Celebrating the Moon家好月圆庆中秋
The moon has charmed people for years.
Stories, songs, and legends have all been made about it. The moon is
also important for balance on Earth because it controls the tides. Each year, the Moon Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It celebrates the fall harvest and love. One way that families celebrate is by getting together with friends and relatives for barbecues. At night, everyone takes time to gaze at the full moon and stars. Telling stories and eating mooncakes are also common.
The story behind the Moon Festival involves Hou-yi and his wife Chang-er. One day, 10 suns began to shine down on the Earth. Hou-yi shot nine of them down with his bow and arrow and saved the Earth from burning. The Jade Emperor became angry and forced them to live
as humans on Earth. This made Chang-er unhappy, so Hou-yi went to look
for the Queen Mother of the West. She gave him two pills that allowed
them to live forever again. When he returned, he hid the pills from
Chang-er, but she found them. As soon as she took them, she flew
straight up to the moon. Ever since, Chang-er and Hou-yi can only meet
one night of the year on the Moon Festival.
多年来，月亮都使人心醉神迷。许多故事、歌曲和传说都与月亮有关。月亮对於地球上的平衡也很重要，因为月亮会控制潮汐。中秋节都在每年农历的八月十五日。该节日旨在欢庆秋季的收成和世间的爱。与亲朋好友一起烤肉是家家户户庆祝中秋节的方式之一。每个人在当晚都会花时间赏月和观星。讲述中秋的故事和品尝月饼也是很普遍的活动。
中秋节背後的故事是与后羿跟他的妻子嫦娥有关。有一天，天上出现了十个太阳开始照耀大地。后羿用他的弓箭射下了其中九个太阳，拯救大地免於被焚烧之苦。玉皇大帝却因此勃然大怒，於是就把后羿和嫦娥贬为凡人，将他们打入人间生活。这让嫦娥感到很不开心，因此后羿便跑去找西王母。 给了后羿两颗可以让他们再次长生不老的仙丹。后羿回家後将丹药藏了起来，但嫦娥却找到了这些仙丹。嫦娥服下後就立刻直直飞到月亮。从此以後，嫦娥与后羿一年只能在中秋节晚上见一次面。
- charm vt. 吸引，迷住
The man charmed Linda into giving him her phone number.
那名男子把琳达迷倒，让琳达把电话号码给了他。 - harvest n. 收获，收割
The harvest was enough for the whole village to get through the winter.
这次的采收足以让全村度过冬天了。 - relative n. 亲戚
Several of my relatives live in Seattle, while the rest are here in Taiwan.
我的亲戚有些住在西雅图，其他的则是在台湾。 - gaze at... 凝视……；盯著……看
When Dick proposed to Mary, she gazed at him with tears in her eyes.
狄克向玛丽求婚时，她泪眼汪汪地看著他。 - shine vi. 照射，发亮（三态为∶shine, shone , shone。）
The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky during our picnic.
我们去野餐时，艳阳高挂在万里无云的天空中。 - shoot...down/shoot down...把……击落
shoot vt. 射击（三态∶shoot, shot , shot。）
Most of their fighter planes were shot down by enemy fire.
他们大部份的战机都被敌方炮火给击落。 - save + 人 物 + from... 挽救某人 物免於……
Jimmy jumped into the water and saved the boy from drowning.
吉米跳进水里救了那个男孩，使他不至於溺毙。 - force + 人 + to + 原形动词强迫某人（做）……
My mother forced me to take violin lessons when I was a child.
我妈妈在我小时候逼我去学小提琴。
- tide n. 潮汐
- barbecue n. 烤肉
- full moon n. 满月
- mooncake n. 月饼
- jade n. 玉，翡翠
- emperor n. 皇帝
嫦娥飞上月亮之後……
关於后羿与嫦娥的传说众说纷纭，而对嫦娥奔月後的故事发展也有许多不同版本，有人说嫦娥奔月後变成了玉兔；也有人说因为嫦娥太寂寞了，於是兔仙就将玉兔送到广寒宫，让玉兔在广寒宫里与嫦娥相伴，并捣制长生不老药。还有传说指称嫦娥上了月宫後，因为思念人间的一切而时常掉泪，泪珠因此幻化成许多小星星而点缀了整片夜空，只要有人对著滑落的流星许愿，就可使愿望成真。这些传说增添了中秋佳节的趣味，让人们在团圆烤肉之际还可以细细回味这些有趣的故事。
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