Elixir | 中秋節背後的神話故事

與中秋節相關的神話故事，相信大家都瞭解一些，比如：嫦娥奔月、吳剛折桂、玉兔搗藥等等。

其中最為人熟知的當然是嫦娥奔月。

嫦娥奔月有好幾個版本，比如被逼吃下仙藥，化身仙子，飛向月宮；又比如偷吃仙藥，飛進月宮，變成了搗藥的蟾蜍。

當然，前者追求美好和大團圓結局的情節更符合我們的傳統期待。

那麼對於這段故事，英文是如何描述的呢？

Lady Chang'e Flying to the Moon

「source:http://www.gov.cn」

In the distant past, there used to be 10 suns in the sky one year. The scorching heat dried up the lake and people were at death’s door. Just at that time, a hero named Hou Yi heard about this predicament. With his extraordinary power, he then pulled his supernatural bow and shot 9 needless suns down on the peak of Mount Kunlun. Hou Yi of course made distinguished contributions to people and was respected, loved and supported by them. A large number of persons of ideals and integrity flocked to Hou Yi to take him as their teacher and seek instructions out of admiration. Among those learners, there was no lack of the treacherous and cunninglearner, such as a learner named Pang Meng.

· At death's door 危在旦夕；死亡邊緣；奄奄一息；

· Predicament 困境；

· Persons of ideals and integrity 仁人志士；

· Flock 蜂擁而至；紛至沓來；

· Treacherous and cunning 奸詐狡猾；

Before long, Hou Yi got married to a beautiful and virtuous girl named Chang’e. They loved each other very much and got along very well. One day, Hou Yi went to Mount Kunlun to meet friends when he encountered the Queen of Heaven who gave him an elixir of life. It was said that half of the elixir could make a person live forever and the whole elixir could make a person become an immortal instantly.

· Beautiful and virtuous 美麗賢惠；

· Queen of Heaven 天后(這裡指西王母);

· Elixir of life 仙丹；長生不老藥；

However, Hou Yi was unwilling to leave his wife, and he gave the elixir of life to Chang’e for safekeeping. Chang’e put the elixir of life into a case of her dressing table, which was seen by Pang Meng who was very treacherous. Three days later, when Hou Yi went out for hunting with his disciples, the disingenuous Pang Meng pretended to be ill, so he didn’t go with them. Shortly after their leave, Pang Meng broke into Hou Yi’s House with a double-edged sword in his hand. Pang Meng threatened Chang’e to hand over the elixir of life. Chang’e knew that she couldn’t manage to protect the elixir of life.

· Safekeeping 儲存；妥善保管；

· Disciple 弟子；徒弟；

· Disingenuous 不誠實；不老實；狡猾的；

· Double-edged sword 雙刃劍(可理解為寶劍);

· Hand over 交出；移交；

So, at a crisis, Chang’e fetched the elixir of life from the case and swallowed it promptly. Suddenly, Chang’e floated away from the ground, dashed out of the window and flew towards the sky. It was said that Chang’e became an immortal and stayed on the moon which was the nearest to the earth as she was anxious about his husband Hou Yi.

· At a crisis 緊急關頭；緊要時刻；

· Fetch 取; 拿取；

· Promptly 立刻；馬上；快速；

· Dash 衝；奔；

· Immortal 神仙；不朽/不死之人或物；

At nightfall, Hou Yi went back home and was told what happened during his absence from his maids. Hou Yi became extremely enraged and he immediately went to kill Pang Meng. However, Pang Meng had already escaped. The heart-stricken Hou Yi shouted to the sky and shouted Chang’e, just at that time he surprisingly discovered the moon was extremely bright and clear that night and he caught sight of a swaying figure that was exactly like Chang’e.

· Enraged 憤怒；惱羞成怒；

· Heart-stricken 痛心的；傷心的；

· Catch sight of 看到；突然看見；

Hou Yi hastily asked his maids to put an incense table in the back garden and put fresh fruits and moon cakes which were the favorite food of Chang’e on the table, holing a memorable ceremony for Chang’e who lived on the distant moon. When the local people heard that Chang’e flew to the sky and became an immortal on the moon, they all arranged incense tables below the moon for the worship of the goodness Chang’e, praying for happiness and safeness. Since then, worshipping and appreciating the moon during Mid-autumn festival has become popular until now.

· Incense 香；薰香；

· For the worship of 崇拜；崇敬；敬奉；