【節慶英文】如何用英文介紹中秋節賞月、吃月餅、柚子帽？嫦娥奔月英文怎麼說？用這些必備單字片語
編輯／許哲瑋
文／張歆悅
又到了中秋節！中秋節可以說是很多人最喜歡的節慶之一，
因為可以放假，又可以和親朋好友相聚烤肉賞月！
如果這時候剛好有外國友人拜訪臺灣，一定要帶他們體驗臺灣中秋節！
這次 Engoo 就來和大家分享「中秋節」相關英文怎麼說，
包含各種常見食物、月餅餡料，及「烤肉」、「賞月」等習俗活動，
最後還會教大家如何用英文講述這些習俗的由來，
也有「嫦娥奔月」和「吳剛伐桂」兩個經典故事的中英對照喔！
（可以善用上方「目錄」功能來挑選有興趣的內容閱讀）
Moon Festival／Mid-Autumn Festival｜中秋節
每年的農曆八月十五日是中秋節，
在這天大家都會團聚在一起賞月、烤肉、吃柚子，
有兩種方式可以用英文表達中秋節：
一種是Moon Festival（月亮節），另一種則是Mid-Autumn Festival（中秋節）。
【例句】
The Moon Festival is on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month every year.
中秋節是在每年農曆八月十五日。
中秋節常見的食物
Pomelo｜柚子
Moon cake｜月餅
Pastry｜糕點
Yolk pastry｜蛋黃酥
Cassia wine｜桂花酒
Reunion dinner｜團圓飯
Barbecue｜烤肉
月餅內餡
Egg yolk｜蛋黃
Red bean｜紅豆
Mung bean｜綠豆
Lotus seed｜蓮子
Taro｜芋頭
Chestnut｜栗子
中秋節的相關活動
To eat mooncakes｜吃月餅
【例句】
Don’t eat too much mooncakes! They are really high in calories.
不要吃太多月餅！月餅熱量很高。
To tell stories about the moon｜講月亮相關的故事
大家小時候一定聽過玉兔搗藥或是嫦娥奔月等等的民間故事，
這些傳說故事帶給我們的不僅是中秋節的樂趣，還增添月亮的浪漫氣息。
【例句】
Daddy! Can you tell me some stories about the moon?
爸爸！可以告訴我一些跟月亮有關的故事嗎？
【補充】
folk tales (n.) 民間故事
legend (n.) 傳說
To have a barbeque party (in/under the moonlight)｜（在月光下）烤肉
「烤肉」英文是 "to have a barbeque"，後面加上 "party" 更能表示是辦在自家的那種烤肉趴。
要表達「在月光下」可以說 "in/under the moonlight"。
【例句】
Every year, I have a barbeque party at one of my high school friends' place.
每年我都會在我一位高中朋友家烤肉。
To admire/look up at the moon｜賞月
中秋節因為是在月正中，那天的月亮會是最圓滿的，因此賞月也是中秋節的傳統之一喔！
「欣賞」的英文是 "admire"，另外也可以用 "look up at" 表達「仰望」。
注意！"moon" 前面一定要加上 "the" 才是指「月球」（地球的衛星），否則會是統稱「衛星」喔！
【例句】
I hope the sky is clear tomorrow night. I want to admire the roundest, fullest moon so bad!
我好希望明天晚上的天空沒有雲。我真的好想要賞最圓、最滿的月亮！
【補充】
Phases of the moon｜月相
New moon｜新月／朔月
Half moon｜半月
First quarter｜上弦月
Full moon｜滿月
Last quarter｜下弦月
Crescent moon｜彎月／殘月
To make pomelo hats 做柚子帽
【例句】
Before making pomelo hats, you should read these tips first.
