“七夕”用英语怎么说？
七夕节有“乞巧”的风俗，且由来已久，古时年轻女孩子们在这一天乞求巧夺天工的好手艺，同时会乞求一段美好姻缘。
七夕节在英语中的表达有很多种，因为七夕节又被叫做“乞巧节”，因此可以称作 The Begging Festival 。
此外还有 Double-Seventh Day、Chinese Valentine's Day、Qixi Festival,而最常用的是 Magpie /ˈmæɡpaɪ/ Festival 。
magpie 指的是“喜鹊”。传说牛郎和织女每年于鹊桥（The Magpie-Bridge）相会，由此就有了 Magpie Festival 的说法。而牛郎织女的故事也成为如今七夕节流传最广泛的起源传说。
“七夕”的传说与故事
Qixi, which falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, is the Chinese Valentine's Day.
七夕，即每年农历七月初七，是中国的情人节。
Legend has it that it celebrates the annual meeting between the mythological figures of the Cowherd (or Niulang) and the Weaver Girl (or Zhinyu), who were separated by the Queen Mother for disobeying the dogma that a mortal cannot marry a fairy.
传说七夕是为了庆祝和纪念牛郎和织女一年一度的相聚。凡人牛郎与仙女织女相爱违背天条，因而被王母娘娘拆散。
It is said that the Queen Mother took off one of her hairpins and created a river, the Milky Way to separate the couple. However, their loyalty touched the magpies. So they formed a bridge across the Milky Way to reunite the lovers.
据说，王母娘娘拔下一根发簪，在天空中划出一道银河将这对夫妇拆散。然而，他们的忠贞不渝感动了天上的喜鹊，于是它们在银河上架起一座桥，让这对恋人能够重逢。
The Queen Mother was touched by their undying love and later agreed that the two could meet once a year on the 7th night of the 7th month of the lunar calendar. This is how Qixi came to be.
王母娘娘也被他们矢志不渝的爱情打动，最终同意两人在每年农历七月初七的晚上相会。这就是七夕节的由来。
Traditionally, people would look up at the sky and find a bright star in the constellation Aquila as well as the star Vega, which are identified as Niulang and Zhinyu. The two stars shine on opposite sides of the Milky Way.
按照传统，在七夕这天人们会仰望星空，去寻找天鹰座中一颗闪亮的星星和织女星。它们被认定为是牛郎和织女的化身，在银河的两边各自闪烁。
The love story between Niulang and Zhinyu has been passed down from generation to generation. Chinese literati have mentioned the legend in their works.
牛郎和织女的爱情故事代代相传，中国文人也都在他们的作品中提到这个传说。
“七夕”的一些关键词
1. The Begging Festival 乞巧节
“乞巧”的这个“乞”，我们可以说 beg ，也可以用 plead 这个词。乞巧就可以翻译为 plead to be endowed with perfect sewing skills.
2. doing needlework 针线活
七夕有乞巧的风俗，乞巧是女孩子为了精进自己的女红手艺，女红（注：这里的“红”读音是“工”，不要读错了），也就是针线活，用英语说就是 doing needlework。
3. lunar calendar 阴历
现在通行的阳历是 solar calendar。lunar表示“月亮的”，英文名
Luna其实是月亮女神的名字。
4. cowherd 放牛人，牛郎
同样的一个词是 shepherd ，羊倌，两个词都有一个-herd后缀，herd有“放牧人”的意思，不过通常都是作为后缀来构成“XX牧人”的词。
5. magpie 喜鹊
虽然在七夕的传说中，喜鹊给情人们带来幸福，但是 magpie 这个词却有一个贬义的用法，就是用来形容话多的人。
举例：
She chatters like a magpie. 她说起话来就没个完。
祝大家七夕节快乐，乞巧节快乐！更祝大家天天快乐！
来源：译学点滴
设计：薛利文
编辑：鲁蒙海
审核：海 新
终审：张 扬
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