嫦娥奔月（其中一个版本）

changebenyue(one of the versions)

在远古的时候，天上突然出现了十个太阳。

In ancient times, ten suns suddenly appeared in the sky.

直晒得大地冒烟，老百姓实在无法生活下去了。

The sun was smoking, and the people could not live on.

有一个力大无比的英雄名叫后羿，他决心为老百姓解除这个苦难。

There was a powerful hero named Hou Yi who was determined to relieve the suffering of the people.

于是他登上昆仑山顶，运足气力，拉满神弓，一口气射下九个太阳。

So he went up to the top of Kunlun, filled his bow with strength, and shot down nine suns in one breath.

他对天上最后一个太阳说:"从今以后，你每天必须按时升起，按时落下，为民造福!"

He said to the last sun in the sky: "From now on, you must rise on time and fall on time for the benefit of the people! "

后羿为老百姓除了害，大伙儿都很敬重他。很多人拜他为师，跟他学习武艺。

After Yi for the common people, everyone respected him. Many people worshipped him as a teacher and learned martial arts from him.

有个叫逢蒙的人，为人奸诈贪婪。

There is a man called a lover, who is treacherous and greedy.

后羿的妻子嫦娥，是个美丽善良的女子。

After Yi's wife Chang E, is a beautiful and kind woman.

一天，昆仑山上的西王母送给后羿一丸仙药。

One day, the Western royal mother of Kunlun Mountain gave Houyi a pill of elixir.

据说，人吃了这种药不但能长生不老，还可以升天成仙。

It is said that people who take this medicine can not only live forever, but also ascend to heaven.

可是，后羿不愿意离开嫦娥，就让她将仙药藏了起来。

However, Hou Yi did not want to leave Chang 'E and let her hide the elixir.

这件事被逢蒙知道了，他一心想把后羿的仙药弄到手。

The matter was discovered by Feng Meng. He was bent on getting Houyi's elixir.

八月十五这天清晨，后羿带弟子出门了，逢蒙假装生病留了下来。

On the morning of August 15, Hou Yi took his disciples out and pretended to be ill.

到了晚上逢蒙手提宝剑闯进后羿家里，威逼嫦娥把仙药交出来。

In the evening, Meng Meng's hand-held sword broke into Houyi's house and forced Chang 'E to hand over the elixir.

嫦娥心里想：让这样的人吃了长生不老药，不是要害更多的人吗?

Chang E thought to himself: let such a person eat the elixir of immortality, is not the key more people?

嫦娥见逢蒙马上就要找到药，立刻疾步向前取出仙药，一口吞了下去。

Chang 'E saw that Meng was about to find the medicine immediately. He immediately took the elixir forward and swallowed it.

嫦娥吃了仙药，突然飘飘悠悠地飞了起来，她飞出了窗子，一直朝着月亮飞去。

Chang 'E took the elixir and suddenly floated up. She flew out of the window and flew all the way to the moon.

后羿外出回来，不见了妻子嫦娥，他焦急地冲出门外，只见皓月当空。

After Yi went out to return, missing his wife Chang 'E, he rushed out of the door anxiously, only saw the bright moon.

圆圆的月亮上树影婆娑，一只玉兔在树下跳来跳去。

On the round moon the shadow of the tree was dancing, and a rabbit was jumping around under the tree. And ...

妻子就站在一棵桂树旁深情地凝望着自己呢。"嫦娥!嫦娥!"后羿连声呼唤。

His wife was standing beside a Laurel tree, gazing fondly at herself. "Chang 'E! Chang 'E! " Hou Yi called out.

不顾一切地朝着月亮追去，可是他向前追三步，月亮就向后退三步，怎么也追不上。

Desperate to chase the moon, but he chased three steps forward, the moon three steps back, how can not catch up.

乡亲们很想念好心的嫦娥，在院子里摆上嫦娥平日爱吃的食品，遥遥地为她祝福。

The villagers miss the good Chang 'E very much and put Chang' E's favorite food in the yard. They bless her from afar.

从此以后，每年八月十五，就成了人们企盼团圆的中秋佳节。

Since then, August 15 every year, it has become people look forward to a reunion of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

用英语讲嫦娥奔月的故事.

Legend of Chang-Er, the Moon Goddess

The story begins around 2170 B.C. after the great flood in the Hsia dynasty. Yu, king of many kingdoms, was credited with stopping the flood, and with teaching farmers how to cultivate their fields, thus commencing a prosperous epoch.

