英女王圣诞致辞

對于英国人而言，每年圣诞节都有一个传统，那就是圣诞节当天下午三点的女王圣诞致辞。这是在英国政府不提供意见的情况下由女王亲自撰稿的公开发表个人看法的演讲。 女王的讲话会包含自己对一年世界大事的见解，用最适中的语速、最皇室范的英音对全世界播出。在今年的圣诞致辞里，女王提到了法国的恐怖袭击，提到了二战胜利70周年，提到四世同堂“长寿的乐趣”——夏洛特公主的降生，还提到她对来年的祝福……

我们一起聆听这优美的英音吧。

At this time of year， few sights evoke more feelings of cheer and goodwill than the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree.

The popularity of a tree at Christmas is due in part to my great-great grandparents， Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. After this touching picture was published， many families wanted a Christmas tree of their own， and the custom soon spread.

In 1949， I spent Christmas in Malta as a newly-married naval wife. We have returned to that island over the years， including last month for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders; and this year I met another group of leaders： The Queens Young Leaders， an inspirational group， each of them a symbol of hope in their own Commonwealth communities.

Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead—I am looking forward to a busy 2016， though I have been warned I may have Happy Birthday sung to me more than once or twice.

It also allows us to reflect on the year that has passed， as we think of those who are far away or no longer with us. Many people say the first Christmas after losing a loved one is particularly hard. But its also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for.

It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year， but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope， often read at Christmas carol services： “The light shines in the darkness， and the darkness has not overcome it.”

One cause for thankfulness this summer was marking seventy years since the end of the Second World War. On VJ Day， we honored the remaining veterans of that terrible conflict in the Far East， as well as remembering the thousands who never returned.

The procession from Horse Guards Parade to Westminster Abbey must have been one of the slowest ever， because so many people wanted to say ‘thank you to them.

At the end of that War， the people of Oslo began sending an annual gift of a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. It has five hundred light bulbs and is enjoyed not just by Christians but by people of all faiths， and of none. At the very top sits a bright star， to represent the Star of Bethlehem.

The custom of topping a tree also goes back to Prince Alberts time. For his familys tree， he chose an angel， helping to remind us that the focus of the Christmas story is on one particular family.

For Joseph and Mary， the circumstances of Jesuss birth—in a stable—were far from ideal， but worse was to come as the family was forced to flee the country. Its no surprise that such a human story still captures our imagination and continues to inspire all of us who are Christians， the world over.

Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life， Christs unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another.

Although it is not an easy message to follow， we shouldnt be discouraged; rather， it inspires us to try harder： to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives， and to look for ways of spreading that love to others， whenever and wherever we can.

One of the joys of living a long life is watching ones children， then grandchildren， then great grandchildren， help decorate the Christmas tree. And this year my family has a new member to join in the fun！

The customary decorations have changed little in the years since that picture of Victoria and Alberts tree first appeared， although of course electric lights have replaced the candles.

Theres an old saying that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today.

Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them， and for all that bring light to our lives.

I wish you a very happy Christmas.

每年此時，没有什么情景比圣诞树上闪烁的灯光更让人感到欢乐祥和。

圣诞树的流行部分归功于我的曾曾祖父母——维多利亚女王和阿尔伯特亲王。这张温馨的图片公布后，很多家庭都想要一棵自己的圣诞树，这一习俗也很快普及开来。

1949年，初为海军军嫂的我在马耳他度过圣诞节。多年以来，我们多次回到马耳他岛，上个月还在那里召开英联邦领导人会议。今年我会晤了另一批领导人——“女王青年领袖”，这是一个鼓舞人心的团体，其中的每个人都是各自英联邦社区的希望。

聚在圣诞树旁，我们可以借此机会开始展望来年。我盼望着2016年忙忙碌碌，尽管有人说，我可能会不止一次两次听到别人为我唱生日歌（2016年是伊丽莎白女王九十岁生日，届时会有多场庆祝活动）。

圣诞树也让我们回首过去的一年;我们想到了那些远离我们或者已经永远离开了我们的人。很多人说失去平生所爱后的第一个圣诞节是最艰难的。尽管如此，圣诞节也是一个让我们想想我们要感恩的人的时刻。

的确，过去的这一年，世界不得不面对诸多黑暗时刻。可《约翰福音》中有一句充满希望的话这样说，圣诞赞歌中也常常朗诵：“光明照亮了黑暗，黑暗却无法蒙蔽光明。”

