关于元宵的英文翻译
有关元宵节的英语
元宵节英语之元宵习俗
根据道教所言，农历正月的第15天又称“上元”"，英文为“Official of Heaven"，所以元宵节(Lantern Festival)又称“上元节”。
团圆饭(reunion dinner)
猜灯谜(guess lantern riddles)
观花灯(watch lantern)
放烟花(set off fireworks)……
可惜的是很多古人有趣的习俗，都随着时间的推移渐渐被人遗忘了，这些被人遗忘的元宵传统，你想知道吗?
约会 Finding love
Some have dug into the festival' s origin and found that it was truly a romantic day as ancient Chinese girls grew up at home and hardly had chance to go outside to meet people. But the Lantern Festival was an exception. On that particular day, young women were allowed to go outdoors at night to see the lantern displays, offering them an opportunity to meet young men.
有人深扒元宵节的渊源发现，在古代中国这真是一个浪漫的节日：中国古代深闺之中的女孩很难外出见人。但是元宵节是个例外。在那天，年轻女子被允许晚上外出逛夜会，并有机会和男孩约会。
“去年元夜时，花市灯如书;月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后。”(欧阳修)
迎厕姑(卜紫姑) Sciomancy/Planchette writting
厕姑又称紫姑，据说她原本是大户人家的小妾(concubine)，因遭人嫉妒于正月十五被人害死在厕所。被天帝怜悯的紫姑升天为神。于是百姓在这一天祭拜她，祈求丰收平安，卜紫姑又可以卜问来年农耕、桑织之事。
“正月望夜，迎厕姑谓之紫姑……”(《梦溪笔谈》)
打十番 Playing drums
又称打锣鼓。大家子弟7-10人成组，每人配备乐器一件敲至天明(唱打交融 "drum-beating" and " dialectal singing")。
“人行月中，音度水上，殊有清趣……”(《岁华忆语》)
请春酒 Spring wine
南京旧时习俗。一桌新鲜蔬菜——多为刚发芽的农作物，招呼亲友品尝，为妇女老人庆祝，寓意祝福亲朋好友健康长寿，还有“天人合一”(Harmony of Man with Nature)的意思。
元宵节英语之诗词英译
元宵佳节，怎么不说一说古代诗词!
辛弃疾的《青玉案·元夕》一词脍炙人口。英文翻译有很多。最著名的非许渊冲老先生翻译的版本莫属了。
许渊冲——诗译英法唯一人 ，北京大学教授，翻译家。在国内外出版中、英、法文着译六十本，包括《诗经》、《楚辞》、《李白诗选》、《西厢记》、《红与黑》、《包法利夫人》、《追忆似水年华》等中外名著，是有史以来将中国历代诗词译成英、法韵文的唯一专家。1999年被提名为诺贝尔文学奖候选人。
青玉案·元夕 辛弃疾
东风夜放花千树，更吹落，星如雨。宝马雕车香满路，凤萧声动，壶光转，一夜鱼龙舞 。
蛾儿雪柳黄金缕，笑语盈盈暗香去。众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处。
The Lantern Festival Night - to the tune of Green Jade Table
by Xin Qiji
(1)许渊冲、许明译，简称许译
One night's east wind adorns a thousand trees with flowers
And blows down stars in showers.
Fine steeds and carved cabs spread fragrance en route;
Music vibrates from the flute;
The moon sheds its full light
While fish and dragon lanterns dance all night.
In gold-thread dress, with moth or willow ornaments,
Giggling, she melts into the throng with trails of scents
But in the crowd once and again
I look for her in vain.
When all at once I turn my head,
I find her there where lantern light is dimly shed.
(2)译者U君，简称U译
The east wind at night has flowered a thousand trees,
Bringing showers of glowing stars down streets,
Fleeting our scented chariots and stately steeds.
Phoenix-cooing flutes resounding,
Jade-pot-flashing lanterns revolving,
Dolphins and dragons are dancing away--
All night long it’s bright as day.
See the grain moths silvern, the tassels golden?
See the snow-clad willow twigs of the maidens
Passing with laughter gurgling, fragrance floating?
Far and near, among the crowds surging,
Tens of thousands of rounds for one I’ve been searching;
Only on a glance cast backward do I behold:
There she is, where lights are burning so low!
