双语 | 七夕撒狗粮已经out了 其实单身汪更会玩

今天，是一年一度的中国情人节——七夕节，也是情侣们花式撒狗粮的日子。假如狗粮满足不了你，不要悲伤，不要心急！单身的日子里需要淡定；相信吧，快乐的日子将会来临。

于是，今年七夕不虐狗，一大波新玩法让单身汪也能愉快地过一个情人节~~共勉，汪汪！

Qi Xi Festival—commonly referred to as Chinese Valentine’s Day—happens on Aug. 28 this year (it takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar). The festival celebrates a nearly 2,000-year-old fairy tale originating from the Han Dynasty.

七夕节通常也被称为“中国的情人节”，今年的七夕是在8月28日（阴历7月初7）。这个节日是为了纪念汉朝距今近2000年的一则神话传说。

The origin 来源

The story goes that Zhi Nv, a goddess renowned for her weaving skills, went to the mortal world and met a cow herder named Niu Lang. The two fell in love, got married, and had two children. But when Zhi Nv’s mother, the queen mother of heaven, found out about their union, she became upset and angry, taking Zhi Nv back to heaven.

相传，一位名叫织女的仙女以精湛的织布技艺而闻名，一天，她下凡来到人间，遇到了放牛的牛郎。二人旋即坠入爱河，成婚后有了两个孩子。但是，当织女的母亲——王母发现了他们的私会之后便勃然大怒，把织女带回了天庭。

Niu Lang was heartbroken. But an old cow that Niu Lang had once rescued revealed that he was actually a god injured in the mortal world and offered him his skin once he died. He told Niu Lang his leather could be used to make shoes that could fly him to heaven.

牛郎伤心欲绝。这时，牛郎曾经救过的一只老牛向他袒露了自己的身世，原来，他是一位神仙，在人间受了伤，遇到了牛郎的搭救。他对牛郎说，一旦自己死去，就把自己的皮献给牛郎，牛郎可以用皮做成一双鞋，穿着这双鞋就能飞到天庭。

When the cow died, Niu Lang made an attempt to find Zhi Nv with their children, but the queen mother of heaven used her hair pin to create a river of stars that would become the Milky Way to separate the two lovers. Their cries touched the magpies so much that thousands of them formed a bridge for the couple to walk over the river. Eventually, the queen mother relented and agreed to let the couple meet one night out of every year on Qi Xi.

这头牛死后，牛郎想和孩子一起去寻找织女，但是王母用发簪画了一条星河，阻断了这对恋人，这条星河后来成了银河。他们的哭声感动了喜鹊，于是成千上万的喜鹊为他们搭起了一座桥，让他们在银河上相见。最终，王母心生怜悯，允许他们在每年的七夕之夜相见。

How it’s celebrated 如何庆祝七夕

Qi Xi has since come to symbolize true love. In ancient times, girls would offer fruits and food to Zhi Nv on the night of the festival, praying for skillful hands like the goddess’s to weave with so they can find their ideal husbands. Children would also pick up wild flowers to hang on an ox’s horns in memory of the cow-god who sacrificed himself.

七夕一直是真爱的象征。在古代，女子会在节日当晚向织女供奉瓜果食物，祈祷能像织女神一样拥有一双精通编织的巧手，以找到心目中的如意郎君。孩童们也会采摘野花挂在牛角上，以纪念牛神自我牺牲的精神。

Festivals across China today celebrate a variety of different traditions in honor of Qi Xi. In China’s southeastern city Shaoxing, girls hide in pumpkins farms, believing those who can hear the whispers of Niu Lang and Zhi Nv would find love soon. In Hunan province, women fetch water from the mountains. Believing it to be holy, they wash their hair with so they can be blessed by Zhi Nv. Some even collect dew—symbolizing tears from the couple—in the early morning following Qi Xi, believing that drinking it would make them smarter. In Taiwan, people release floating lanterns into the sky to make wishes for love.

