Holiday lights showing the 12 days of Christmas decorate Regent Street in London.
展示圣诞节12天的节日彩灯装饰着伦敦摄政街。
During the holiday season, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is heard everywhere from shopping malls to television commercials to church functions. Everywhere you go, you can hear about Two Turtle Doves, Seven Swans-a-Swimming and Eleven Pipers Piping. But what does any of this mean? What does a song about doves, hens and geese have to do with Christmas?
在节日期间，从购物中心到电视广告再到教堂活动，到处都能听到《圣诞节的十二天》。无论你走到哪里，你都能听到《两只斑鸠》、《七只天鹅游泳》和《十一个风笛手吹笛》。但这意味着什么呢?一首关于鸽子、母鸡和鹅的歌和圣诞节有什么关系?
The carol has its roots in 18th-century England, as a memory-and-forfeit game sung by British children. In the game, players had to remember all of the previous verses and add a new verse at the end. Those unable to remember a verse paid a forfeit, in the form of a kiss or a piece of candy to the others.
这首颂歌起源于18世纪的英国，是英国儿童唱的一种记忆与惩罚游戏。在游戏中，玩家必须记住之前所有的诗句，并在最后添加一个新的诗句。那些不能记住一节经文的人要付出代价，以亲吻或给其他人一块糖果的形式。
One theory, however, connects the carol to the era when Catholicism was outlawed in England, from 1558 and 1829. The carol, it is said, was a catechism song for Catholics to learn "the tenets of their faith," as they could not openly practice in Anglican society.While many still hold the idea of a coded hymn to be true, there's no substantive evidence that this was the case, nor is there any evidence that the verses contain anything uniquely Catholic.
然而，有一种理论将这首颂歌与1558年至1829年天主教在英国被取缔的时代联系起来。据说，这首颂歌是一首教理问答歌曲，供天主教徒学习“他们信仰的信条”，因为他们不能在圣公会社会公开实践。虽然许多人仍然认为编码赞美诗的想法是正确的，但没有实质性的证据证明这是事实，也没有任何证据表明这些诗句包含任何独特的天主教内容。
Here are the verses of the song, along with their supposed symbolism:
以下是这首歌的诗句，以及它们被认为的象征意义:
- A Partridge in a Pear Tree - Jesus Christ 梨树上的鹧鸪-耶稣基督
- Two Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testaments 两只鸠-旧约和新约
- Three French Hens - The three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity 三只法国母鸡-信念，希望和慈善的三种美德
- Four Calling/Collie Birds - Four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 四种召唤/柯利鸟-四部福音书，马太，马可，路加和约翰
- Five Golden Rings - First five books of the Old Testament 五只金戒指——旧约的前五本书
- Six Geese-a-Laying - Six days of creation before God's rest on the seventh day 六只鹅-上帝在第七天休息前的六天创造
- Seven Swans-a-Swimming - Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit 七只天鹅游泳-圣灵的七份礼物
- Eight Maids-a-Milking - Eight Beatitudes 八个挤奶女工-八福
- Nine Ladies Dancing - Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit 九个跳舞的女士-圣灵的九个果实
- Ten Lords-a-Leaping - Ten Commandments 十跳神——十诫
- Eleven Pipers Piping - Eleven faithful disciples 十一个风笛手-十一个忠实的门徒
- Twelve Drummers Drumming -Twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed 十二鼓手打鼓-使徒信经中的十二点信仰
While these verses are what most of us associate with the "Twelve Days of Christmas," the phrase refers to an actual 12-day period. The 12 days of Christmas, in fact, are the days from Dec. 25, celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ, to the Epiphany, celebrated on Jan. 6 as the day when the manifestation of Christ's glory was realized.
虽然这些诗句是我们大多数人与“圣诞节的十二天”联系在一起的，但这个短语指的是一个实际的12天的时期。事实上，圣诞节的12天是从12月25日庆祝耶稣基督的诞生，到1月6日庆祝主显节，这一天是基督荣耀的显现实现。
While sects of Christianity celebrate the 12 days of Christmas differently, certain ones, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, consider the Epiphany to be the most important day of the Christmas season. Some exchange gifts on each of the 12 days instead of only on Christmas day.
虽然基督教各教派以不同的方式庆祝圣诞节的12天，但某些教派，如东正教，认为主显节是圣诞节中最重要的一天。有些人在12天里每天都交换礼物，而不是只在圣诞节那天。
What are some other unique customs certain sects of Christianity have in celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas? How did these days come into existence? Find out next.
