Celebrating the Moon 家好月圓慶中秋

The moon has charmed people for years. Stories, songs, and legends have all been made about it. The moon is also important for balance on Earth because it controls the tides. Each year, the Moon Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It celebrates the fall harvest and love. One way that families celebrate is by getting together with friends and relatives for barbecues. At night, everyone takes time to gaze at the full moon and stars. Telling stories and eating mooncakes are also common.
多年來，月亮都使人心醉神迷。許多故事、歌曲和傳說都與月亮有關。月亮對於地球上的平衡也很重要，因為月亮會控制潮汐。中秋節都在每年農曆的八月十五日。該節日旨在歡慶秋季的收成和世間的愛。與親朋好友一起烤肉是家家戶戶慶祝中秋節的方式之一。每個人在當晚都會花時間賞月和觀星。講述中秋的故事和品嚐月餅也是很普遍的活動。
　　The story behind the Moon Festival involves Hou-yi and his wife Chang-er. One day, 10 suns began to shine down on the Earth. Hou-yi shot nine of them down with his bow and arrow and saved the Earth from burning. The Jade Emperor became angry and forced them to live as humans on Earth. This made Chang-er unhappy, so Hou-yi went to look for the Queen Mother of the West. She gave him two pills that allowed them to live forever again. When he returned, he hid the pills from Chang-er, but she found them. As soon as she took them, she flew straight up to the moon. Ever since, Chang-er and Hou-yi can only meet one night of the year on the Moon Festival.
中秋節背後的故事是與后羿跟他的妻子嫦娥有關。有一天，天上出現了十個太陽開始照耀大地。后羿用他的弓箭射下了其中九個太陽，拯救大地免於被焚燒之苦。玉皇大帝卻因此勃然大怒，於是就把后羿和嫦娥貶為凡人，將他們打入人間生活。這讓嫦娥感到很不開心，因此后羿便跑去找西王母。祂給了后羿兩顆可以讓他們再次長生不老的仙丹。后羿回家後將丹藥藏了起來，但嫦娥卻找到了這些仙丹。嫦娥服下後就立刻直直飛到月亮。從此以後，嫦娥與后羿一年只能在中秋節晚上見一次面。


@Word & Phrases

1. charm vt. 吸引，迷住
The man charmed Linda into giving him her phone number.
那名男子把琳達迷倒，讓琳達把電話號碼給了他。
2. harvest n. 收穫，收割
The harvest was enough for the whole village to get through the winter.
這次的採收足以讓全村度過冬天了。
3. relative n. 親戚
Several of my relatives live in Seattle, while the rest are here in Taiwan.
我的親戚有些住在西雅圖，其他的則是在台灣。
4. gaze at... 　　凝視……；盯著……看
When Dick proposed to Mary, she gazed at him with tears in her eyes.
狄克向瑪麗求婚時，她淚眼汪汪地看著他。
5. shine vi. 照射，發亮（三態為：shine, shone , shone。）
The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky during our picnic.
我們去野餐時，艷陽高掛在萬里無雲的天空中。
6. shoot...down/shoot down...　　把……擊落
shoot vt. 射擊（三態：shoot, shot , shot。）
Most of their fighter planes were shot down by enemy fire.
他們大部份的戰機都被敵方砲火給擊落。
7. save + 人∕物 + from... 　　挽救某人∕物免於……
Jimmy jumped into the water and saved the boy from drowning.
吉米跳進水裡救了那個男孩，使他不至於溺斃。
8. force + 人 + to + 原形動詞　　強迫某人（做）……
My mother forced me to take violin lessons when I was a child.
我媽媽在我小時候逼我去學小提琴。


@Extra Words
1. tide n. 潮汐
2. barbecue n. 烤肉
3. full moon n. 滿月
4. mooncake n. 月餅
5. jade n. 玉，翡翠
6. emperor n. 皇帝


@More To Know

嫦娥飛上月亮之後……
　　關於后羿與嫦娥的傳說眾說紛紜，而對嫦娥奔月後的故事發展也有許多不同版本，有人說嫦娥奔月後變成了玉兔；也有人說因為嫦娥太寂寞了，於是兔仙就將玉兔送到廣寒宮，讓玉兔在廣寒宮裡與嫦娥相伴，並搗製長生不老藥。還有傳說指稱嫦娥上了月宮後，因為思念人間的一切而時常掉淚，淚珠因此幻化成許多小星星而點綴了整片夜空，只要有人對著滑落的流星許願，就可使願望成真。這些傳說增添了中秋佳節的趣味，讓人們在團圓烤肉之際還可以細細回味這些有趣的故事。