英国文化：英国的“四朵国花”及背后的故事

 Each country in Britain has its own floral emblem¹.

　　英国的每个地区都有其代表性的花。

　　England - rose

　　英格兰—玫瑰

　　The national flower of England is the rose. The flower has been adopted as England's emblem since the time of the Wars of the Roses - civil wars (1455-1485) between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose).

　　英格兰之花为玫瑰。自红白玫瑰之战(1455-1485)即兰开斯特王朝(其家徽为红玫瑰)和约克王朝(其家徽为白玫瑰)两个家族之间的内战起，玫瑰就成为了英格兰代表性的花。

　　Scotland - thistle

　　苏格兰-奶蓟草

　　The national flower of Scotland is the thistle, a prickly-leaved(adj. 叶子多刺的)purple flower which was first used in the 15th century as a symbol of defence. The Scottish Bluebell² is also seen as the flower of Scotland.

　　苏格兰之花为奶蓟草，其叶多刺，花瓣为紫。15世纪时初视为防御的象征。此外，蓝铃花也同样被视为苏格兰之花。

　　Wales –daffodil

　　威尔士-黄水仙

　　The national flower of Wales is the daffodil, which is traditionally worn on St. David's Day(圣大卫日). The vegetable called leek³(n. 韭葱)is also considered to be a traditionalemblem of Wales.

　　威尔士之花为黄水仙。根据威尔士传统，人们会在圣大卫日这一天穿戴上黄水仙。此外，韭葱同样也被视为威尔士之花。

　　There are many explanations of how the leek came to be adopted as the national emblem of Wales. One is that St David advised the Welsh, on the eve of battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks⁴ in their caps to distinguish friend from foe⁵. As Shakespeare records in Henry V, the Welsh archers⁶ wore leeks at the battle of Agincourt in 1415.

　　对于韭葱成为威尔士之花的说法有很多种。其中之一的说法就是，在与撒克逊人交战前夕，圣大卫建议威尔士士兵在军帽处别上韭葱以此区分敌友。根据莎士比亚在《亨利五世》写道，1415年的阿金库尔战役中威尔士士兵穿戴了黄水仙。

　　Northern Ireland –shamrock北爱尔兰-苜蓿

　　The national flower of Northern Ireland is the shamrock, a three-leaved plant similar toclover. An Irish tale tells of how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity(n. 三位一体). He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity⁷. His followers⁸ adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

　　北爱尔兰之花为苜蓿，叶为三瓣，与三叶草似。爱尔兰一民间传说讲述了帕特里克是如何运用苜蓿来解释三位一体的。帕特里克在其布道中借用了苜蓿来讲述圣父、圣子与圣灵如何共存于一体。他的信徒因此在圣帕特里克日这一天穿戴苜蓿，形成了传统。

1 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

2 bluebell   

n.风铃草

参考例句：

• The girl picked herself up and pulled a bluebell out of her hair.姑娘坐起身来，从头发里摘出一枝风铃草。
• There is a branch of bluebell in the vase.花瓶里有一束风铃草。

3 leek   

n.韭葱

参考例句：

• He is always confusing wheat with leek.他对麦苗和韭菜总是辨别不清。
• He said the dumplings with the stuffing of pork and leek were his favourite.他说他喜欢吃猪肉韭菜馅的饺子。

4 leeks   

韭葱( leek的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Leeks and potatoes go well together in a soup. 汤中放韭菜和土豆尝起来很对味。
• When I was young I grew some leeks in a pot. 小时候我曾在花盆里种了些韭葱。

5 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

6 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

7 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

8 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。