中英雙語話中國民風民俗 第86期:潑水節
Water-Splashing Festival
潑水節The Water-Splashing Festival is the Year,as well as the most important traditional festival，observed by the Dai nationality in Yunnan Province of China. The festival usually lasts 3-5 days somewhere between early the 6th month and early the 7th month of the Dai calendar.
在潑水節是一年中最重要的傳統節日之一，是中國雲南省傣族的節日。節日通常持續3-5天，在傣族日曆的第6個月的上旬及第7個月的上旬之間。The second day of the festival,which is the liveliest,sees water people，men and women,old and young,taking along buckets or basins,come to broad streets. The streets are lined,on both sides,with containers of clear water which is scent or has petals floating on. When the entertainment begins，festival celebrators splash the water over their relatives, friends or acquaintances, wishing that they would be lucky and free from adversities or diseases. The ways to splash water fall into gentle splashing and violent splashing, depending on how intimate the target is to the splasher and how old the target is. The gentle splashing is done to venerable elders. In doing it the splasher, while speaking some blessing words, pulls away an elder's collar and gently tips into the opening a ladle of clean water which flows down the targets back, while the target should willingly accept the splashing and reciprocate the splasher's good wishes by blessing. The violent splashing is done to others but the elder. In doing it the splasher is free to splash water,from a gourd ladle,a basin or a pale,over a target,and the target likewise splashes back. The more water one bears, the happier he feels. All the amusement makers dance, sing, and laugh heartily while splashing,entirely lost in pleasure. Some young men even go to bamboo dwelling houses and splash water over girls there,a symbol of love.
節日的第二天是最熱鬧的，看潑水.所有的人，無論男女老少，拿着水桶或臉盆，來到寬闊的街道。街道兩旁，那裏有帶香味的清水是或有花瓣浮在容器內。當娛樂開始時，人們往他們的親戚，朋友或熟人身上潑水，希望他們幸運，遠離逆境或疾病。水濺落輕或暴力飛濺，取決於被潑人之間的親密程度，輕輕的潑水是爲尊敬長輩。在此過程中潑水這一邊講一些祝福的話，一邊掙脫開一位長者的衣領，輕輕地往他們身上潑水，而目標應該心甘情願地接受水的飛濺和以良好祝願回報潑水者。暴力飛濺是給別人的，除了長輩。在此過程中潑水者用盆瓢向別人濺水，而被潑者也潑回去。一個人被潑的水越多快樂越多。所有的人跳舞，唱歌和歡笑而水飛濺，完全沉浸在樂趣中。有些年輕人甚至去竹民居和往女孩身上潑水，這是愛的象徵。
