Remembrance Day 阵亡将士纪念日 纪念日

李武军

Wang Fei: 大家好，欢迎收听<都市掠影>节目。我是王飞。

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Wang Fei: 如果你11月份来英国，一定会发现大街上很多行人的胸前都会佩戴一朵红色的纸花。很多人不禁会问：What is this red flower?

Red poppies bloom in a field in Belgium

Rob: Well, it's a poppy flower. You can also just call it a poppy.

Wang Fei: Poppy flower, 罂粟花。但是这种罂粟花不是生产毒品的那种罂粟花，而是我们中国人常常说的虞美人花，是非常漂亮的一种花卉。Rob, why do British people wear a poppy in November?

Rob: Red poppies in Britain are related to Remembrance Day, celebrated on 11th November. This is because World War One ended on this date in 1918.

Rob: We asked some Londoners why they wear poppies on Remembrance Day and what the day means to them. Please pay attention to two words while you're listening. Remembrance.

Wang Fei: 在英国，每年的11月11日是 Remembrance Day 阵亡将士纪念日。

Wang Fei: 纪念，怀念。

Rob: And fallen.

Wang Fei: 倒下的，牺牲的。

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Woman: Just to remember people that sort of, died in the war. Erm, my Nan lost her sister in the war so, you know, that sort of thing.

Man: Well, first of all in great remembrance of those who’ve fallen I’m very, very proud to wear it.

Woman: It means – to me personally – it's in relation to my grandfather, who was also military and who's passed away. And, who came out of the military before he died, but was very heavily involved in World War Two and so for me that's what I remember particularly.

Rob: The first female interviewee said it's to remember people who died in the war. And the male interviewee said it's in great remembrance of those who've fallen. Their meanings are really the same.

Wang Fei: Those who've fallen. 是指那些倒下的、牺牲的将士。

Rob: Now, remembrance Day was set to commemorate the soldiers who died in the First World War. But now it's to remember all the people who were killed during wars in the past and present.

I think it's just important to have to recall what happened so we don't make the same mistake in the future.

Interviewee

Wang Fei: But Rob, why do people choose poppies as a symbol of Remembrance Day?

Rob: Well, in the First World War, hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium. It was a horrible scene. Later, across the battlefields, red poppy flowers bloomed. The red colour of the poppy is a symbol of the bloodshed of the soldiers and this is also why people choose poppies as a symbol of Remembrance Day.

Wang Fei: 比利时的弗兰德斯，是第一次世界大战时最残酷的战场之一。后来在这些最残酷的战场上，遍地开满了红色的罂粟花。所以人们选择罂粟花来代表 Remembrance Day. 下面我们继续听另外一个录音，听一听这位被采访者是如何认为 Remembrance Day 对现代社会的影响的。

Rob: Now pay attention a phrase while you are listening: there are ripples of it.

Wang Fei: Ripple 涟漪、波纹。There are ripples of it. 到现在还留有余波。

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Woman: It's the First World War. I mean, it affects everyone, it affects everyone today too, so I don't know, there are ripples of it in the 21st century and I think it's just important to have to recall what happened so we don't make the same mistake in the future.

Rob: She said the First World War still affects everyone today and there are ripples of it.

Wang Fei: 她说第一次世界大战对现在仍然有影响。

Rob: She thinks it's important to recall what happened in the past so we don't make the same mistakes in the future.

Wang Fei: 她认为回忆和反思过去发生的战争很重要，希望人们将来不要重犯同样的错误。

I remember it vividly, when I was a child, being very, very moved by the services, and still am to this day.

Interviewee

Rob: On Remembrance Sunday, there are many ceremonies held in Britain to commemorate soldiers who've died in wars.

Wang Fei: Remembrance Sunday, 阵亡将士纪念星期日。是离 Remembrance Day 最近的星期日。在这一天会有很多的纪念活动。其中规模最大的是国家纪念活动，national ceremony.

Rob: Yes, and every year at 11 o'clock in the morning on Remembrance Sunday we have a two-minute silence.

Wang Fei: A two-minute silence, 两分钟默哀。 在节目的结尾，我们将一起听到Remembrance Sunday national ceremony 上大本钟的钟声和礼炮的声音，您还能听到一位英国人对 Remembrance Day ceremony 的描述。

Rob: I hope this programme has helped you understand more about Remembrance Day in Britain. Bye bye for now.

Wang Fei: 听众朋友再会。

[Big Ben chimes accompanied by gun firing]

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Man: It means an awful lot personally. I remember it vividly, when I was a child, being very, very moved by the services, and still am to this day. Something very, very special, something very, very, almost British about it.