九九重阳节

华中师范大学翻译系 蒋海军编译

编者注

农历九月初九为传统的重阳节，又称“老人节”。重阳节早在战国时期就已经形成，到了唐代，重阳被正式定为民间的节日，此后历朝历代沿袭至今。重阳又称“踏秋”，与三月初三“踏春”皆是家族倾室而出。重阳这天所有亲人都要一起登高 “避灾”，插茱萸、赏菊花。自魏晋重阳气氛日渐浓郁，为历代文人墨客吟咏最多的几个传统节日之一。

The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar(农历),so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.The festival is based on thetheory(原理)of yin and yang.Theancients(古人)believed that all naturalphenomena(现象)could be explained by this theory.Numbers are related to this theory.Even numbers(偶数)belong to yin andodd numbers(奇数)to yang.The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two yang numbers meet.So it is called Chongyang.Chong means double in Chinese.

重阳节是中国农历九月初九这一天，因此它又被叫做“双九节”。这个节日是以“阴”和“阳”为基础。古人认为所有的自然现象都可以用这个原理来解释，就连数字也与这个原理相关。偶数属于“阴”，而奇数属于“阳”。农历九月初九这一天，两个阳性数字相遇。因此，它被称为“重阳”。“重”在汉语中的意思是“双的”。

Chongyang Festival has been an important festival since ancient times.The festival is celebrated in the golden season of autumn,at harvest-time.The Chongyang Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities.Many people go hiking or climbing mountains in the country,enjoying the beautiful scene.Some will wearcornel（茱萸）on their heads.

从古代起，重阳节就是一个很重要的节日。人们在金秋时节丰收之时庆祝这个节日。重阳节通常因为户外活动而精彩。很多人会去乡下远足或者爬山，欣赏美丽的景色。有些人会在头上插上茱萸。

It’s hard to say when these customs were created.But there are many stories related to these customs.The bookXu Qi Xie Ji,written by Wu Jun in the sixth century,has such a story.In ancient times,there was a man named Huan Jing.He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang who was animmortal(神仙).One day,the two were climbing a mountain.Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset.He said to Huan Jing,“Disasters would come to your hometown on the ninth day of the ninth month.You must go home immediately.Remember to make a red bag for each one of your family members and put cornel in each bag.Then you must tie all your bags to your arms,leave home quickly and climb to the top of a mountain.Most importantly,you all must drink somechrysanthemum(菊花)wine.Only by doing this can your family members avoid this disaster.”

很难说这些习俗是什么时候产生的。但是关于这些习俗有很多传说。六世纪时吴均的《续齐谐记》一书就有一个这样的故事。很久很久以前，有一个叫桓景的年轻人，他跟着神仙费长房学习仙术。一天，他们两人正在爬山，突然，费长房突然停下来，看起来很沮丧。他告诉桓景：“在九月初九这一天，灾难将降临到你的家乡。你必须马上回去。记住为你的家人每人做一个红色的袋子，在每个袋子里面放茱萸。然后，你们要将袋子系在手臂上，迅速离开家，并马上爬到一座山的山顶。最重要的是，你们都必须喝菊花酒。只有这样做，你的家人才能躲过这一大难。”

On hearing this,Huan Jing rushed home and asked his family to do exactly as his teacher said.The whole family climbed a nearby mountain and did not return until the evening.When they got back home,they found all their animals dead,including chickens,sheep,dogs and even the ox.Later,Huan Jing told his teacher about this.Fei Changfang said thepoultry(家禽)andlivestock(家畜)died in place of Huan Jing’s family because they followed his instructions.

听到这些，桓景匆忙赶回家，叫他的家人严格按照他的老师所说的做。恒景的家人都爬上了附近的一座山，直到晚上才回家。回到家时，他们发现家里所有的动物都死了，包括鸡、羊、狗，甚至是牛。后来，桓景把这件事告诉了他的老师。费长房说那些家禽和家畜代替桓景的家人死了，因为桓景的家人按照他的指示做了。

And so climbing a mountain,wearing cornel and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities of the Chongyang Festival.

因此，爬山、插茱萸、喝菊花酒成了重阳节的传统活动。

The cornel is a plant with a strongfragrance(香味),and is often used as a Chineseherbal(草药的)medicine.People in ancient times believed it could drive awayevil spirits(恶灵)and prevent one from getting a chill in late autumn.So its history as a medicine goes back many centuries.But the custom of wearing cornel during the Chongyang Festival is slowly dying out and many people,especially young people in the cities,do not even know what cornels look like.

茱萸是带有浓烈香味的一种植物，它通常被用来做中草药。古人相信它可以驱赶恶灵，防止人在深秋时着凉。因此它被用来做中草药的历史可以追溯到好几个世纪前，但是在重阳节时佩戴茱萸的习俗正在慢慢地消失，很多人，尤其是城市里的年轻人甚至不知道茱萸长什么样子。