAkjulEsli] adv. 奇迹般地；神奇地

12.affection [E5fekFEn] n. 喜爱；热爱

13.grow out of  产生于

 

情人节的来历

 

　　2月14日是情人节。虽然今天它被当作一个情人的节日庆祝，情侣之间互赠糖果、鲜花或者其他礼物，但它起源于5世纪的罗马，是为纪念一名叫圣瓦伦廷的天主教主教。

在情人节确立之前的800年中，罗马人在2月中旬举行一种异教徒庆典，庆祝青年男子向畜牧神举行通过仪式。抽奖是该庆典上的一个特色，年轻男子从一个箱子中抽取少女的名字。抽奖中被分配给每位年轻男子的少女将在这一年剩余的时间里成为该男子的性伙伴。

　　教皇杰拉西乌斯想废除这个异教徒节日，下令对抽奖进行了一个小小的改变，把箱子中少女的名字换成了圣徒的名字，男女都可以从箱子中抽奖。游戏的规则是如果抽到某圣徒，必须在一年的余下时间效仿该圣徒。不用说，许多年轻罗马男子对规则的改变是不大高兴的。

　　教会要寻找一位合适的爱情守护神来代替异教的畜牧神。他们发现于公元270年被克劳狄皇帝砍头的瓦伦廷是适宜的人选。

　　克劳狄断定已婚男人不可能成为好士兵，所以他在他的帝国禁止婚姻。但是瓦伦廷秘密地为找上门的年轻人证婚。当克劳狄发现此事后，他先是试图将瓦伦廷变成异教徒。但是瓦伦廷反而试图使克劳狄改信基督教。失败后，瓦伦廷被石头砸死并被砍头。

　　在瓦伦廷被监禁的日子里，他爱上了狱卒失明的女儿。在他被处死之前，他对她的爱以及他坚定的信仰奇迹般地治愈了她的盲症。在他被带去处死之前，他给她写了封告别信，签名是“你的瓦伦廷书”。从此之后，这句话就用在情人节。

　　虽然为争得女人的抽奖已被教会取缔，但是这个2月中旬纪念圣瓦伦廷的节日仍被罗马男子延续下来，以赢得妇女的爱慕。男人将表达爱意并含有瓦伦廷名字的手写字条交给他们所钟爱的女子已成了一个传统。

　　第一张情人节卡就是这样来的。第一张真正的情人节卡是在1415年由奥尔良公爵查尔斯送给他的妻子的。当时他被囚禁在伦敦塔中。

　　丘比特之所以与这个节日相关，是因为他是罗马爱情与美丽女神维纳斯的儿子。丘比特常常在情人节卡上出现。

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

3 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

4 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

5 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

6 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

9 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。