词汇掌故:父亲节

    And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
    现在是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目时间。

    Every year, the United States celebrates Father's Day on the third Sunday in June. Other countries such as Britain, Canada, India, Ireland, Mexico also celebrate fathers on this Sunday in June.
    每年6月的第三个周日,美国人都会庆祝父亲节。英国、加拿大、印度、爱尔兰和墨西哥等国家也在6月的这个周日庆祝父亲节。

    But some countries choose to celebrate fathers at other times of the year. In Australia, Father's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in September. In Norway, Sweden, and Finland, the holiday falls on the second Sunday in November.
    但是有些国家选择在一年中的其它时间庆祝父亲节。澳大利亚在9月的第一个周日庆祝父亲节。在挪威、瑞典和芬兰,父亲节是在11月的第二个周日。

    In countries with strong a Roman Catholic tradition -- for example, Italy, Spain, and Portugal -- Father's Day falls on March 19. That is the main feast day of a religious holiday honoring Saint Joseph. He was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
    在具有浓厚罗马天主教传统的国家(例如意大利、西班牙和葡萄牙),父亲节是3月19日。这是一个纪念圣若瑟的重要宗教节日。他是圣母玛丽的丈夫。

    And China celebrates Father's Day on August 8 – the eighth day in the eighth month of the year. Why on that day, you may ask? The word in Chinese for "eight" is ba and two of them -- ba ba -- is a term for "father" in Chinese.
    而中国在8月8日庆祝父亲节,也就是一年中第8个月的第8天。你可能会问,为什么是这天呢?这是因为“eight”对应的中文是8,两个8连起来读就是爸爸。

    Regardless of when or even if your country holds Father's Day, today we will celebrate fathers around the world with a father-related expression:
    无论你所在的国家何时,甚至是否过父亲节,今天我们都将以一句跟父亲相关的表达来赞美世界各地的父亲,这句话就是:

    Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.
    成功有很多爸爸,而失败是个孤儿。

    The phrase has this meaning: People are often quick to connect themselves to successful events and distance themselves from failed ones.
    这句话的意思是:人们通常会很快将自己与成功的事件联系起来,而与失败的失败的事件保持距离。

    So you can use this expression when talking about people wanting to be close to success or far away from failure.
    因此在谈论人们希望接近成功或是疏远失败时,就可以用到这句表达。

    Here is an example.
    以下是一个例子。

    Let us say you are working hard on a risky business project. There is a good chance that it could fail. For that reason, other people do not want to help you. They keep their distance. So, you are forced to work by yourself. Finally, you complete the project, and over time, it becomes a huge success.
    假设你正在努力做一个有风险的业务项目。它很可能会失败。因此很多人不想帮你。他们保持着距离。因此,你不得不自己努力。最后你完成了这个项目,随着时间推移,它取得了巨大的成功。

    So, you decide to throw a celebration party. Now, some of the people who thought it would fail come to your party. They want to be close to you and your successful project. They may say things like, "I knew you could do it." or "I had a feeling this was a great idea!"
    所以你决定举行一场庆祝晚会。现在,一些认为它会失败的人参加了你的聚会。他们想要接近你以及你的项目。他们可能会说,“我就知道你能行。”或者“我之前就觉得这是个好主意。”

    You can say to them, "Yes, success has many fathers..."
    你可以跟他们说,“是的,成功有很大父亲......”

    You don't even need to say the whole phrase. They should understand the insult.
    你甚至不用说出这整句话。他们应该能理解这种侮辱。

    Several websites claim that the man who first used this phrase was an Italian diplomat named Count Caleazzo Ciano. He was married to a daughter of Benito Mussolini, Italy's leader during World War II.
    有些网站称,最早使用这句话的是一位名为加莱阿佐·齐亚诺的意大利外交官。他娶了二战期间意大利领导人墨索里尼的女儿。

    In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy popularized this saying. Kennedy used the expression in a speech when he announced the failure of the U.S.-supported Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Perhaps some people wanted to distance themselves from the failed invasion. But Kennedy, as Commander in Chief, could not. He changed a few words, but the meaning is still the same.
    1961年,美国总统肯尼迪让这句话流行了开来。肯尼迪在宣布美国支持的猪湾入侵古巴行动失败的讲话中用到了这句表达。也许有些人想要跟这次失败的入侵行动撇清关系。但是作为美国三军总司令的肯尼迪却逃不掉。他把这句话改动了几个字,但是含义没变。

    Here is part of his 1961 address to the American people.
    以下是他1961年向美国人发表的演讲的部分内容。

    "There's an old saying that victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan. I've said as much as I feel can be usefully said by me in regard to the events of the past few days. Further statements, detailed discussions, are not to conceal responsibility, because I'm the responsible officer of the government, but merely because I, and that is quite obvious, but merely because I do not believe that such a discussion would benefit us during the present difficult situation."
    “老话说,胜利有100个好爹,失败却是个孤儿(打了胜仗都会来邀功,打输了就都躲远远的。)关于几天前的事件,我觉得我能说的也都说了。进一步声明、详细讨论都不是逃避责任,因为我是这届政府的首脑,但是很明显,这不过是因为我认为这样的讨论在当前这种困难局面中不会给我们带来什么好处。”

    That was former president John F. Kennedy expanding on the phrase, Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.
    前总统肯尼迪引申了成功有很多好爹,失败却是个孤儿这句话。

    And that is Words and Their Stories for Father's Day. Until next time. I'm Anna Matteo.
    以上就是本期词汇掌故节目的全部内容。下次节目见。我是安娜·马特奥。(51VOA.COM原创翻译,禁止转载,违者必究!)