Unit 13 Creating a Caribbean Spring Festival

1. Unit 13 Creating a Caribbean Spring Festival

2. Teaching Arrangement • Pre-reading task • Background • Analyzing the text in detail • Exercises

3. Pre-reading task • 1. List at least three things that your family always do to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. • 2. Are there any differences between the ways city people and people in the country celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year?

4. Background • The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of North America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America.

5. Analyzing the text in detail • I remember when I was little; right before the Lunar New Year we'd make an offering to the Kitchen God. Mom always told us not to jabber, and that we should eat some sweets, so as to speak some sweet words. There should be no fighting or disturbances so as not to cause the Kitchen God to report unfavorably on our family to the Jade Emperor in Heaven. Before New Year's Eve, Mom had already started the busy process of making New Year foods like steamed buns, both stuffed and plain. Meanwhile Dad prepared the New Year couplet. The whole family took part in a big New Year house cleaning. The family was as busy as could be. The big streets and hidden alleys of my hometown were swarming with people at this time of the year. Shop fronts were piled up with all sorts of foods and gifts appropriate for the New Year' s holiday. Last but not least, one of my happiest memories was of the New Year's dinner and especially of the money handed out to us kids in red envelopes. As a kid the New Year was a joyous time with all sorts of treats. I left my hometown when I was twelve years old and in a flash more than twenty years have passed. My memories, however, not only have not diminished, they've actually got fresher. Para 2

6. Lunar New Year • Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. It is an important holiday in East Asia. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival.

7. Kitchen God • In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God, named Zao Jun or Zao Shen， is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods (gods of courtyards, wells, doorways, etc.). It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang) who rewards or punishes each household accordingly.

8. Jade Emperor • The Jade Emperor，is the Taoist ruler of Heaven and all realms of existence below including that of Man and Hell according to a version of Taoist mythology. He is one of the most important gods of the Chinese Taoist pantheons.

9. New Year couplet

10. swarm v.swarmed,swarming,swarms v.intr. To move or emerge in a swarm. To leave a hive as a swarm. Used of bees. To move or gather in large numbers. To be overrun; teem: • a riverbank swarming with insects. v.tr.To fill with a crowd: • sailors swarming the ship's deck.

11. diminish • v.intr. • To become smaller or less，decrease • diminish the cost of production 减小生产成本 • He likes to diminish the skill of others. 他喜欢贬低别人的技术。 • His illness diminished his strength. 他的病削弱了他的体力。

12. Last year I followed my husband to the Caribbean island of French Guadeloupe. It has a population of 390 000 people and an area of 1 200 square kilometers. It was here that my husband and I spent the most miserable New Year of our life, eating sausage sent from Mom and Dad that had mildewed after being detained in customs for too long. We cried in each other's arms. This year I suddenly had a brainstorm. Why couldn't I, in this place devoid of Chinese people, foods, and thus the New Year spirit, recreate the New Year of my youth? Para 3

13. mildew n. Any of various fungi that form a superficial, usually whitish growth on plants and various organic materials. • powdery mildew 白粉病, 白粉菌 • wheat mildew 小麦霉 v.t/i mildewed, mildewing,mildews To affect or become affected with mildew.

14. devoid adj. Completely lacking; destitute or empty: • a novel devoid of wit and inventiveness. 一部缺乏创意和情趣的小说 • be devoid of common sense缺乏常识 • A well devoid of water is useless . 无水的井没有用途。

15. Taking advantage of a business trip with my husband's, I went to French Guinea where I was able to pick up a few Chinese foods and Indian spices. Afterwards I went to my friends, I also wrote a translation in French. I also asked an English friend of mine to fold the red paper into envelopes to prepare the Lunar New Year money for the children. Para 4

16. red envelopes • In Chinese society, a red envelope or red packet (Known as Hong Bao in Mandarin, Ang Pao in Hokkien and Lai See in Cantonese) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions.

