Saint Patrick's Day
圣帕特里克節(jié)

By Dave Collett
戴夫.克里特著

St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. He was born in the fourth century and is famous for bringing Christianity into Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day is a very well known Irish national holiday, which is celebrated not only in Ireland but all around the world. It falls on the 17th of March.
圣帕特里克是愛爾蘭的守護(hù)神，也是國家的早期基督教傳教士。他出生于四世紀(jì)，因把基督教帶入愛爾蘭而聞名。圣帕特里克節(jié)是一個很知名的愛爾蘭國家假日，不僅愛爾蘭，全球各地都會慶祝這個節(jié)日。三月十七日即是圣帕特里克節(jié)。

History of St. Patrick
圣帕特里克的歷史

St. Patrick was born to wealthy parents in the late fourth century. Until the age of 16, he thought of himself as a pagan. He was kidnapped and sold as a slave at this age by Irish marauders. It was during this capture that he turned to God.He managed to escape after being a slave for six years and then studied in a monastery in Gaul for 12 years. This was when he knew that his ‘calling’ was to try and convert all the pagans in Ireland to Christianity.
圣帕特里克出生在四世紀(jì)末的一個富有的家庭。在16歲之前，他一直認(rèn)為自己是異教徒。就在16歲那年，他被愛爾蘭的掠奪者拐騙去做奴隸了。就在被拐期間，他開始相信上帝了。做了6年的奴隸之后，他成功逃了出來，并在高盧的修道院里學(xué)習(xí)了12年。就是在那時候，他知道他的“職業(yè)”就是把奴隸所有愛爾蘭的異教徒轉(zhuǎn)皈依到基督教。

St. Patrick went around Ireland founding monasteries and successfully converting people to Christianity. The Celtic Druids were very unhappy with him and tried to arrest him several times but he always managed to escape. After 30 years of being a missionary in Ireland, he finally settled down in a place called County Down. He died on the 17th of March, AD 461.
在愛爾蘭，圣帕特里克到處尋找修道院，并成功地使得一些人皈依基督教。凱爾特的德魯伊教員對他很不滿，并好幾次試圖逮捕他，但他總能設(shè)法逃脫出來。在愛爾蘭做了30年的傳教士之后，他最后在一個叫道爾郡的地方定居下來。他死于公元461年的三月十七日。

Legend and Folklore
傳奇與民間傳說

Shamrocks, leprechauns and the blarney stone are associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Shamrocks are three-leaved clovers found growing in patches on grass. You are thought to be lucky if you find a four-leaved clover, so do keep it if you ever come across one!
三葉草，綠衣老矮人，還有巧言石，這三樣?xùn)|西是和圣帕特里克節(jié)聯(lián)系在一起的。三葉草是長在草坪小塊土地上的三個葉片的草。如果你能找到一片四葉草，你將會是很幸運的。所以，如果你偶爾發(fā)現(xiàn)了一片四葉草，請一定要保存好。

Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they are thought to work as shoe-makers for other fairies. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold. On this day, pictures of shamrocks and leprechauns are hung everywhere. Some people even dress up as leprechauns complete with their big green hats!
綠衣老矮人是愛爾蘭的小仙女，而她們是給其他仙女的造鞋匠。愛爾蘭人說，如果綠意老矮人被人們抓到了，他就會告知他藏金的地方。在圣帕特里克節(jié)這一天，到處都懸掛著三葉草和綠衣老矮人。一些人甚至戴上大大的綠帽子，穿的跟綠衣老矮人一模一樣。

The village of Blarney is situated northwest of the Irish city of Cork. Blarney comes from the Irish word ‘An blarna’, meaning the plain. Blarney Castle is a very famous castle in this village and is 90 feet tall. The world famous Blarney Stone is on the top story. It is said that if one kisses this stone, one will be given the gift of eloquence, meaning to have beautiful speaking abilities. Nowadays, the word blarney means the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech without offending.
巧言石的村莊位于愛爾蘭西北部的一座叫庫克的城市。巧言石來自于愛爾蘭語單詞“一個布拉瑪”，意思是平原。巧言石城堡有80英尺高，是這個村莊的一個著名的城堡。全球聞名的巧言石在巧言石城堡的最頂層。據(jù)說，如果一個人能親吻到這塊石頭，這個人就會被賦予辯才，也就是說擁有了漂亮的口語能力?，F(xiàn)在，巧言石這個詞以為只影響他人的能力，哄騙人的甜言蜜語，以及不帶冒犯的輕松演講。

