端午
白蛇传的故事

There is a very famous traditional Chinese story that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned themselves into beautiful maidens and set off on a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou。

When they arrived at West Lake they met a man named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love with Xu Xian and they were soon married. A Buddhist monk, named Fa Hai, warned Xu Xian of his wife's deceptive appearance and suggested to him a plan。

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging on the doors of people's houses. Her husband prepared, according to Fa Hai's instruction, some realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her magic would protect her from the effects of the realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the wine she became very ill and was barely able to get to her bed。www.51education.net

When her husband came to her side, he found not his wife but a huge white snake. So great was Xu Xian's shock that he fell to the floor dead。

After recovering from the realgar wine and regaining her human form, White Snake was grief-stricken to find her husband dead. She set off on a journey to obtain a potent medicinal herb, which could revive her husband. After returning and reviving her husband with the medicine, she explained to Xu Xian that the white snake he saw was actually a dragon and that this vision was indeed a very good omen. Xu Xain's fears were put to rest for the moment by his wife's fanciful story…

白蛇传

另一个与端午节息息相关的中国传统故事是“白蛇传”。从前，在伊眉山上有两只蛇精，白蛇与青蛇。这两只蛇精运用法力将自己变成美丽的女子，并到杭州西湖游玩。

当她们在西湖游玩时，遇到一位名叫许仙的男子，白蛇与许仙很快的相恋并且随即结婚。当时一位名叫法海的和尚，曾经警告许仙注意他妻子惑人的外表，并建议他一个知道真相的计划。端午节当天，白蛇待加家里以避开人们挂在门上驱邪的艾草，而许仙则依照法海的建议准备了大家在端午节时都会喝的雄黄酒。白蛇自认魔力可以抵挡雄黄酒对她的影响，因此喝了一杯。但是在她喝下那杯酒之後，她却变得精疲力竭，几乎走不到床上。当许仙回到白蛇身边，看到的不是自己美丽的妻子，而是一只巨大的白蛇，许仙震惊不已，从楼梯上摔死了。

当白蛇恢复精力及人形时，她才发现自己丈夫已经身亡，因此白蛇外出寻找能使许仙起死回生的强效药草。许仙在服用药草，并起死回生之後，白蛇告诉许仙他看到的那条白蛇，其实是一只代表吉相的龙。而在那时，许仙也在白蛇引人入胜的故事中将恐惧抛诸脑後……

Story of White Snake/Vocabulary

magical 魔术般的(形容词)
The eight immortals in the Taoist legends have magical powers. 道教中的的八仙有魔力。

maiden少女(名词)
The prince rescued the beautiful maiden from the monster. 王子由怪兽手中救出美丽的少女。

journey旅行(名词)
Would you like to join us on our journey? 你想参与我们的旅行吗？

buddhist佛教的(形容词)
Many people go to that Buddhist temple on the weekends.许多人在周末到佛教的寺院去。

monk僧侣(名词)
That monk lives a very quiet and peaceful life. 那位僧侣过著平静的生活。

deceptive迷惑的、骗人的(形容词)
I believe that the advertising is a little deceptive. 我相信广告总是有一些骗人。

grief-stricken极度悲伤的(形容词)
He was grief-stricken when he heard about his friend's accident. 当他听到朋友的意外时，他极度的悲伤。

potent强力的(形容词)
The poison of the snake is a very potent. 那只蛇的毒很强。www.51education.net

omen兆头(名词)
Ancient people thought a lunar eclipse was a bad omen. 古代的人们相信月蚀是一种坏的预兆。