對話 Dialogue
清清：華華，明天是農曆臘月23號過小年，我家晚上要吃餃子，你家呢？
Qīngqīng: Huáhua, míngtiān shì nónglì làyuè èrshísān hào guò xiǎonián, wǒ jiā wǎnshàng yào chī jiǎozi, nǐ jiā ne?
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / 照片：Wikimedia Commons提供
華華：不對吧？我家的小年夜是在除夕前一天欸！到底是哪一天過小年啊？
Huáhuá: Búduì ba? Wǒ jiā de xiǎoniányè shì zài chúxì qián yìtiān ei! Dàodǐ shì nǎyìtiān guò xiǎonián a?
清清：喔！對了，我想起來了，中國北方的習俗跟臺灣的不太一樣，我們老家以前過小年是要祭拜灶王爺，送祂回天上去跟玉皇大帝做報告的。
Qīngqīng: Ó! Duìle, wǒ xiǎngqǐlái le, Zhōngguó běifāng de xísú gēn Táiwān de bútài yíyàng, wǒmen lǎojiā yǐqián guò xiǎonián shì yào jìbài Zàowángyé, sòng tā huí tiānshàng qù gēn Yùhuángdàdì zuò bàogào de.
華華：這個我聽說過，不過我家的傳統是在臘月24號，要清理家裡拜神明和祖先的供桌，我們叫「清爐」。
Huáhua: Zhège wǒ tīngshuō guò, búguò wǒ jiā de chuántǒng shì zài làyuè èrshísì hào, yào qīnglǐ jiālǐ bài shénmíng hàn zǔxiān de gòngzhuō, wǒmen jiào “Qīnglú”
清清：哇！聽起來好有意義喔！神明和祖先也需要乾乾淨淨地準備過新年。
Qīngqing: Wa! Tīngqǐlái hǎo yǒu yìyì o! Shénmíng hàn zǔxiān yě xūyào gāngānjìngjìng de zhǔnbèi guò xīnnián.
華華：其實我覺得拜拜很麻煩，要準備好多東西，拜完了又吃不完，不知道該怎麼辦。
Huáhua: Qíshí wǒ juéde bàibai hěn máfán, yào zhǔnbèi hǎoduō dōngxi, bàiwánle yòu chībùwán, bùzhīdào gāi zěnmebàn.
清清：是沒錯，但如果這些文化都沒有了，好像也就沒有過年的氣氛了。
Qīngqing: Shì méicuò, dàn rúguǒ zhèxiē wénhuà dōu méiyǒule, hǎoxiàng yě jiù méiyǒu guònián de qìfēn le.
華華：說得也是，好吧！臺語說：「有拜有保佑。」那我還是認真拜一下好了。
Huáhua: Shuō de yěshì, hǎo ba! Táiyǔ shuō: “Yǒu bài yǒu bǎoyòu.” Nà wǒ háishì rènzhēn bài yíxià hǎole.
翻譯 Translation
Qingqing: Huahua, tomorrow is the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, celebrating the Minor Spring Festival. We’re having dumplings at my place in the evening. How about your family?
Huahua: That doesn’t sound right. In my family, Minor Spring Festival’s Eve is the day before New Year’s Eve! What day exactly is the Minor Spring Festival celebrated?
Qingqing: Oh, I remember now. The customs in northern China are different from in Taiwan. In our hometown, we used to worship the Kitchen God on the Minor Spring Festival and send him back to report to the Jade Emperor in Heaven.
Huahua: I’ve heard about that, but in my family, the tradition is to clean the house and worship the deities and ancestors at the altar on the 24th day of the 12th lunar month. We call it “Qinglu.”
Qingqing: Wow! It sounds so meaningful! Deities and ancestors also need a clean and tidy preparation for the New Year.
Huahua: Actually, I find the worship rituals a bit of a hassle. There’s a lot to prepare, and after the ceremony, there’s so much food that we can’t finish it. I don’t know what to do.
Qingqing: That’s true, but without these traditions, the festive atmosphere of the New Year wouldn’t be there.
Huahua: You’re right. Well then, as they say in Taiwanese: “有拜有保佑” (Worship brings blessings). I guess I’ll go ahead and worship sincerely.
生詞 Vocabulary
1. 過小年 (Guo Xi?onian) Minor Spring Festival or the day before New Year’s Eve
2. 除夕 (chuxi) New Year’s Eve
3. 到底 (daod?) after all; how on Earth…?
4. 祭拜 (jibai) worship
5. 灶王爺 (Zaowangye) The Kitchen God
6. 玉皇大帝 (Yuhuangdadi) Jade Emperor
7. 神明 (shenming) gods; deities
8. 供桌 (gongzhu?) altar
教材音檔 Audio Files
國立清華大學華語中心提供
By National Tsing Hua University Chinese Language Center:
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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