At the same time in Heaven the Jade Emperor wished to help the farmers raise animals and cultivate their fields. He gave orders to his ten sons to become ten suns and travel across the sky one at a time, each taking one day. The ten young men disobeyed; all ten of them came out every day, and the heat from ten suns shining all at once made the earth intolerably hot. People and animals died of heat, rivers dried up, land became barren and forests scorched and burned.

The farmers prayed, giving sacrifices and burning incense to Heaven for deliverance. The Jade Emperor heard their prayers and saw the destruction caused by his sons. He sent Hou Yi, his bravest god, down to earth to solve the problem of the ten suns and end the catastrophe. Hou Yi was a good, courageous god with a beautiful wife, Chang Er. Deeply in love with each other, they were known as the Divine Couple. Chang Er didn't like the thought of going down to earth, but she was unwilling to be separated from her husband, so together they descended to earth and became mortals among the Eastern clans.

Hou Yi was a great archer and brought his magic bow from heaven with him. Knowing that Hou Yi came from heaven, the people of the clans proclaimed him to be their leader.

Seeing how much suffering and destruction were caused by the heat of the ten suns, Hou Yi climbed to the top of Tienshan mountain and began negotiating with the suns to have pity on the unfortunate people. He pleaded to the suns to take turns and make their journeys across the sky singly, one for each day, and explained the white blaze of ten suns is much too much for the land to bear. He also told them how much Heaven loves all living things.

But the ten audacious suns considered it dull and boring to go across the sky one at a time and that much more fun was to be had by coming out together, so they refused to listen. They increased their heat and caused even more suffering. This angered Hou Yi. He took out his magic bow and arrows and shot down nine of the suns; the last sun begged for his life and promised obedience at performing his task of separating night from day.

Finally the earth was at peace and people enjoyed their work and lives. However, when Hou Yi made his report to the Jade Emperor, he was furious at Hou Yi for killing his nine sons, and refused to let the Divine Couple return to Heaven.

As leader of the clans, there was much for Hou Yi to do on earth. He taught the people many ways to defend their land and themselves. He was so busy with his duties he became neglectful of his lovely and lonely wife. Chang Er was especially unhappy to be an earthly mortal with all of mortality's suffering, aging and death in particular. Also, she was angry at Hou Yi for shooting down the Jade Emperor's nine sons, and the couple became unhappy and estranged.

To avoid arguing with his wife, Hou Yi spent his time travelling about the land alone. He became familiar to its people, performing many good deeds wherever he travelled. He also killed a gigantic, 100,000-foot snake and a nine-headed monster that had caused much distress and thousands of lives. Many times he prayed to the Jade Emperor to let himself and his wife return to Heaven, but the Emperor refused his plead and so Hou Yi and Chang Er remained as mortals, suffering as ordinary human beings do.

In his travel he chanced to meet a beautiful mortal woman, Mi Fei. She was the wife of Feng Yee, the God of Water, who had a reputation as a womanizer and for ignoring his wife. Both lonelyd, Mi Fei and Hou Yi became friends and later lovers. In legend, such things never remain unpunished. When Feng Yee returned and discovered his wife's infidelity, he was furious and transformed himself into a white dragon, roaring and plunging in the water, destroying fields and killing many people. Hou Yi thought the dragon was an evil sea monster. He took up his bow and shot, blinding Feng Yee in one eye. Thereupon, the god of waters registered a complaint with the Jade Emperor. The Emperor considered all the good deeds that Hou Yi had done for the mortals, and since he was already under punishment, the Emperor merely ordered Hou Yi to go home to Chang Er and never see Mi Fei again.

Hou Yi had no choice but to return home. Chang Er was angry with him for his unfaithfulness and unhappiness came between the once "divine" couple. Hou Yi knew that he had wronged his wife and tried to soothe her, telling her that tears would make her age faster, as they were now mortals. Chang Er looked at her reflection in the water, for in those days there were no mirrors. She was terrified to see wrinkles appearing around her eyes, and demanded that Hou Yi find some way to restore her immortality.

Hou Yi was desolate and dared not stay at home, but he couldn't violate the Jade Emperorís order by going to Mi Fei. He became violent and drunk. In his drunkenness he treated the people cruelly. There were two men among the people who began to plot against him, Feng Meng and Han Cho. Both were opportunists. Han Cho told Hou Yi that the Royal Goddess resided on top of Kunlun Mountain and had a pill of immortality.

