双语阅读：中国夫妇为何不爱“羊”宝宝(2)

双语阅读：中国夫妇为何不爱“羊”宝宝

　　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(通常被认为是聪明和灵巧的)还有蛇(看起来像是一条小龙一样)都被认为是幸运的生肖。但就一些对生肖的解读而言，羊的优点却寥寥无几。

　　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.

　　羊年出生者通常被认作是被动，忠诚，慷慨和善良的人。这些品德在理想的世界里或许是美好的，但在“狗咬狗”的现实世界中却没什么用途。

　　“It’s an unfair and outdated superstition,” said Dong Mengzhi, 74, honorary president of Beijing’s Folk Literature and Art Society.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.”

　　“这是一个不公平的、过时了的迷信，”74岁的北京民间文艺家协会名誉主席董梦知说，“但是对很多人而言，这是一种便于用来解释不可预知世界的方法。”

　　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.

　　不管这个生肖的说法公不公平，张小蕾2012年订婚时，她父母首先做的事情就是坐下来仔细地研究中国的黄道日历。

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

　　“我们都想要快点生孩子，避免赶上羊年。”26岁的山东省政府工作者张女士说。

　　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.

　　她的丈夫戒酒同时也开始了锻炼，努力提高生育率。张女士也开始节食并且增加了睡眠。但是经过一年半的尝试之后，张女士还是没有怀上孩子。

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

　　“我不知道怎么回事，”张女士叹息道，“可能都是迷信带来的压力。”

　　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.

　　张女士和她的丈夫都出生于最幸运的龙年，他们安慰自己“如果在今年后段怀孕，他们的孩子一定会是十个羊年生人中的可以找到幸福的那一个”。

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

　　其他担心错失生育良机的夫妇纷纷蜂拥向迅速涌现的在线支持组寻求帮助。

　　Boom periods

　　繁盛时期

　　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.

　　虽然人口学家承认中国十二生肖文化的重要性，有些人还是向这种文化泼来了冷水，因为他们认为这种文化影响了全国人口的出生率。

　　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.

　　根据人口学专家段成荣所言，虽然中国的一些省份和医院的新生儿出生数屡次在幸运生肖年和羊年之间起落，但是它对国家人口却没有什么明显的影响。段成荣先生在2003年出版了对这一现象研究仅有的几部可用专著之一。

　　“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.”

　　“这并不意味着生肖迷信没有影响，”他在上周的一次电话通话中说，“但这种迷信的影响可能被其他因素的影响给淡化或者掩盖了。”

　　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.

　　在近几十年来影响中国人口出生率的因素中，使这些数据很难解读的一大部分原因就是政治经济动荡和独生子女政策。

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

　　在其他国家，人口统计学家还坚持着婴儿潮与特定事件有关联的理论。

　　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.

　　比如在美国，纽约的报纸曾宣布，在1965年大规模停电后，怀孕者数量大增，因为在这期间夫妇可能除了生育之外没有什么其他可以用来消遣的事情了。但在一些年后，人口专家揭露了这种现象的真实原因。

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

　　对于中国那些精于算命的人而言，所有对中国生肖日历年的关注都是徒劳的。

　　“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.”

　　“平常人仅仅关注生肖而非真理是因为生肖更加简单易懂。对我们而言真正有影响的是风水，而非生肖，”39岁的文超良说，“对你命运真正有影响的不是你出生的年份而是你出生的具体时间。”

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

　　风水是一种通过合理安排物品或数目来提升运势的古老艺术。

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

　　交五百美元，文超良就会帮助夫妇挑选最幸运的时间进行剖腹产。

　　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，他就会给孩子起一个交好运的名字。交3000美元，他就会重新安排你家具的位置，以确保孩子最优秀的未来发展。

　　“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?”

　　“你不想让你的孩子成功吗?你不想让你的孩子健康可爱吗?”他说，“认真考虑考虑吧，这不是很值得的交易吗?”