Legend also says that St. Patrick could raise people from the dead. He is well-known for driving the snakes out of Ireland, although many people dispute how true this is! Another great story was how he used the shamrock, with its three leaves, to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost) to his followers.
傳說，圣帕特里克能讓人起死回生。他以駕馭蛇走出愛爾蘭而聞名，雖然很多人都在爭論這種傳說的真實性。另一個故事是關(guān)于圣帕特里克如何用帶有三片葉子的三葉草來向他的信徒解釋基督教的三圣（圣父，圣子，圣靈）

What Do People Do on St. Patrick’s Day?
人們在圣帕特里克節(jié)上會做什么？

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated world-wide with people dancing and singing in Irish pubs, watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade, drinking ‘green’ beer, wearing green clothes and just generally having a good time. Children in Ireland have a tradition of pinching their friends who don’t wear green on this day!
圣帕特里克節(jié)普天同慶，人們在愛爾蘭的酒吧里載歌載舞，看著圣帕特里克節(jié)的游行，喝著“綠”啤酒，穿著綠衣服，大家都享受著這個節(jié)日。愛爾蘭的孩子們有一個傳統(tǒng)，那就是挖苦那些在圣帕特里克節(jié)上不穿綠衣服的朋友們。

Traditional Food and Drink on St. Patrick’s Day
圣帕特里克節(jié)上的傳統(tǒng)飲食

Bacon and cabbage is what most people have on this day. Another popular dish is Irish soda bread and potato pancakes. Irish pub owners go crazy on this day, putting green food colouring into their beers and traditional Irish Guinness Stout is a sell out in all Irish pubs! People also drink lots of Irish coffee, which is made with warm whiskey, sugar, coffee and topped off with cream. Sounds delicious? It is!
在圣帕特里克節(jié)上，大多數(shù)人都吃培根和卷心菜。另一道有名的菜就是愛爾蘭蘇打面包和土豆煎餅。愛爾蘭的酒吧老板在這一天會很瘋狂，把綠色食物著色劑放入啤酒中，在愛爾蘭的所有酒吧里，傳統(tǒng)的愛爾蘭吉尼斯黑啤酒脫銷。人們也會喝很多愛爾蘭咖啡，這些咖啡是用溫威士忌酒，糖，咖啡和用以封頂?shù)哪棠龀傻摹Ｂ犉饋硭坪鹾苊牢杜?？確實很美味。

Irish Proverbs
愛爾蘭諺語

The Irish have many proverbs but here are some favourites.
愛爾蘭人有許多諺語，這幾個是他們最喜歡的諺語。

Better the coldness of a friend than the sweetness of an enemy.
朋友的冷漠總好過敵人甜蜜。

Be nice to them on the way up. You might meet them all on the way down.
向上爬時，對遇到的人好點，因為掉下來，你還會遇到他們。

Let your anger set with the sun and not rise again with it.
讓你的憤怒隨夕陽西下，不再升起來。

Irish Humour
愛爾蘭人的幽默

The Irish are famous for their jokes and good nature. Here’s an example:
愛爾蘭人以他們笑話和好脾氣而聞名。這里有一個例子：

Definition of an Irish husband:
一個愛爾蘭丈夫的定義:

He hasn’t kissed his wife in 20 years but he will kill any man who does!
他已經(jīng)有20年沒有親吻過他老婆了，但誰親了他老婆，他就會除掉他。

Now that you know almost everything about St. Patrick’s Day, go out on March the 17th and enjoy yourselves! Why not try and spot a leprechaun or two to find your pot of gold…?
既然你了解了幾乎所有關(guān)于圣帕特里克節(jié)的事情，那3月17日就出去好好享受一下這個節(jié)日吧。為啥不試著找一兩個綠衣老矮人去尋找那金罐呢？

Whatever it may be, don’t forget to wear green on this special day!
無論如何，在這特殊的節(jié)日里，可別忘了穿綠衣服哦。