17. The day we had been waiting for finally arrived. On the third day of the New Year, a Sunday, a group of over 60 adults and children got together to celebrate the Year of the Ox. For a gathering of people from around the world, we laid out quite a surprising spread of Chinese dishes. I made Ants on a Hill, a twisted steamed bread called hua-juan (made for the first time in my life. They looked strange and I doubt a  "real" Chinese would have eaten them), and boiled salted chicken. Our French friends provided kung-pao chicken, stewed pork in brown sauce and Cantonese fried rice. Our  Japanese friends brought sushi and a raw fish salad. Our Indian friends provided five  spice spareribs and oyster sauce beef. Our Vietnamese friends provided Vietnamese  sausage and small moon cakes, while our English friends provided all sorts of delicious cakes. Those who didn't know how to cook Chinese dishes brought French red wine and champagne. We specially prepared some red cards to identify, in Chinese and French, every dish on the table. My friends discovered that the name of the traditional ants on a hill is just a fanciful one. The dishes we had laboured over disappear in  less than a half hour. Para 5

18. Strategies for Translating Chinese Dish Names • Concerning the cultural disparities, the translator should adopt the proper strategies so as to make his versionmore understandable and acceptable. Literal translation • Literal translation is a strategy frequently used in translating Chinese dish names. When the target readerunderstands the information in the source text easily and clearly, the dish names may be translated literally.Most of the Chinese dishes are named after cooking methods, cooking utensils, ingredients, etc., the dishnames may be translated word-by-word. We may divide the dish names into several categories:

19. concerning boiling (煮) • Boiling includes instant boiling (即煮即食) and quick boiling (快煮). Hot pot belongs to instant boiling.Quick boiling means pouring the boiled soup on the utensil with food or pouring the food into boiled water andthen heating it, using small fire. For example: • 盐水虾 --- boiled shrimps with shell in salt water • 煮羊腿 --- boiled leg of mutton • 葱油白鸡 --- boiled chicken with scallions • 涮羊肉 --- instant boiled mutton • 汆鲫鱼萝卜丝 --- quick boiled crucian carp with shredded turnip;

20. concerning stewing (煲、炖、焖) • Stewing usually means cooking fish, meat, vegetables etc. slowly in simmering water, gravy or mixedingredients in a closed container. For instance: • 甲鱼裙边煨肥猪肉--- stewed calipash and calipee with fat pork • 虾仁扒豆腐 --- stewed shelled shrimps and tofu • 鱼圆烧海参 --- stewed sea cucumbers with fish balls • 炖栗子鸡 --- stewed chicken with chestnuts and green pepper • 烧青衣鱼头 --- stewed green wrasse head;

21. Concerning braising (烧) and braising with soy sauce (红烧) • Braising refers to cooking meat or vegetables slowly with gravy or other soup in a closed container until themeat turns brown. • 干烧四季豆 --- braised green bean • 鱼香茄子 --- braised egg plant • 鸡翼鲍鱼片 --- braised abalone with chicken wings • 辣味烩虾 --- braised prawns with chili sauce • 烧元鱼 --- braised soft-shelled turtle • 红烧牛尾 --- braised ox tail with brown sauce;

22. concerning frying (油炸) • Cooking something in boiling fat or oil is called frying, which may be divided into pan-frying (煎),stir-frying (炒), quick-frying (爆), deep-frying (炸), frying and simmering (扒), twice-cooked stir-frying (回锅).Deep frying includes dry deep-frying (干炸), soft deep-frying (软炸) and crisp deep-frying (脆炸). • 煎明虾 --- fried prawns with shell in gravy • 炒猪腰片 --- fried sliced pig’s kidney • 葱牛肉丝 --- fried shredded beef with onion • 炸桂鱼 --- fried mandarin fish • 炝丝田鸡 --- fried frogs with ginger • 香煎银雪鱼 --- pan-fried cod fish in soya sauce • 芫爆鳝鱼丝 --- stir-fried eel slices with Chinese pickles

23. concerning baking (烘烤), broiling or grilling (铁烧), roasting (烧烤) • Baking means cooking (food) by dry heat in an oven or on a hot surface, without direct exposure to a flame: grilling---cooking (food) under a grill or on a gridiron; roasting---cooking (food, esp. meat) in an oven or by exposure to open heat. • 烤乳猪--- roast suckling pig • 烧焗鸡肝--- roast chicken liver • 铁扒小笋鸡--- grilled spring chicken • 奶油烧鱼柳--- grilled fish with butter sauce;

