涨知识帖：中国古人赏花雅趣（双语）

 　　With the arrival of spring, flowers are blooming in the warm air. Cherry and peach blossoms, peonies, tulips and many other flowers are adding fragrance¹ to the beautiful season.

　　随着春天到来，各色花儿在温暖的气候中竞相绽放了。樱花、桃花、牡丹、郁金香和一些其他花儿都为这个美好的季节增添了芬芳。

　　People are taking spring outings to admire the flowers. While, our first thought when we see beautiful flowers is to take photos and post them on social media platforms, ancient people in China had their own ways of admiring flowers.

　　人们纷纷外出踏青赏花。当我们看到娇艳的花朵第一反应往往都是拍照，发到社交媒体上。其实，中国的古人们也有着他们自己的赏花习俗。

　　Various ways of admiring flowers

　　不同的赏花方式

　　During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960), it is said that the official Han Xizai loved to burn incense² near a flower vase because he liked the combination of the fragrance of flowers and incense. Using flowers in this way was popular during Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties.

　　五代十国时期(公元907-960年)，传说官员韩熙载喜欢插花焚香，他喜欢花香和熏香相和那种妙不可言的味道。这种赏花方式在宋代(960年到1279年)和元代(1271年到1368年)也很流行。

　　During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people preferred to chant or sip³ wine while being surrounded by flowers. Music also goes well with flowers and refined scholars in Song Dynasty loved to play music to flowers. The musical instruments were thought to match different kinds of flowers. According to ancient book records, elegant flowers such as jasmine went well with the musical instrument heptachord.

　　唐朝(公元618到907年)时，人们更喜欢在被鲜花包围的环境里诵诗或者小酌。音乐和花也很配，宋代的文人雅士们喜欢对花抚琴。不同乐器要配不同的花儿。据古书记载，像茉莉这样高雅的花配七弦琴就很协调。

　　China’s only female emperor Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty was obsessed⁴ with flowers. The peony in ancient Luoyang was quite famed and each year when peonies flowered, she would hold celebrations and feasts.

　　中国历史上唯一的女皇——唐朝的武则天也爱花成痴。古洛阳的牡丹花名扬天下，每年牡丹花开之际，她都会举行庆赏活动，宴饮歌赋。

　　Flower petals⁵ as cushions

　　花瓣坐垫

　　According to historical records, Tang Dynasty scholar Xu Shenxuan was very hospitable⁶ and each spring he would invite relatives and friends to the garden to see the flowers and feast. However, instead of seats, servants collect falling petals in the garden for guests to sit on as cushions.

　　据史书记载，唐朝学士许慎选很好客。每年春天他都喜欢请亲朋好友到花园里看花观景，参加宴会。只是，他的宴席不设座位，仆人收集花园里掉落的花瓣，然后铺在地上，来了客人就坐在这些花瓣垫子上。

　　When scholars went on a spring outing, how did they eat meals? According to ancient classic Six Chapters of a Floating Life, there was a scholar who wanted to go to a suburb to admire flowers, and he liked to eat hundun (dumplings served in soup) a lot, so he invited a stall keeper to come with him and his friends. That way, they could admire flowers and talk about poetry, and the stall keeper could prepare hot meals for them aside at the same time.

　　古代文人雅士们郊游赏花，他们吃什么呢?据经典文学《浮生六记》里头记载，当时有个想去郊区赏花的文人很喜欢吃馄饨，所以他请一个卖馄饨的摊贩和他及朋友们一起春游。这样，文人们赏花吟诗，小贩就在边上准备热腾腾的美食，也算两全其美。

　　Admiring flowers is one of life’s delights. Flowers have inspired so much beautiful poetry that has been passed down from ancient times, recalling some of the best poems can enhance the experience of admiring flowers.

　　赏花是人生一大乐事 。从古至今流传下来了许多与花儿有关的诗句美文，回味这些美好的诗句能提高人们赏花的体验。

1 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

2 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

3 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

4 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

5 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。