在做柚子帽之前，你應該先讀讀這些小技巧。
中秋習俗由來
上面提到的烤肉、吃月餅、吃柚子等中秋節習俗，
或是嫦娥奔月、吳剛伐桂等故事，相信各位都再熟悉不過了。
不過，為了能讓來台灣旅遊的外國朋友更融入，我們也要學會如何用英文解釋這些習俗、故事的由來！
吃月餅起源
In Yuan Dynasty, from 1271 to 1368, Han people were treated unfairly by the Mongol rulers, which caused lots of revolutions. In late Yuan Dynasty, after multiple failures of revolutions, Liu Bowen, the counsellor of a revolution leader Zhu Yuanzhang, came up with an idea of sending out the secret message "D-day: 15th day of 8th month" by wrapping it in pastries. This strategy helped them stay off the radar and coordinated revolutionaries all over the nation, leading to the success of Zhu Yuanzhang, who then built Ming Dynasty. Since then, eating mooncakes has been passed down as a Moon Festival tradition.
在元朝，也就是西元 1271 年至 1368 年，漢人遭到蒙古部族統治者的不公對待，引發了許多革命。元朝末年，多次起義未果後，朱元璋的軍師劉伯溫想到了將秘密訊息「八月十五起義」包在糕點裡送出的妙計。此計幫助他們隱密行動，讓全國各地起義軍得以同時聯手起義，並進一步促成明朝開國皇帝朱元璋的勝利。自那次起義後，吃月餅就成為中秋習俗之一，世世代代流傳下來。
中秋烤肉起源
The tradition of barbeque parties actually stems from a TV commercial released by a soy sauce brand, whose slogan "One family holding a barbeque party, ten thousand other smell it" was spread all over Taiwan.
中秋節烤肉的傳統其實是起源於一部醬油品牌的電視廣告，其標語「一家烤肉萬家香」傳遍了臺灣大街小巷。
吃柚子起源
In Chinese, the pronunciations of "pomelo" (柚) resembles that of "bless," (佑) both of which are romanized as "yòu." Therefore, eating the pomelo on the Moon Festival represents getting blessings from deities.
在中文，「柚」的發音和「佑」一樣，兩者羅馬拼音都是「yòu」。因此，在中秋節吃柚子代表得到神明的祝福。
中秋故事
Chang E Flying to the Moon｜嫦娥奔月
Legend has it that in ancient times, there had been ten suns in the sky, scorching the people and drying the lands 24/7. Then, there came an archer named Hou Yi who shot down nine of them and asked the last sun to show up only during certain hours of the day. He became a hero and eventually, a king.
傳說在古代，天上有十顆太陽，不眠不休地灼燒著人民、乾涸著大地。後來，一位名為后羿的射手出現，射下了九顆太陽，並要求剩下的那一顆只能在一天當中特定時段出現。他成為了英雄，隨後更成為了國王。
However, he turned into a tyrant in search of immortality, ignoring his people's suffering. To hold the power forever, Hou Yi obtained from a goddess two magical pills which enabled people to be immortal. His wife, Chang E, couldn't bear to see the pain of the civilian last forever, so she took both pills. Upon taking them, Chang E's body started to float higher and higher up, all the way to the moon.
不過，他變成了暴君，在尋求長生不老的過程中，無視人民的痛苦。為了要永遠掌權，后羿從一位女神那邊得到了兩顆能讓人永生不老的靈藥。他的妻子嫦娥無法眼睜睜看著人民永無止盡的痛苦，便自己吞下了那兩顆藥丸。吃下去的瞬間，她的身體開始漂浮，越來越高、越來越高，一路往月亮飛去。
Since then, she has been living in the palace of the moon, and people have been looking up at and admiring the moon in memory of her and her deeds on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, the day she flied to the moon, which then became the date of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
自此之後，她就一直住在月球上的宮殿，而人們也在每年農曆八月十五日——嫦娥奔月的那天——仰望並欣賞著月亮，以紀念她和她的善行，這天也就演變為後來中秋節的日子了。
Another version says that a thief was to steal the pills when Hou Yi was not home. He threatened Chang E to give him the pills. Not knowing what to do, she swallowed the pills, floated, and flied to the sky. Hou Yi was broken when he couldn't find his lover. As he cried out to the sky, he saw Chang E's silhouette on the moon and tried to get to her, but in vain. He then had his people offer to the moon fruits she loved, which became one of the traditions of the Moon Festival as well.