(3)温哥华陶先生译，简称陶译
Night lights a thousand trees in bloom
A shower of stars blown
By the east wind
Ornate carriages drawn by gallant horses
Filled the boulevards with a sweet fragrance
Voice of the magic flute flowing
Luster of the jade white urn turning
All night the fishes and the dragons danced
Butterflies, willows, charms of gold
Gone -- that angelic laughter, that subtle perfume
In the crowds for her I’d searched a thousand times
Perchance I turned
And there she was
Where lights were few and dim
三篇译文简洁，流畅，有诗意，而且比较忠实于辛公原作。音韵上，三篇中许译和U译都押韵，念起来很有音乐感。陶译基本上不押韵，念起来比较平淡。
文字上，各有千秋。例如雕车一词，许译直接用雕车(carved cabs)，U译用香车(scented chariots)，陶译用华车，装饰华丽的车 (ornate carriages ) 。这一词，许译比较忠实于原来文字。宝马的马字，许译和U译用英语诗中常用的马字(steeds)，比较好。而陶译则用普通的马字(horses)。
凤箫一词，U译用( Phoenix-cooing flutes)最好，有凤之形和凤之声。Cooing 是鸟类的鸪鸪声，也可以是人类的喁喁情话。想像一下，凤箫声动，发出如鸟鸣，如情话之声，多么美。许译只简单地用箫(flute)一字，没有译凤字。陶译则用神奇的箫(magic flute)代替,也没有用凤字。
暗香一词，U译成浮香(fragrance floating)，说出香的形态而没有说是微淡的香。陶译成幽香(subtle perfume), 许译成缕香(trials of scents)都很好。但是，如果根据林和靖咏梅诗：“疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏。”则暗香的形态可以是浮动的。因此，如果U译加一字，改成暗香浮动(faint fragrance floating)，就贴切了。
“暗香去”的去字，U译和陶译用过去(passing, gone)不及许译用融入(melts into)好。
“蓦然回首”一词中的蓦然，陶译比较简单，只用偶然(perchance )一字， U译用匆匆一瞥(only on a glance)，两者都未能表达出蓦然一词中有突然的意思。许译成突然(when all at once), 最贴切了。
由上可见，诗词的英文翻译要做到简洁，流畅，有韵律，有诗意，贴切，忠实于原作，并不容易。
元宵节英文知识及祝福语，你造么?
常用词汇：
the Lantern Festival 元宵节
rice glue ball 元宵
glutinous rice 糯米
lion / dragon dance 舞龙/舞狮
guess lantern riddles 猜灯谜
play couplets game 对对联
enjoy beautiful lanterns 赏花灯
snuff 灯花
exhibit of lanterns 灯会
dragon lantern dancing 耍龙灯
walking on stilts 踩高跷
land boat dancing 划旱船
yangko/yangge dance 扭秧歌
beating drums while dancing 打太平鼓
drum dance 腰鼓舞
fireworks party 焰火大会
traditional opera 戏曲
variety show/vaudeville 杂耍
Lantern Festival's temple fair 元宵庙会
colored lanterns' temple fair 彩灯庙会
2
句型篇
经典句型:
How shall we celebrate the Festival of Lanterns?
我们怎么庆祝元宵节呢?
A:How shall we celebrate the Festival of Lanterns?
甲:我们怎么庆祝元宵节呢?
B:Let's enjoy the colorful lanterns in the evening.
乙:我们晚上去赏彩灯吧。
A:I prefer to go to the dragon dances.
甲:我更想去看舞龙。
We eat yuanxiao in this festival.
我们在这个节日吃元宵。
A:What do you eat in the Festival of Lanterns?
甲:你们在元宵节吃什么呢?
B：We eat yuanxiao in this festival.
乙:我们在这个节日吃元宵。
A:Is that the rice glue ball?
甲:就是用糯米粉做的元宵?
B:Yes, it's delicious. We have other activities like the lantern riddles.
乙:是的，很好吃。我们还有其他的活动，比如猜灯谜。
A:it's so interesting.
甲:真有趣。
元宵节的习俗
中国传统的过年，一般要持续到元宵节，元宵节一过也象征过年的结束，人们就要恢复正常的生产和生活了。在元宵节期间，人们举行各种民俗活动，赏月、观花灯、猜灯谜、放烟花、舞龙灯、舞狮子、跑旱船、踩高跷、扭秧歌，普天同庆，其乐融融。元宵节也成为中国诸多传统节日当中最热闹的一个，可以称为中国的“狂欢节”。
Eating Yuanxiao吃元宵
Yuanxiao is the special food for the Lantern Festival. It is believed that Yuanxiao is named after a palace maid, Yuanxiao, of Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty. Yuanxiao is a kind of sweet dumpling, which is made with sticky rice flour filled with sweet stuffing. And the Festival is named after the famous dumpling. It is very easy to cook - simply dump them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes - and eaten as a dessert.
元宵是元宵节的特色食品。据说，元宵是因汉武帝时期的一位名叫元宵的宫女而得名。元宵是一种带馅儿的甜食，是由糯米粉加上甜的馅料制成。元宵节就是因此食品得名。元宵的烹制方法非常简单，将元宵倒入装满沸水的锅中煮几分钟就可以了。
Guessing lantern riddles猜灯谜
"Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.
猜灯谜也是元宵节活动的一个基本组成部分。灯笼的所有者将谜语写在一张纸条上，然后将纸条展示在灯笼上。如果赏灯者猜出谜语，就将纸条取出，然后找灯笼所有者确认答案。打对的话，他们就可以领取一份小礼品。这个活动起源于宋朝(960——1279)。猜灯谜活动极富情趣和智慧，因此在全社会广受欢迎。
Watch fireworks 看烟火
In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.
元宵节的白天会有舞龙舞狮、划旱船、扭秧歌、踩高跷。而在晚上，除了各种大型灯会，灿烂的焰火也是一幅美丽的画卷。很多家庭在春节时会留下一部分烟花等着元宵节放。有的地方政府甚至会组织焰火晚会。当新年的第一轮圆月升上夜空时，人们都会因燃放的烟火和空中的明月而兴奋。