雙語閱讀：中國夫婦為何不愛“羊”寶寶

　　Even rats (considered clever and agile) and snakes (which look like mini-dragons) are considered lucky. But sheep have fewer advantageous qualities, according to some interpretations.

　　即便是老鼠(通常被認(rèn)為是聰明和靈巧的)還有蛇(看起來像是一條小龍一樣)都被認(rèn)為是幸運的生肖。但就一些對生肖的解讀而言，羊的優(yōu)點卻寥寥無幾。

　　Those born in sheep years are thought of as passive, loyal, generous and kind. Some of those virtues may be wonderful in an ideal world, but not so useful in the dog-eat-dog real world.

　　羊年出生者通常被認(rèn)作是被動，忠誠，慷慨和善良的人。這些品德在理想的世界里或許是美好的，但在“狗咬狗”的現(xiàn)實世界中卻沒什么用途。

　　“It’s an unfair and outdated superstition,” said Dong Mengzhi, 74, honorary president of Beijing’s Folk Literature and Art Society. “But it’s a convenient way for many to explain an unpredictable world.”

　　“這是一個不公平的、過時了的迷信，”74歲的北京民間文藝家協(xié)會名譽主席董夢知說，“但是對很多人而言，這是一種便于用來解釋不可預(yù)知世界的方法。”

　　Unfair or not, one of the first things Zhang Xiaolei’s parents did when she got engaged in 2012 was to sit down with a Chinese zodiac calendar.

　　不管這個生肖的說法公不公平，張小蕾2012年訂婚時，她父母首先做的事情就是坐下來仔細(xì)地研究中國的黃道日歷。

　　“We all agreed to hurry up and avoid the sheep,” said Zhang, 26, a government worker in Shangdong province.

　　“我們都想要快點生孩子，避免趕上羊年。”26歲的山東省政府工作者張女士說。

　　Her husband quit drinking and started exercising in an effort to increase his fertility. Zhang went on a diet and got more sleep. But after a year and half of trying, nothing.

　　她的丈夫戒酒同時也開始了鍛煉，努力提高生育率。張女士也開始節(jié)食并且增加了睡眠。但是經(jīng)過一年半的嘗試之后，張女士還是沒有懷上孩子。

　　“I don’t know what happened,” she sighed. “Maybe it was all that pressure.”

　　“我不知道怎么回事，”張女士嘆息道，“可能都是迷信帶來的壓力。”

　　She and her husband — both born in a dragon year, the luckiest of all — have consoled themselves with the hope that, if they do conceive later this year, their baby will be that one lone sheep in 10 to find happiness.

　　張女士和她的丈夫都出生于最幸運的龍年，他們安慰自己“如果在今年后段懷孕，他們的孩子一定會是十個羊年生人中的可以找到幸福的那一個”。

　　Others who fear they will miss their window have flocked to support groups that have sprung up online.

　　其他擔(dān)心錯失生育良機的夫婦紛紛蜂擁向迅速涌現(xiàn)的在線支持組尋求幫助。

　　Boom periods

　　繁盛時期

　　While demographers acknowledge the Chinese zodiac’s cultural importance, some have thrown cold water on the idea that it affects birthrates on a national scale.

　　雖然人口學(xué)家承認(rèn)中國十二生肖文化的重要性，有些人還是向這種文化潑來了冷水，因為他們認(rèn)為這種文化影響了全國人口的出生率。

　　Some Chinese provinces and hospitals have at times shown increases in births during lucky animal years and decreases in sheep years, but there is no discernible effect on national demographics, according to Duan Chengrong, a population expert who in 2003 published one of the only studies available on the phenomenon.

　　根據(jù)人口學(xué)專家段成榮所言，雖然中國的一些省份和醫(yī)院的新生兒出生數(shù)屢次在幸運生肖年和羊年之間起落，但是它對國家人口卻沒有什么明顯的影響。段成榮先生在2003年出版了對這一現(xiàn)象研究僅有的幾部可用專著之一。

　　“It doesn’t mean it isn’t a factor,” he said by phone last week. “But its effects are likely diluted and overshadowed by others.”

　　“這并不意味著生肖迷信沒有影響，”他在上周的一次電話通話中說，“但這種迷信的影響可能被其他因素的影響給淡化或者掩蓋了。”

　　Among the factors that have affected China’s birthrate in recent decades, and complicated the interpretation of such data, are political and economic upheaval and the government’s one-child policy.

　　在近幾十年來影響中國人口出生率的因素中，使這些數(shù)據(jù)很難解讀的一大部分原因就是政治經(jīng)濟(jì)動蕩和獨生子女政策。

　　In other countries, demographers have also grappled with theories of baby booms linked to specific events.

　　在其他國家，人口統(tǒng)計學(xué)家還堅持著嬰兒潮與特定事件有關(guān)聯(lián)的理論。

　　In the United States, for example, New York newspapers famously announced a boom in pregnancies after the massive blackout of 1965, during which couples supposedly had nothing better to do than procreate. But such a phenomenon was debunked in later years by population experts.

　　比如在美國，紐約的報紙曾宣布，在1965年大規(guī)模停電后，懷孕者數(shù)量大增，因為在這期間夫婦可能除了生育之外沒有什么其他可以用來消遣的事情了。但在一些年后，人口專家揭露了這種現(xiàn)象的真實原因。

　　For those in China most schooled in the mystical arts of fortunetelling, all this attention to the Chinese zodiac calendar year is wasted.

　　對于中國那些精于算命的人而言，所有對中國生肖日歷年的關(guān)注都是徒勞的。

　　“Ordinary people only care about the zodiac because it is much easier to understand than the truth. To us true feng-shui masters, the zodiac doesn’t matter at all,” said Wen Chaoliang, 39. “What matters most isn’t the year you are born but the exact time of delivery.”

　　“平常人僅僅關(guān)注生肖而非真理是因為生肖更加簡單易懂。對我們而言真正有影響的是風(fēng)水，而非生肖，”39歲的文超良說，“對你命運真正有影響的不是你出生的年份而是你出生的具體時間。”

　　Feng shui is the ancient art of arranging objects or numbers to improve luck.

　　風(fēng)水是一種通過合理安排物品或數(shù)目來提升運勢的古老藝術(shù)。

　　For 0, Wen said, he has been helping couples pick the most fortuitous hours for their planned C-sections-.

　　交五百美元，文超良就會幫助夫婦挑選最幸運的時間進(jìn)行剖腹產(chǎn)。

　　For an extra 0, he throws in a lucky name. For ,000, he will rearrange your home’s furniture to ensure the best possible future for your child.

　　再交130美元，他就會給孩子起一個交好運的名字。交3000美元，他就會重新安排你家具的位置，以確保孩子最優(yōu)秀的未來發(fā)展。

　　“Don’t you want your baby to be successful? Don’t you want your baby to be healthy and beautiful?” he said. “Think about it. Isn’t it worth it?”

　　“你不想讓你的孩子成功嗎?你不想讓你的孩子健康可愛嗎?”他說，“認(rèn)真考慮考慮吧，這不是很值得的交易嗎?”