中國人與英國人對龍的看法有什么不同？龍對中國人為什么重要

今天的這段對話，在討論龍，
 
中國人與英國人對龍的看法有什么不同？龍對中國人為什么重要
 
來聽今天的講解:
 
A:This picture we see here is of a very traditional Chinese dragon.
 
我們看到的這張照片上是一條非常傳統(tǒng)的中國龍。
 
B:I'm sorry, but this dragon looks friendly unlike Western dragons which are fierce. Why?
 
可是，打斷一下，這條龍看起來很友好，不像西方的龍那么兇，為什么？
 
A:Why? Well, in China dragons are not seen in the same way as in England. For example, they are not evil, but lucky.
 
為什么？噢，是這樣，中國人與英國人對龍的看法是不一樣的。比如說，龍不是邪惡的，而是吉祥的動物。
 
B: Lucky, in what way?
 
吉祥的？怎么吉祥？
 
A: Did you know we also connect dragons with the number 9? And 9 for us is a very lucky number.
 
你知道我們還把龍跟數(shù)字9聯(lián)系在一起嗎？而9對我們來說是非常吉利的數(shù)字。
 
B: In Western countries 7 is usually lucky and we think 13 is unlucky, but I don't think we have any special feeling about 9.
 
在西方國家，通常7是幸運數(shù)字．13是不吉利的數(shù)字，但我想我們對9沒有什么特別的感情。
 
A: Although we don't know the exact origins, we are sure they predate history. We can find them in literature, poems, songs and architecture.
 
盡管我們不知道龍確切的由來，但我們確信那是很早以前的歷史了。在文獻、詩詞、歌曲和建筑中都可以發(fā)現(xiàn)有關信息。
 
B: So they are very important to Chinese people. Right ?
 
所以龍對中國人非常重要，對吧？
 
A: Yes, they are part of our conscience.
 
是的，它是我們意識形態(tài)的一部分。
 
B: In this display the clothing is decorated with dragons. Why are they so significant?
 
這次展覽的服裝上都飾有龍的圖案。它們?yōu)槭裁茨敲粗匾?br />  
A: This is an imperial dragon robe from the Qing Court. We also have a very famous Dragon Dance which dates back to the Song dynasty, and nowadays the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated internationally.
 
這是一件清朝皇帝穿的龍袍。我們還有個非常有名的舞龍表演，可以追溯到宋朝，還有，現(xiàn)在世界各地都在過龍舟節(jié)‘。
 
B: Yes, last year I was in Chinatown in London and we saw the dancing, but also a special type of boat race.
 
沒錯，去年我在倫敦的中國城就看見了舞龍表演，而且還有專門的賽龍舟活動。
 
A: Yes, a Dragon Boat race. It is celebrated during the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It commemorates a great poet called Qu Yuan.
 
對，有賽龍舟。那是在中國陰歷5月舉行的慶?；顒樱菫榱思o念一個叫屈原的偉大詩人。
 
B: OK. So where else do we 6nd dragons?
 
好了，那么在哪兒還能找到龍？
 
A: Well, there are many famous Chinese stories about the dragon. There is even a famous Chinese idiom " Lord Ye's Love of Dragons" ,  which means an apparent love of something one really fears.
 
是這樣，中國有很多關于龍的故事，甚至還有一個成語“葉公好龍”，意思是說愛上一個實際上害怕的東西。
 
B: Really? What's the story behind the idiom?
 
真的嗎？這個典故是怎么說的？
 
A: Lord Ye had a fascination about dragons. He had dragons everywhere and he was thinking about dragons all the time.  His love of dragons moved a real dragon, so the dragon came to visit him one day. When he saw the real dragon, he was frightened to death.
 
有個叫葉公的人非常喜歡龍。他每時每刻想著龍：生活的周遭環(huán)境里龍的形象也是無處不在。他對龍的喜愛感動了一條真芘，所以有一天這條龍就來拜訪他?？墒钱斎~公看見真龍時，卻嚇得要死。
 
B: So you do agree that dragons can be scary, then?
 
那你是不是也認為龍很可怕呢？
 
A: For Lord Ye, yes!
 
對葉公來說是很可怕！