“羊”年到底什么羊？外媒捉狂国人淡定

独秀文译青年

【原文标题】Is it the Year of the Sheep, Goat or Ram

【中文标题】“羊”年到底什么羊？外媒捉狂国人淡定

【文章来源】CNN

【文章链接】http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/12/asia/year-of-the-goat-sheep-ram/index.html

Hong Kong (CNN)The Lunar New Year is here and countries throughout Asia are celebrating.

中国迎来了农历新年，亚洲的许多国家也在庆祝这个节日。

But should we be ushering in the Year of the Sheep, Goat or Ram?

今年是羊年，但这个羊指的是绵羊、山羊还是公羊？

It depends, says Isaac Yue, who teaches Chinese mythology at the University of Hong Kong.

香港大学中国问题专家Issac Yue说：“哪种羊都行。

"The Chinese character yang can be translated as all of these animals -- even the gazelle is called yang in Chinese," he says.

“在汉字里，瞪羚驼羊藏羚羊什么羊都叫羊。”

A wander through Hong Kong's streets and shopping malls yields few definitive clues.

记者逛了香港一大圈也无法得出结论。

Store windows are decked out with cartoon-like sheep, cheeky goats and curly-horned rams in a marketing bonanza some say is bigger than Christmas in the West.

商店橱窗的装饰有卡通绵羊、调皮山羊和弯角公羊。

"I'd be more inclined to translate it as goat for the simple reason if you look at the way the character yang is written, even in its ancient form, you can see that there is a pair of horns so it more closely resembles a goat than a sheep," says Yue.

该专家称“我倾向于称之为‘山羊’，因为如果你看羊字的写法，甚至看看古羊字的结构你就可以看出来，羊字上面有一对羊角，因此它更像山羊而不是绵羊。”

Both sheep and goats are raised in China, but the former are only found in the grasslands on the country's northern fringes. Goats are more commonplace.

在中国绵羊和山羊都有人饲养，但山羊只出现在中国北方一带的草地。相比之下，山羊就更常见。

The ram -- a male sheep -- is a third candidate, preferred by some who don't like the meek, docile characteristics associated with the sheep.

山羊是第三个选择，一些人选择叫山羊是因为他们不喜欢绵羊温顺的性格。

Clear choice

明确的选择

Other places are clear which zodiac animal they are celebrating.

其他国家则对羊年的羊有自己的说法。

In Vietnam, where the celebration is known as Tet, they are ringing in the Year of the Goat.

越南人民将羊年春节的羊成为山羊。

Whereas in Japan, people have been busy dressing up their pets in sheep outfits and sending sheep-themed New Year postcards to mark 2015.

日本人则帮宠物换上了绵羊造型，互相赠送绵羊主题的新年贺卡。

Of course, the confusion over the choice of animal is unlikely to dampen the festivities, which stretch for two weeks or more, and few Chinese are troubled by the English speaking world's sheep/goat distinction, at least according to China's official news agency.

当然在中国，人们不会因为羊年是哪种羊的问题而感到扫兴，人们也不会纠结于英语对于绵羊和山羊的区别。至少新华社是这么说的。

"I've never thought about that question before. Do we have to tell them apart?" Chen Xufeng, an office clerk in Beijing, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

北京某商店店员陈旭峰（音译）称：“我从没考虑过这个问题。我们有必要分得很清楚吗？

"I've seen more goats in zodiac images, but I prefer to buy a sheep mascot, as sheep are more fluffy and lovely," he says.

“我看到的是更多的山羊形象，但我偏向购买绵羊的吉祥物，因为绵羊毛茸茸的多可爱。”

fw223

外媒还是没有结论！

四月同学

西方思维：只见树木，不见森林。
羊，是类概念，不是具体的某一种羊，而包含了所以的羊。这是中国思维。

hegieer

绵阳，剪毛和吃肉用。