蛇年话蛇丨谭可嘉 (南宁,7年级)

Happy Year of the Snake

蛇年话蛇

The snake comes sixth in the Chinese zodiac.

In Western culture the depiction of this animal as dark and evil is ubiquitous(普遍的),from The Farmer and the Viper,one of Aesop's Fables, in which the farmer is betrayed by the snake he has just rescued，to the tale at the start of the Bible of the serpent seducing Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, and to Voldemort, the notorious villain in Harry Potter, whose true form is a snake.

蛇在十二生肖中排名第六。

在西方文化中，对这种动物的黑暗和邪恶的描述无处不在，从伊索寓言之一《农夫与毒蛇》中的农夫被他刚刚救出的蛇出卖，到《圣经》开头的蛇引诱亚当和夏娃吃禁果的故事，再到《哈利·波特》中臭名昭著的恶棍伏地魔，他的真实形态是一条蛇。

It's not hard to understand, since snakes, with their odd appearance and their hissing sound, are not exactly the most adorable of creatures. But believe it or not, in traditional Chinese culture, snakes actually present a rather positive image.

这并不难理解，因为外表古怪、发出嘶嘶声的蛇并不是最可爱的生物。但信不信由你，在中国传统文化中，蛇其实是一个相当正面的形象。

In Chinese mythology, for example, the creator of humanity is a goddess named N ü wa, who had a human head and the body of a snake. She created humans by molding the yellow earth into little figures to which she would later give life. Nüwa was kind, peace-loving and brave. When the pillars that held up heaven collapsed, she sacrificed herself to mend the cracked sky and save humanity.

例如，在中国神话中，人类的创造者是一位名叫女娲的女神，她长着人头和蛇身。她创造了人类，把黄色的土地塑造成她后来赋予生命的小人儿。努瓦善良、热爱和平、勇敢。当支撑天堂的支柱倒塌时，她牺牲了自己，修补了破裂的天空，拯救了人类。

In literature, one of China's most famous four folk legends is The Tale of the White Serpent（《白蛇传》),which tells of the love between a man,Xu Xian, and a snake-turned woman, Bai Suzhen. In the story, Bai is a symbol of beauty and loyalty, someone with whom the audience can sympathize, while Fa Hai, who has been trying to destroy the relationship between the two, is the villain.

在文学中，中国最著名的四大民间传说之一是白蛇传，它讲述了许仙和白素贞之间的爱情故事。在故事中，白是美丽和忠诚的象征，是观众可以同情的人，而一直试图破坏两人关系的法海则是反派。

In China the snake is also known as xiaolong, the little dragon, because in a Chinese context a dragon isbelieved to be a snake with the head of a horse, the horns of a deer, the scales of fish and the claws of an eagle.In other words, dragons are like an updated version of snakes, which may explain why the snake comes right after the dragon in the Chinese zodiac.

在中国，蛇也被称为小龙，因为在中国的语境中，龙被认为是一种长着马头、鹿角、鱼鳞和鹰爪的蛇。换句话说，龙就像是蛇的升级版，这也许可以解释为什么蛇在十二生肖中排在龙之后。

As with the animal itself, people born under the sign of the snake are believed to be intelligent, graceful and charming. They can be great political leaders, thinkers and artists.

就像动物本身一样，属蛇的人被认为聪明、优雅、迷人。他们可以成为伟大的政治领袖、思想家和艺术家。

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722), the longest-reigning Chinese emperor, and Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the founding father of the People's Republic of China, were born in the Year of the Snake, as was Lu Xun (1881-1936),one of the greatest writers in modern China. In the West, those born in the Year of the Snake include the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973）.

中国在位时间最长的皇帝康熙和中华人民共和国的开国元勋毛泽东都出生于蛇年，中国现代最伟大的作家之一鲁迅也出生于蛇年。在西方，蛇年出生的人包括德国作家歌德和西班牙艺术家毕加索。