如今全国各地庆祝七夕的传统多种多样。在浙江绍兴，少女们会躲在南瓜棚下，她们相信，如果能听到牛郎织女相会时的悄悄话，就能很快找到真爱。在湖南，妇女会取山上的泉水。她们觉得这里的水非常神圣，用它来清洗头发，必会得到织女的神佑。甚至还有人会在七夕第二天的清晨去收集露水，它象征着牛郎织女相会时流下的眼泪，饮之会使人更加聪慧。而在台湾，人们会放天灯，为爱祈福。

As couples coo over each other during China's version of Valentine's Day on Monday, several businesses woo a single population that may be unlucky with love but has money to spend.

今年的8月28日是中国版“情人节”七夕，当情侣们在这一天甜言蜜语时，一些商家却在努力抓住单身人群的眼球，这些人虽然还没有找到真爱，但是腰包里却有钱可花。

Couples go on dinner dates and exchange flowers and cards. And then there are the “single dogs”, as they are nicknamed in China.

在七夕这一天，情侣们共进晚餐，互赠鲜花和卡片。那些单身人士则在中国被戏称为“单身狗”。

Nearly 200 million people are not married in the country of almost 1.4 billion, according to official figures, many resisting family and cultural pressure to settle down.

官方数据指出，在中国14亿人口当中，近2亿人尚未结婚，其中很多人都不想屈服于家庭和文化上的压力而草草结婚。

Businesses have something else for them.

商家也为单身狗们推出了服务。

One of the country's most popular hotpot restaurants, Haidilao, places a teddy bear across from customers who dine alone.

国内热门火锅餐厅“海底捞”会在单人就餐的顾客对面放上一只泰迪熊。

The bear can make customers “feel at home... not isolated and treated with warmth”, a local Haidilao restaurant manager, Xu Bin, told AFP, adding that this service mainly targets younger customers.

当地一家“海底捞”餐厅经理徐斌在接受法新社采访时说，泰迪熊会让顾客“有一种回家的感觉……不会感到孤单，能带给他们温暖”。他还表示，这项服务主要针对年轻顾客。

For those with a sweet tooth, the Seven Color Rainbow bakery makes a cake in the shape of a pooch with his tongue out.

“七色彩虹”蛋糕店为喜欢吃甜食的顾客制作了吐着舌头的狗狗蛋糕。

Dubbed “the single dog”, the dessert is 20 per cent more expensive than the shop’s more common cake, but it accounts for 15 per cent of sales.

这款甜品名为“单身狗”，比店内普通蛋糕价格高20%，但却占了15%的销量。

“People buy these cakes for their friends as a benign joke,” a staffer surnamed Liu told AFP.

“人们会为自己的朋友购买这款蛋糕，开点善意的玩笑。”一位刘姓员工告诉法新社记者。

Even US fast food chain Burger King is offering a special discount meal just for singles on Chinese Valentine's Day: A burger, a fried chicken thigh and a smoothie.

甚至美国快餐连锁店“汉堡王”也在七夕节这天为单身人士提供特价折扣餐品：汉堡、炸鸡腿和果汁。

Blind dates 相亲

The Communist Youth League has started to organize blind dates for young people in an attempt to encourage them to settle down.

中国共青团为年轻人组织了相亲活动，帮助他们安家落户。

In eastern Tianjin city alone, the local league committee has arranged blind dates involving 340 people in four venues across the city for the upcoming Qixi Festival.

仅在天津，当地团委已为即将到来的七夕节安排了340人参加的相亲活动，全市共分为四个场地。

“In urban areas especially, parents are saying to their girls ‘don't settle’. Only marry if you want to marry, only have kids if you want to have kids,” said Shaun Rein, founder of China Market Research Group, adding that the phenomenon is signalling social progress.

中国市场研究集团创始人肖恩·雷恩说，“特别是城市中的父母，他们会告诉女儿‘不要妥协’。自己想结婚的时候再结婚，想生孩子的时候再生孩子。”他还说，这种现象说明社会在进步。

“I view that as showing female empowerment... I think it's a very healthy shift, showing more male-female gender equality than ever before.”

“我把这种现象视为女性独立意识的觉醒……我觉得这是非常有益的转变，表明男女比之前更加平等。”

英文来源：Quartz、The Straits Times

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