苏说文化二十四节气之惊蛰（英文版）

惊蛰

如果让你来描绘春天到来的景象，你将怎样着笔？对中国人来说，只需要两个字——惊蛰。意思是当第一声春雷响起，冬眠的动物被惊醒破土而出。惊蛰是春天到来最直观的标志，这一天也是中国二十四节气之一。

If you are asked to describe the coming spring season what you are going to write down? For the Chinese the answer lies in only two words---Jingzhe. Jingzhe means that the first spring thunder awakens hibernating （hibernate vi. 过冬；（动物）冬眠） insects. As one of the 24 solar terms in China Jingzhe heralds （herald vt.是（某事）的前兆；预示） the advent （advent n. （重要事件、人物、发明等的）出现，到来） of the spring.

“惊”意为惊醒，而“蛰”则表示动物蛰伏地下冬眠。 “惊蛰”两字，着笔于动物对气候变化的反应，形象的勾画出一幅春回大地的景象，简单的笔墨颇得中国诗画写意的精髓。对于通晓中文的人来说，看到“惊蛰”二字，仿佛春天就在眼前。

“Jing” means awakening and “zhe” means underground hibernating insects. With an eye on animals’ reactions to seasonal changes, Jingzhe vividly depicts （depict vt. 描绘；绘画） an image of the returning spring season. It reminds us of the simplicity and beauty of Chinese poems and paintings. In the eyes of anyone who knows Chinese, the two words Jing and Zhe present them an image of the coming spring season.

当然实际上，唤醒冬眠动物的并非春雷声，而是日渐回暖的气温，这一时节除却塞北还是一片银装素裹的冬日景观，中国大部分地区气温都回升至零度以上。

What awakens hibernating animals, however, is not the spring thunder but the rising temperature. Jingzhe witnesses the temperature rising above 0°C in most parts of China although the northern side of the Great Wall is still blanketed with winter snow.

随着惊蛰的到来，春来的脚步也一日比一日紧凑，春天的景象次第在眼前铺陈。人们将惊蛰时节分为三段时期，称为“三候”（候，古代人把五天称为“一候”，现在气象学上仍然沿用：候温，每五天的平均气温。）。在中国人看来，每一“候”都有不同的生机：“一候”时桃花初绽，大地开始有了鲜艳的颜色；“二候”时鸟类的鸣叫声渐多；“三候”时春意盎然，鸟类开始进入求偶的季节。

Jingzhe witnesses the time that the spring season comes at a faster pace. During this period amazing changes of the spring season unfold one after another. People tend to divide the solar term Jingzhe into three pentads. In the eyes of the Chinese, different lives blossom in each pentad （pentad n. 五，五个一组）of Jingzhe. The first pentad is a time when peach flowers bloom and vegetation gradually covers the land. During the second pentad people start to hear the tweets（tweet n. 小鸟叫声） from an increasing number of birds. When the third pentad comes the spring season will be in its full swing, a time that the birds embrace their courtship season.