24. concerning steaming (蒸) • By steaming, it is meant that the food is cooked in steam. It’s a frequently used cooking method. • 清蒸糟青鱼--- steamed black carp with wine • 清蒸瓤馅银鱼--- steamed stuffed silvery carp • 荷叶粉蒸肉--- steamed flour-coated pork wrapped in lotus leaves;

25. concerning smoking (熏) • Smoking means preserving (meat, fish, etc.) with smoke (from wood fires) to give a spec ial taste. • 熏鲑鱼--- smoked salmon • 熏猪心--- smoked pig’s heart • 熏灌肠--- smoked sausage;

26. concerning scalding (白灼) • Put the slices, shreds or pieces of ingredients in seasoned boiling water. Boil them for an instant. This method • is called scalding. • 白灼明虾--- scalded prawns • 白灼海螺片--- scalded sliced conch.

27. After dinner, we announced that it was time to give out the red envelopes and  explained that when one' s mother and father hands them to one, one should always  kneel down and kow-tow. Who would have guessed that when I brought out a platter  of red envelopes the children would kneel and kow-tow to me? I pulled them up quickly and explained again that they needed to kneel to their own parents. My husband commented that it was the first time he had seen with his own eyes the power of the Red  Envelope. Para 6

28. kneel v.intr. knelt/ kneeled kneeling, kneels To go down or rest on one or both knees. • Everyone in church knelt in prayer. 教堂里每个人都跪着祈祷。

29. On Guadeloupe getting things done takes time, but news travels fast. After our New Year celebration various organizations on the island approached us one after another to request our "husband and wife association" to give a talk on Chinese culture  in a discussion group. We who had lived outside China for so many years felt that our  shaky knowledge of Chinese culture would show us up for fake Chinese. So we started reading Chinese newspapers and magazines in order to catch up on our motherland. 课文参考译文

30. Chinese culture • The Culture of China (Chinese: 中國文化) is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex civilizations covering a history of starting from the Jiahu culture (7000 BCE to 6600 BCE). The nation covers a large geographical region with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces. Chinese culture (Chinese: 中華文化) is a broad term used to describe the cultural foundation, even among Chinese-speaking regions outside of mainland China.

31. shaky adj. shakier,shakiest Trembling or quivering; tremulous: • a shaky voice 颤抖的嗓音 Lacking soundness or sturdiness, as of construction: • a shaky table 不稳固的桌子 Not to be depended on; precarious: • a shaky alliance 不可靠的联盟 Wavering in firmness: • a shaky belief 动摇的信仰 Open to question or doubt: • shaky evidence 可疑的证据

32. Exercises • Translation 1.她把头发盘在头上，看起来很漂亮。（pile up） 2.商店里出售的箱包里塞满了纸，为的是好看。（stuff） She looks very beautiful when she piles up her hair on top of her head. The cases and bags being sold in the shops are stuffed with papers so that they look more attractive.

33. 3.考试前老师给每位学生一支铅笔，因为他们必须用铅笔答题。（hand out） 4.这栋房子里没有任何家具。（devoid） The teacher handed out a pencil to each student before the exam as the questions were to be answered in pencil. The house is totally devoid of furniture.

34. 5.他利用她的无知，骗取了她的信任。（take advantage of） 6.当黄昏来临时，小贩们就会将各色各样的商品摊在地上做买卖。（lay out） He managed to win her trust by taking advantage of her ignorance. When evening approaches, the vendors would lay out an assortment of small articles on the ground for people to buy.

35. 7.据说有人发明了一种锁，能够根据人体气味来识别它的主人。（identify）7.据说有人发明了一种锁，能够根据人体气味来识别它的主人。（identify） 8.他决心以优异的成绩来感谢老师和同学们的帮助。（in gratitude for） It is said that a new lock has been invented that can identify its owner by the smell of his or her body. In gratitude for the help of his teachers and classmates, he is determined to work hard and score highly.