今年夏天纪念二战结束七十周年是一件值得感恩的事。在对日作战胜利日，我们给仍然在世的参加过远东战场作战的老兵们授勋，也缅怀数千名没有能够再次回到祖国的牺牲者们。

从骑兵卫队场到威斯敏斯特宫的队伍大抵是行进最慢的一次，因为太多的人想对他们说一声“谢谢”。

二战结束后，奥斯陆人民每年向特拉法加广场赠送一棵圣诞树。树上挂着1500个灯泡;不仅基督徒喜爱它，无论何种信仰或有无信仰的人们都喜爱它。在树顶有一颗明星，它代表着“伯利恒之星”（所谓“伯利恒之星”是《圣经》中记载的一颗奇特天体。据说，在耶稣诞生时，有三个博士在东方观察到一颗属于“犹太人之王”的星，前来耶路撒冷拜见，就在博士们前往附近的伯利恒寻找时，先前看见的那颗星，又忽然出现在前方，引领他们来到耶稣降生之处。后世科学家推测这可能是金星和木星交汇。）。

这一习俗也要追溯到阿尔伯特亲王时代。他把一个天使放在自家的圣诞树顶，提醒我们圣诞节纪念了一个家庭的故事。

对于约瑟和玛丽而言，耶稣出生在马厩，这样的环境难免不够理想，可更糟糕的是这家人还被迫逃离故土。然而，这个故事依旧捕捉着我们的想象力，继续激励着全世界所有的基督徒，这并不令人惊讶。

基督短暂的一生中颠沛流离、饱受迫害，可尽管如此，他一如既往地倡导的不是复仇，不是暴力，而是人人相爱。

尽管践行不易，我们也不要灰心。相反，这鼓励着我们要加倍努力，感谢那些给我们生命带来爱和幸福的人，并想方设法将这份爱传递给他人——无论何时，无论身处何处。

长寿的喜悦之一是儿孙绕膝。先是儿女，然后是孙辈，现在有重孙辈帮我装扮圣诞树。今年，我家又有一位新成员共享天伦。

自维多利亚和阿尔伯特的圣诞树出现以来，传统的圣诞装饰变化甚微，当然，电灯取代了蜡烛。

老话说，“点燃蜡烛胜过咒骂黑暗”。如今，我们的世界上有成百上千万的人都在点燃希望的蜡烛。

值此圣诞佳节，向他们表示感谢，对所有给我们生活带来光明的人表示感谢。

愿诸君圣诞快乐。

词汇累积

1. evoke vt. 引起

2. inspirational adj. 鼓舞人心的

3. reflect on 反思

4. confront vt. 对抗，面对

5. verse n. 颂歌

6. veteran n. 老兵

7. procession n. 队伍

8. go back to 追溯到（同义词组为date back to）

9. capture vt. 俘获，捕捉

10. displaced adj. 颠沛流离

11. persecute vt. 迫害

12. rather adv. 相反（此时相当于instead）

知识延伸

人们常在问候的时候说“Happy New Year”、“Happy Valentines day”，可为什么圣诞祝福用“Merry Christmas”而不用“Happy Christmas”呢？ 今天我们来探究一下Merry Christmas的来源吧。

据说，Merry Christmas最早出现在1565年的一份海军元帅所写的祝福手稿上。手稿如下：（感觉像是英文中的文言文）

And thus I comytt you to god， who send you a mery Christmas & many.

我于是送你到主面前，愿主赐你圣诞快乐，万事如意。

而Merry Christmas真正流行起来要归功于英国文学界的“一哥”——查尔斯·狄更斯。1843年，狄更斯发表了一部中篇小说—— 《圣诞颂歌》（A Christmas Coral）。《圣诞颂歌》只是一本薄薄的书，可Merry Christmas却出现了14次。此外，精明的英国商人顺势推出了印有Merry Christmas字样的圣诞贺卡，卖到近乎断货。于是，1843年，史上最早的Merry Christmas 贺卡问世。从那以后，Merry Christmas的说法随着年复一年的圣诞贺卡传遍了世界各地，并和Happy New Year组成了经久不衰的黄金搭档。

但我们还是不禁想问：Happy Christmas真的就不可以吗？

其实，Happy Christmas从语法到用法都没有问题。不仅如此，使用Happy Christmas的都是些有文化有修养的大咖。没错，英国女王——伊丽莎白二世就是代表人物，她从不使用Merry Christmas。在每年的圣诞讲话的最后，女王陛下都会不疾不徐地道一聲：Happy Christmas。

女王为什么如此执着地“不走寻常路”呢？也许是因为merry一词的本义。早期的merry，总是和酗酒（intoxication）联系在一起。因此，“一身酒气”的merry明显没有happy健康、阳光。所以，即便Merry Christmas赢得了主流民意，Happy Christmas却依然深得上心。不过，happy也好，merry也罢，对于大众来说，不去计较圣诞背后的宗教情怀，它们都为寒冷的冬日平添一份节日的温馨。

So Merry/Happy Christmas！