另一個版本是有個小偷想要趁后羿不在家時偷走靈藥，並威脅嫦娥交出靈藥。嫦娥不知道該怎麼辦，情急之下就將靈藥吞下去，接者開始漂浮，一路往月亮飛去。后羿回家後找不到妻子，心都碎了。他向天空大聲哭喊之時，看到了月亮上有嫦娥的身影，便往她的方向奔去，但最終都是徒勞。後來他就吩咐下屬用她喜歡吃的水果祭拜月亮，而這也變成中秋習俗之一了。
【單字補充】
To scorch（v.）｜烤焦
Immortal（adj.）｜永生的、長生不老的
Immortality（n.）｜永生
Silhouette（n.）｜輪廓、身影、剪影
Wu Gang Cutting the Laurel｜吳剛伐桂
Legend has it that a man named Wu Gang was born strong and smart but lacks patience. Carpentry, selling clothes, farming... Whatever he does, he can't stick to any of them. One day, the idea of learning the practices to be an immortal deity strikes him, so he walks for days and weeks and months to a mountain where he really meets a deity with white beard.
傳說中，一位名為吳剛的人天生強壯、聰明，但缺乏耐心。不管是木匠工藝、賣布、種田等，無論他做什麼，總是無法堅持下去。有一天，他突然想要學習成仙、長生不老，便走了好幾天、好幾週、好幾個月，終於走到一座深山裡，在那裡，他遇見了一位留著白鬍子的神仙。
Asked to teach Wu Gang how to be immortal, the deity says to him that it will be a hard, long journey. Agreeing to whatever challenges and tasks the deity throws him, Wu Gang positvely starts his journey to immortality. But of course, he doesn't have patience for the boring practices. Wu Gang tells the deity he wants to become an immortal deity not to know how to pick medicine or study philosophy but to fly freely in the sky, even to the moon.
他拜託神仙教他如何成仙，而神仙和他說，那將會是又長、又艱辛的道路。吳剛接下了神仙給他的所有挑戰和任務，自信地開始了成仙之旅。但當然，他也沒有辦法堅持完成那些無聊的修行。他告訴神仙，他想成仙不是為了學會怎麼採藥、怎麼讀哲學道理，而是想要自由自在地翱翔，甚至到月亮上去。
The deity then takes him to the moon, where they see nothing but a huge, tall laurel tree. Wu Gang thinks it's boring there and asks the deity to take him back, but the deity tells him to find his own way back. "When you cut this laurel tree in half, you will be able to fly yourself back," says the deity. With the gifted strength, Wu Gang believes it is a piece of cake and picks up the axe. Striking the trunk a few times, Wu Gang feels bored and stops for a rest. When he goes back to work, the cut has grown back as if nothing's happened.
神仙便帶他到月亮上，在那邊，什麼都沒有，視野中只有一顆巨大、高聳的月桂樹。吳剛又開始覺得無聊，請神仙帶他回去，但神仙卻要他自己想辦法回去。他說：「當你把這棵樹砍半後，你就可以自己飛回去了。」天生神力的吳剛認為這簡直易如反掌，並撿起了斧頭。往樹幹砍了幾下後，吳剛便覺得無趣，停下來休息。回去砍樹石，樹上的砍痕竟已癒合，就好像什麼事都沒發生一樣。
Wu Gang feeling confused, the deity explains that the tree takes hundreds of non-stop strikes to be broken apart and that anyone with patience can do it. Yet, Wu Gang slacks off everytime he tries to cut the tree. As of now, he is still trying and slacking, which becomes the dark shades we see on the moon.
吳剛覺得很困惑，神仙便解釋這棵樹只要砍 300 下就能砍斷，任何有耐心的人都做得到。不過，每次吳剛嘗試把樹砍半時，他都會偷懶。直到現在，他仍然在不停嘗試、不停偷懶，他砍樹的身影也變成了我們在月亮上看到的黑影。
【補充】
Laurel（n.）｜月桂
Stick to（v.p.）｜堅持做某事
Deity（n.）｜神祇、神仙
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
讀完了這篇，希望各位都學會如何和外國朋友用英文表達各種中秋習俗，
以及它們的由來，還有中秋民間故事！
中秋節和農曆春節、端午節並列為華人三大節慶，
各位讀者可以點擊下方連結的文章，學習關於春節和端午節的相關英文表達方式：
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