36. 课文译文 一个别开生面的加勒比春节 1. 记得小时候，每到过春节前我们家总要供奉灶神。妈妈再三叮嘱我们不要乱说话，而且还让我们吃糖，说是这样就能多说些吉利的话了。我们也不能打架或者做任何有可能惊扰灶神的事。否则，到了天庭灶神就会把这些不利于我们家的情况报告给玉皇大帝。（而这会影响我家这一年的运势。） 2. 还不到除夕，妈妈老早就开始忙活着准备年饭拉，什么馒头呀、包子呀样样具全。爸爸则忙着写对联。等到大扫除那天，我们总是全家齐动员，老少皆各尽其所能。道了每年的这个时候，在我们家乡，无论是大街还是小巷全都挤满了人。商店门前堆有如一座座小山似的年货，有食品，也有五花八门的适合春节走亲访友带的礼物。最后也是最令我们这些小孩子们欢呼雀跃的要数年夜饭了，因为那时我们每人都会收到一份红包。总之，对一个孩子来说。过年是可以享受到各种优待的最好时机。离开家那年我才十二岁，如今一晃20年都过去了。然而，那些关于过年的记忆非但没有从我的脑海中淡化，反倒越发变的清晰起来。

37. 3. 去年我随丈夫来到位于法国哥德普洛地区的加勒比岛。这是一个占地1200平方公里，有着39万人口的小岛。正是在这儿，我和我的丈夫度过了一生中最辛酸的一个新年——吃的是父母寄来的，因在海关处扣押时间过长而变质的香肠，那时我们只能相拥而泣。 4. 今年我突发奇想——为什么我们不能在这个没有中国乡亲，中国年饭和缺乏春节气息的异国小岛上，重新找回儿时那种过年时快乐的感觉呢？于是趁着丈夫出差之便，我去了一趟法国的几内亚州.在那儿我买了一些中国食品和印度调料，而且买到了哥德普洛一家商店里仅剩的两张红纸。然后我便轰轰烈烈地开始发动大军，几乎给我们所有的朋友发出请贴，并请所有可以做一两道中国在菜的朋友来帮忙。我还特地从一个日本朋友那里借来了墨，用妈妈去年送我的那支毛笔写了一副对联。因为担心没有时间去向朋友们一一解释它的意思，我有用法语在旁注释了一下。我还专门让一个英国朋友将那两张红纸折成一个个信封，以便给孩子们发压岁钱时用。

38. 5. 我们满心期待的那一天终于来到。新春的第三天，是一个星期天，我们大人小孩约莫60来人欢聚一堂，共同庆祝牛年的到来。因为大家来自世界各地，我们摆出的“年饭”简直可以说是五花八门，无奇不有。我做的是“蚂蚁上山”，即 蒸“花卷”。（其实这也是我生平第一次做，它们看起来奇形怪状，我怀疑真正的中国人恐怕也没吃过我这样的花卷），还有炖鸡。我的法国朋友做了宫爆鸡丁和腊制肉。还有广东炒米。那位日本朋友弄了些素食和生鱼色拉。印度的朋友准备的是五香排骨和牦油拌牛肉。我们越南的朋友提供的是越南肥肠和小月饼。而英国的朋友们则拿来了各种法国红酒和香槟，我们还特地准备了一些红色的卡片来区分二者，当然是用汉语和法语都写一遍，以便大家辨认。朋友们一致认为我哪个所谓的“蚂蚁上山”的命名是最富想象力的一个。才不到半小时，我们做的那些东西就被一扫而光了。 • 6. 吃过饭后，我们宣布该是发压岁钱的时候了，并且声明每个从父母那里得到红包的孩子都应该先叩头。可谁也没想到，当我捧出盛满红包的大浅盘时，那些孩子们全都一拥而上纷纷跑来给我叩头了。我连忙把他们一个个扶起来，再次解释说他们应该给他们自己的父母叩头才是。我丈夫说这是他头一回亲眼目睹红包的魔力。

39. Thank you for your attention!