春風(fēng)三月弄紙鳶

孫　琴

柳條搓線絮搓棉，搓夠千尋放紙鳶。

消得春風(fēng)多少力，帶將兒輩上春天。

——明代書畫家徐渭

陽春三月：細柳如絲，燕語如歌。我們用什么來襯托這無限春光？對于中國人來說，莫過于風(fēng)箏了?？吹剿?，就仿佛看到春天在地朝我們走來。但是您知道中華的先人們是如何發(fā)明風(fēng)箏的嗎？請同我一起來追尋風(fēng)箏（紙鳶）的淵源吧……

engzheng is a kind of folk toy as well as a handicraft. It is made from slender slips of bamboo as the frame with thin paper plastered and a long thread to fly with. It flies into the sky with wind.

風(fēng)箏也許是最流行的一種民間手工藝品了。它不僅沒有隨歷史的沉積而消亡，反而隨時間的推移，更受國人青睞。小小的風(fēng)箏如何會有這種魔力呢？

However, Fengzheng in its earliest stage1 did not look like what we see today, and it was not invented for amusement. It is said that Lu Ban was the inventor, who lived in the Spring and Autumn Period2(770-476 B. C.). Enlightened3 from the sparrow hawk spiraling in the sky, Lu Ban made one with bamboo and called it “bamboo sparrow”, which was said to have remained “flying in the air for three days”. This was actually the earliest Fengzheng. Fengzheng in its earliest stage did not look like what we see today.

早期的風(fēng)箏并不是如今呈現(xiàn)在我們面前的輕巧樣子，而是沉重的竹鷂或木鷂。它的發(fā)明者是木工的鼻祖——魯班。據(jù)《鴻書》記載：魯班曾制作過木鳶，曰：“公輸班制木鳶以窺宋城”。聰明的魯班以鳥為形，削竹為料，制造成了“上天三日而不下”的風(fēng)箏的雛形。

When paper was invented, it replaced bamboo to make a lighter Fengzheng, which was named “paper bird” at that time. According to historical records, emperor Liangwu of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589 A. D.) used a Fengzheng to send his message4 for help when he was besieged in a city.

造紙術(shù)的發(fā)明也帶來了風(fēng)箏的革命，一種更輕的紙風(fēng)箏被發(fā)明出來，稱為紙鳶。

這期間，還有一段傳奇故事：據(jù)史書記載，在南北朝，梁武帝被侯景圍困于臺城（現(xiàn)南京雞鳴山南），就是通過風(fēng)箏把救援信送出城外。

In the Song Dynasty (960-1270 A. D.), people loaded fire powder on Fengzheng to assault the enemies by tying a piece of kindling incense5 on the fuse6 and flying it into the sky above the enemy camp, where it exploded and caused chaos. Then they took the advantage7 to launch an attack and defeated the enemy. It is thus evident that Fengzheng was originally made for military use.

在宋代時，人們更用風(fēng)箏屢創(chuàng)奇招。他們在風(fēng)箏上裝上火藥，去突襲敵人。方法是在導(dǎo)火線上綁上一段燃著的香火，并且將風(fēng)箏放到敵營上空，趁燃燒爆炸，造成混亂，然后突襲敵軍。大家看，古代軍用的風(fēng)箏和如今的燃燒彈是不是有異曲同工之處呢？看來風(fēng)箏的淵源起于軍事。

It was from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A. D.) on that Fengzheng gradually became a toy for entertainment. But at that time, this entertainment was limited to the children of nobility and the rich. Getting bored with the silent Fengzheng, they tied a bamboo whistle on it. When they flew Fengzheng in the air, the wind blew the whistle and made a sound much like that produced by zheng(an ancient musical instrument), which was very pleasant to the ear. People then vividly named it Fengzheng (wind musical instrument).

在全唐盛日，四海升平，一直被用于軍事上的紙鳶，隨著傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日清明的興起，開始向民間娛樂型轉(zhuǎn)化， 逐漸成為娛樂的玩具。但是風(fēng)箏還只是有錢人家的子弟的玩具。因為他們對風(fēng)箏鴉雀無聲地在空中飛行感到厭煩，就在風(fēng)箏上系一個竹哨。在空中，風(fēng)入竹哨，發(fā)出如“古箏”般的聲音。這就是風(fēng)箏名稱的由來。唐代詩人高驕曾有“夜靜弦聲響碧空，官商信任往來風(fēng)。”“依稀似曲方堪聽，又被風(fēng)吹別調(diào)中”等詠風(fēng)箏詩句。

Only after the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 A.D.) was paper Fengzheng increasingly made, and from then on it turned from the entertainment for the rich into a popular one among the ordinary people.

在宋代，變成大眾化的普通流行玩具。到了清朝，風(fēng)箏更發(fā)展成一門藝術(shù)。曹雪芹就是一位制宮廷樣式風(fēng)箏的高手，他還將放風(fēng)箏的情景寫進了《紅樓夢》里。

讀了風(fēng)箏發(fā)展的曲折歷史，您是否感到小巧的風(fēng)箏背后有許多故事和傳奇呢？陽春三月間輕飏的風(fēng)箏正是我們對春天的期盼，但愿風(fēng)箏“消得春風(fēng)多少力，帶將兒輩上春天?！?/p>

1． stage：除了表示“舞臺；講臺”外，還有“（發(fā)展等的）時期、階段”的意思。如文中的fengzheng in its earliest stage 最初的風(fēng)箏。另外我們常說的：“處在關(guān)鍵時期”，就可以表達成：to be at a crucial stage。

2. the Spring and Autumn Period：春秋時期，指公元前770~前476年中國各諸侯國爭霸的時代。戰(zhàn)國時期則是：the Warring States Period 。

3． enlighten： lighten是“照亮”，前綴en- 則表示“置于……中”，兩者合在一起，很形象生動地描繪了“一個在蒙昧中的人被知識喚醒的過程”。所以enlighten就是“啟發(fā)、教化”的意思。你看，合成詞是不是很容易記憶呢？

4． message：這是一個用途很廣泛的詞，基本作“信息、電報”講。在打電話中我們常用leave a message留個口信，take a message 記下留言。而a message of greeting （a congratulatory message）則表示“賀電”。

5． incense：香料在英語中的說法可謂多樣。incense是“（供神焚燒的）香，香料”；perfume則著重“香水，香料”；flavoring是“調(diào)味料，佐料，香料”，aromatic 是“芳香之物，香料”。我們仿佛是生活在一片香氣之中。

6． fuse：在這里是“導(dǎo)火線”的意思，它還可指“保險絲”。

7． take the advantage: 是“利用好機會，某事等”。常用詞組take the advantage of sth.例如：We took advantage of weather to go on a hike. 我們趁著好天氣去遠足。