嫦娥奔月

　　The Mid-AutumnFestival is a time for Chinese people all over the world to cometogether, eat special cakes and gaze atthe full moon。

　　中秋节是一个全世界的华人和家人聚在一起吃月饼、赏月亮的节日。

　　Though a happyoccasion, there's a heartbreaking story that explains how it cameto be。

　　虽然这是一个快乐的节日，但这背后却有着一段令人心碎的传说。

　　Chinese legendtells of the hero Houyi and his beautiful wife Chang'e。

　　在中国的传说中，有位英雄叫做后羿，他有个美丽的妻子名叫嫦娥。

　　As with manylegends, there are differing and often contradictory accounts。

　　和其他很多传说一样，有关中秋节的传说也有很多不同的甚至是相互矛盾的版本。

　　One tells thatChang'e was a heavenly girl who workedamong fairies and immortals inthe palace of the Jade Emperor. One day, she broke aspecial porcelain jar andwas banished to live among humans on earth, with the promise thatshe could return if she performed valuable deeds there。

　　有一种版本中称，嫦娥原是玉皇大帝天宫中同其他仙女天神一起工作的女子。有一天，她打碎了一个特殊的瓷罐，因此被驱逐到凡间和人类生活在一起，只有当她做了好事她才能重新返回天上。

　　Joining afamily of farmers, she met Houyi, a hunter and master archer, andeventually, they would marry。

　　嫦娥在一户农民家里遇到了身为猎人和射手的后羿，后来他们结婚了。

　　But the worldof mortals soon found itself in peril. The Jade Emperor had 10mischievous sons who transformed themselves into 10 suns, scorchingthe earth and its people. Houyi took it upon himself to save them.Using incredible strength and superior marksmanship, he shot downnine of the suns and left one in the sky so that humans could drawupon its warmth and light。

　　但是凡间随后就出现了危险。玉皇大帝的10个爱搞怪的儿子化作10个太阳，炙烤着大地和人类。后羿主动承担责任以拯救大家，他力大无比，射术超群，一口气射下了9个太阳，只留下一个给人们带来温暖和光芒。

　　It is here,again, that accounts diverge. One version has it that both Houyiand Chang'e were heavenly beings, and that a vengeful emperorcondemned them to live on Earth as mortals thereafter. Houyi wishedto avert death, so he acquired an elixir that would conferimmortality. He was warned to drink only half the potion, and hereasoned that his wife could drink the rest。

　　故事到这里又分成了不同的版本。一个版本说后羿和嫦娥都是天上的神仙，皇帝想要报复他们所以罚他们下凡间成为人类。后羿为了能够长生不死拿到了不死药。但他只被允许喝半瓶，剩下的半瓶他准备留给妻子。

　　In one accountof the legend, a greedy friend of Houyi's named Peng Meng tried toobtain the formula for himself, but Chang'e wouldn't let him, anddrank it all. Another states that Chang'e could not resistimmortality, and so consumed it herself。

　　一个版本的传说中，后羿有一个名叫蓬蒙的朋友，他为人奸诈，一心想偷那瓶不死药。嫦娥为了不让他偷走把整瓶都喝掉了。而另一个版本中，嫦娥是因为受不了凡人的生活而喝掉了整瓶不死药。

　　However youinterpret the legend, it eventually transpired that Chang'e's bodybecame light, and she flew out a window up to the moon, leaving herhusband all alone on the Earth。

　　但是不论哪个版本，最后的结果都是嫦娥的身体变得越来越轻，接着她从窗户飞出飞向了月亮，把他的丈夫独自一人留在了凡间。

　　On a clearnight, Houyi saw Chang'e in the moon, called out to her and eventried to shoot it down, but it was too late。

　　在一个月朗风清的夜晚，后羿看到了月亮上的嫦娥，他大声喊她并试图把她射下来，可一切都太晚了。

　　Now a lunargoddess, Chang'e was doomed to be apart from her husband forever.Houyi honoured his wife by arranging a table with incense, meatsand fruits that she loved. The tradition of making sacrifices tothe moon carried through the ages, from the Western Zhou Dynasty(1045 to 770 B.C) onward。

　　如今作为月亮女神，嫦娥注定与她的丈夫永远分离。后羿为了纪念妻子会在桌子上摆上香炉以及她爱吃的肉类和水果。祭祀月亮的传统就这样从西周时期(公元前1045年-前770年)传承至今。

　　And so it istoday, that Chinese all over the world meet outside, eat togetherand gaze at a plentiful moon, like the legendary and historicalancestors who came before。

　　因此今天世界各地的中国人在这个节日里都会聚在一起，像传说里的先人们一样，吃月饼、赏月亮。

　　本文选自《外研社》新浪博客，点击查看原文。