在庆祝圣诞节的十二天里，基督教的某些教派还有什么其他独特的习俗?这些日子是怎么产生的?下面就来看看。
The Meaning of the 12 Days of Christmas 圣诞节12天的意义
Metropolitan Venediktos of Philadelphia (in Amman, Jordan) leads a few thousand Orthodox Christian pilgrims in attendance as they celebrate the Epiphany. Every year, Christians gather at the Jordan River, at the site believed to be where Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist.
费城的大都会Venediktos(在约旦安曼)带领几千名东正教朝圣者参加他们庆祝主显节。每年，基督徒都聚集在约旦河，那里被认为是拿撒勒人耶稣接受施洗约翰洗礼的地方。
Christmas Day is the first of the 12 days of Christmas. The period is viewed by Christians as the amount of time it took the three magi, or wise men, to travel to Bethlehem for the Epiphany, the revelation of Jesus Christ as the savior and the son of God ("epiphany" is from the Greek word for "revelation").
圣诞节是圣诞节12天中的第一天。在基督徒看来，这段时间是三位博士(或智者)前往伯利恒参加主显节的时间，主显节是耶稣基督作为救世主和上帝之子的启示(“主显节”来自希腊语，意为“启示”)。
While there's a consensus on what Christmas commemorates, what the Epiphany honors varies between churches and cultures. Some churches believe it's the day of Christ's baptism, while others celebrate it as the day the three magi visited Jesus with gifts.
虽然人们对圣诞节纪念什么有共识，但主显节的荣誉因教堂和文化而异。一些教堂认为这是基督受洗的日子，而另一些教堂则庆祝这一天是三位博士带着礼物拜访耶稣的日子。
But there are also differences on when the 12 days are celebrated. Western churches, for example, celebrate Christmas on the Dec. 25, the Epiphany on the Jan. 6, and the period in between as the 12 days and nights of Christmas. Other cultures, however, have different customs.
但在庆祝12天的时间上也有不同。例如，西方教堂在12月25日庆祝圣诞节，在1月6日庆祝主显节，在这两者之间的时间被称为圣诞节的12天和12夜。然而，其他文化有不同的习俗。
Although most in the Eastern Orthodox Church now adhere to the Western calendar, those in the Greek Orthodox Church still use a different religious calendar, celebrating Christmas on Jan. 7, and the Epiphany on Jan. 19. Some Latin-American cultures celebrate the Epiphany as Three Kings Day, giving gifts on Jan. 6 instead of Christmas. Other cultures will give one gift per day from Christmas to the Epiphany. This tradition has never really caught on in America, where the celebration of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is most common.
尽管大多数东正教教徒现在都遵循西方历法，但希腊东正教教徒仍然使用不同的宗教历法，他们在1月7日庆祝圣诞节，在1月19日庆祝主显节。一些拉丁美洲文化庆祝主显节为三王节，在1月6日而不是圣诞节赠送礼物。在其他文化中，从圣诞节到主显节，每天都会送一份礼物。这一传统从未真正在美国流行起来，在美国，平安夜和圣诞节的庆祝活动是最常见的。
The Twelfth Night, often celebrated on the night of Jan. 5, is considered the end of the Christmas season, before the Epiphany the following day. The Twelfth Night was a time for feasting in England (partly inspired by Shakespeare's play of the same name) in centuries past. Some cultures, like the French and Spanish, celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany with a king cake, a coffee cake with purple, green and yellow icing to commemorate the visit by the magi to the Christ child. In western cultures, the king cake is associated with Mardi Gras, and the season of Carnival. Churches also vary in their celebration of the Epiphany; some Protestant churches celebrate it for an entire season, lasting until the season of Lent, while many Catholics celebrate it as a single day.
通常在1月5日晚上庆祝的第十二夜，被认为是圣诞节的结束，在第二天的主显节之前。-在过去的几个世纪里，第十二夜是英国的盛宴(部分灵感来自莎士比亚的同名戏剧)。一些文化，如法国和西班牙，用国王蛋糕来庆祝主显节，国王蛋糕是一种咖啡蛋糕，上面有紫色、绿色和黄色的糖衣，以纪念东方三博士拜访耶稣。在西方文化中，国王蛋糕与狂欢节有关。教堂也有不同的主显节庆祝活动;一些新教教堂庆祝它的整个季节，一直持续到大斋节，而许多天主教徒庆祝它作为一个单一的一天。
But just because the song is associated with the holiday season, that doesn't mean you can't sing it the rest of the year.
但仅仅因为这首歌与假期有关，并不意味着你不能在一年中的其他时间里唱这首歌。
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