海外文化:聖帕特里克節十大趣聞
St Patrick's Day is being celebrated by Irish communities around the world. Here we list 10 fascinating facts about the celebration of Ireland's patron saint:
聖帕特里克節（St. Patrick's Day）是每年的3月17日，是爲了紀念愛爾蘭守護神聖帕特里克。這一節日5世紀末期起源於愛爾蘭，如今已成爲愛爾蘭的國慶節。隨着愛爾蘭後裔遍佈世界各地，現在，聖帕特里克節已經漸漸在一些國家成爲節日。聖帕特里克節是全世界愛爾蘭團體都在慶賀的節日。下面是關於節日慶祝的10個有趣事實。
1. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, although he was born in Britain, around 385AD. His parents Calpurnius and Conchessa were Roman citizens living in either Scotland or Wales, according to different versions of his story.
1. 雖然是在公元385年前後出生在不列顛島，但聖帕特里克是愛爾蘭的守護神。根據不同版本的歷史記載，他的父母卡爾普爾尼烏斯和孔切薩是居住在蘇格蘭或者威爾士的羅馬公民。
2. As a boy of 14 he was captured and taken to Ireland where he spent six years in slavery herding sheep. He returned to Ireland in his 30s as a missionary among the Celtic pagans.
2. 14歲時，聖帕特里克被捕並被帶往愛爾蘭，在那裏他作爲奴隸牧羊6年。三十多歲時，聖帕特里克作爲凱爾特異教徒傳教士回到愛爾蘭。
3. Legend has it that he used the native shamrock as a symbol of the holy trinity when preaching and brought the Latin alphabet to Ireland.
3. 傳說他在傳教時使用當地的三葉草作爲神聖的三位一體的象徵，並且把拉丁字母表介紹到愛爾蘭。
4. Miracles attributed to him include the driving of serpents out of Ireland. However, evidence suggests post-glacial Ireland never had any snakes in the first place.
4. 聖帕特里克成功將大毒蛇趕出愛爾蘭的傳說增加了他的傳奇色彩。然而證據顯示愛爾蘭在冰河期以後從沒有過蛇。
5. Wearing green, eating green food and even drinking green beer, is said to commemorate St Patrick's use of the shamrock - although blue was the original colour of his vestments.
5. 據說身穿綠色服裝，吃綠色食物，甚至喝綠色啤酒是爲了紀念聖帕特里克使用三葉草，儘管他的法衣最初是藍色。
6. St Patrick was said to have proclaimed that everyone should have a drop of the "hard stuff" on his feast day after chastising an innkeeper who served a short measure of whiskey. In the custom known as "drowning the shamrock", the shamrock that has been worn on a lapel or hat is put in the last drink of the evening.
6. 據說聖帕特里克曾訓斥了一位賣威士忌缺斤短兩的酒館老闆。此後聖帕特里克聲明每個人在他的宗教節日都應該喝一滴“烈性酒”。因此在“淹沒三葉草”這個衆所周知的習俗中，節日裏戴在西服翻領或者帽子上的三葉草最後會被放在酒裏作爲晚上最後一飲。
7. Popular Irish toasts on St Patrick's Day, include: may the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out.
7. 愛爾蘭聖帕特里克節的流行祝酒語包括：願頭上屋頂不倒，屋下朋友不分。
8. St. Patrick's Day was first celebrated in America in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737. Around 34 million modern Americans claim Irish ancestry.
8. 美國馬薩諸塞州的波士頓於1737年首次慶祝聖帕特里克節。大約3400萬現代美國人自認爲是愛爾蘭後裔。
9. It is believed that St Patrick died on March 17 in 461AD. It is a national holiday in Ireland, and on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, which was founded by Irish refugees. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland.
9. 據說聖帕特里克在公元461年3月17日去世。聖帕特里克節是愛爾蘭和加勒比地區由愛爾蘭難民建立的蒙特塞拉特島的國定假日，在北愛爾蘭是公共假日，也是加拿大紐芬蘭省的假日。
10. Dublin has a parade that attracts hundreds of thousands of people, while in Chicago the river is dyed green for a few hours. The biggest parade is normally held in New York, while the largest celebration in the southern hemisphere is in Sydney, Australia.
10.在聖帕特里克節，都柏林的遊行吸引成千上萬的人；在芝加哥河流會被染成綠色幾個小時。最盛大的節日遊行一般在紐約；南半球規模最大的慶祝是在澳大利亞的悉尼。