Hou Yi decided that for the saje of peace at home he would climb Kunlun Mountain and begg the Royal Goddess for the pill of immortality. The Goddess, taking pity on him, gave him her one remaining pill. She instructed Hou Yi that if one person took the pill he would ascend to Heaven, but if he cut the pill into two halves and shared it with another, they could live forever. The pill had to be taken on the 15th night of the eighth month when the moon was fullest. Hou Yi was very happy and thanked the Royal Goddess exuberantly and went home to Chang Er. They decided to divide the pill and take it at the proper time so that they could both attain immortality.

Three days before the 15th day of the eighth month, Hou Yi heard of a medicinal solution called "jade elixir" that could be found on Tienshan mountain, an elixir that could could prevent women from aging and allow them to stay eternally beautiful. Hou Yi wished to please Chang Er and resume a happy life at home, so he decided that he could make the trip in three days to obtain this wonderful medicine and to surprise his wife. He left for Tienshan immediately.

On the 15th of the eighth month, Chang Er saw no sign of Hou Yi. She waited and later grew impatient, and sought out Feng Meng the schemer and asked where her husband was. Feng Meng lied and told Chang Er that Hou Yi had gone to see Mi Fei. Chang Er believed him and became furious at her unfaithful husband. As the moon rose Chang Er went into the garden, looking up to heaven and remembering the contentment in the life of immortality and the happiness of heaven, and then she thought of the sorrows of the earth. She was confused and filled with emotion. Thinking that Hou Yi had abandoned her, she swallowed the whole pill and at once she felt her body becoming lighter, rising upwards towards the sky. At this moment Hou Yi arrived back with the jade elixir and saw Chang Er ascending faster and faster.

The gods and goddesses in heaven despised Chang Er because she had abandoned her husband. Chang Er had to change her direction and head toward the cold palace in the moon. Hou Yi watched from the earth and took out his magic bow to shoot down the moon. He aimed but he could not bear to kill his wife. Frustrated and saddened, he destroyed his magical weapons and took to drink.

Hou Yi's enemy Feng Meng watch and waited until Hou Yi was senselessly drunk, then he attacked Hou Yi then and killed him. When Chang Er arrived at the cold palace in the moon and saw how her husband had been cruelly murdered she deeply mourned what she had done. She was cut off from the happy life in heaven and committed to eternity alone in the moon, becaming the moon goddess.

Each year on the 15th day of the eighth month, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, people look at the moon and try to see in it the image of a beautiful maiden.

嫦娥奔月(chang'e Flying to the Moon)是中国古代的美丽传说。嫦娥是英雄人物后羿的妻子。在中国，嫦娥意味着月亮。源自对嫦娥的联想，中华民族对月亮有着特殊的情感，这甚至影响了中国的方方面面。了解嫦娥的遭遇后，人们在月下设香案(incense burner table),祈求嫦娥幸运、平安。因此，中秋节拜月亮的习俗在民间非常流行。后来人们还创作了其他与月亮有关的传说，如吴刚伐树、玉兔捣药。另外人们也喜欢在月饼上刻上这些故事的有趣图案。

翻译参考：

The legend Chang'e Flying to the Moon is a beautiful tale of ancient China.Chang'e was the wife of the legendary hero Hou Yi. In China, Chang'e means the moon, and the Chinese nation has always had special emotion towards the moon derived from the associations of Chang'e, which has even influenced the nation in all aspects. When getting to know what happened to Chang'e, common people of that time put their incense burner tables under the moon and prayed for luck and safety to the kind lady. So, the custom of worshiping the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival is quite popular among folks. Later, other legends about the moon, such as Wu Gang Chopping Trees and Moon Rabbit Grinding Medicine,were created. In addition, people also like to make interesting patterns of these tales on moon cakes.

技巧点拨：

1、源自:可用be derived from表达，其中derive意为“起源”，和orginate同义。

2、影响了中国的方方面面:即“在各方面都影响了中国”，可译为has even influenced the nation in all aspects。

3、拜月亮:即“崇拜月亮”，译为worshiping the moon。

4、吴刚伐树:可译为Wu Gang Chopping Trees。

5、玉兔捣药:可译为Moon Rabbit Grinding Medicine。