A：Raise your head on August 16 and gaze at the stars，you will find something romantic going on in the sky。Because it is Valentine's Day in China，called Qixi in Chinese，the seventh day of the seventh lunar months falls on August 16 this year。
B：That's cool。I only knew about the western Valentine's Day before。What's its origin？
A：That is，on that evening，Niu Lang and Zhi Nv will meet on a bridge of magpies across the Milky Way。Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings。
B：Such a beautiful legend，so different from the western one！The holiday's roots are in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia，a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15.Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496，declaring February 14 to be St。Valentine's Day。
A：There is a famous poem about Qixi by Qin Guan of the Song Dynasty（960-1279）。
Fairy of the Magpie Bridge
Among the beautiful clouds，
Over the heavenly river，
Crosses the weaving maiden。
A night of rendezvous，
Across the autumn sky。
Surpasses joy on earth。
Moments of tender love and dream，
So sad to leave the magpie bridge。
Eternal love between us two，
Shall withstand the time apart。
B：Compared with love stories in Western legends，the story of Niu Lang and Zhi Nv seems not as intense or passionate。Love doesn't kill or break up the barrier between them。They just wait patiently on the riverbank，believing that their love can withstand their time apart。
A：Absolutely。Unlike St。Valentine's Day in Western countries，there is not so much emphasis on giving chocolates，flowers and kisses。Instead，Chinese girls prepare fruits，melons and incense as offerings to Zhi Nv，the weaving maiden，praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft，as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands。In the evening，people sit outdoors to observe the stars。Chinese grannies would say that，if you stand under a grapevine，you can probably overhear what Zhi Nv and Niu Lang are talking about。
B：However，it seems that the St。Valentine's Day prevails over Qixi among Chinese younger generations。
A：在8月16日的那一天抬头仰望星空，你会发现天空弥漫着浪漫的气息。因为这一天是中国的情人节七夕，农历七月初七，今年的8月16日。
B：有意思，我以前只知道西方的情人节。那它是如何起源的呢？
A：在那天晚上，牛郎和织女会在银河的鹊桥上相会。中国的奶奶们都会告诉他们的孩子那天晚上不会看到任何喜鹊，因为所有的喜鹊都飞去天宫用它们的翅膀去为牛郎织女搭桥了。
B：多美的传说啊，与西方的情人节完全不同。西方的情人节根源于古罗马的牧神节——每年在2月15日举行的丰产庆祝活动。教皇盖拉西厄斯一世大约于公元496年将这个异教徒的节日改为基督教节日，宣布2月14日为圣瓦伦丁节。
A：宋代秦观有一首著名的诗歌是关于七夕的：
鹊桥仙
织云弄巧，
飞星传恨，
银汉迢迢暗度。
金风玉露一相逢，
便胜却人间无数。
柔情似水，
佳期如梦，
忍顾鹊桥归路。
两情若是久长时，
又岂在朝朝暮暮。
B：与西方传说里的爱情故事相比，牛郎织女的故事略显平淡。因为爱情并未打破他们之间的阻碍。他们只是耐心地在银河边等待，相信情比金坚。
A：没错。不像西方国家的人们在情人节的那天会互送巧克力、鲜花以及亲吻，中国的女孩子们会为织女准备水果、瓜蔬和香薰作为贡品，祈求赐予她们高超的针线技术和理想的丈夫。在晚上，人们会坐在外面看星星。奶奶们会说，如果你站在一棵葡萄藤下，你就有可能偷听到牛郎织女的对话。
B：不过，西方的情人节在中国现在的年轻人中好像比七夕更流行。
Gaze v。凝视
Magpie n。喜鹊
Milky Way 银河
Commemorate v。纪念
Incense n。香薰
Needlecraft n。针线活
背景知识
Valentines Galore
Which St。Valentine this early pope intended to honor remains a mystery：according to the Catholic Encyclopedia，there were at least three early Christian saints by that name。One was a priest in Rome，another a bishop in Terni，and of a third St。Valentine almost nothing is known except that he met his end in Africa。Rather astonishingly，all three Valentines were said to have been martyred on Feb。14.
Most scholars believe that the St。Valentine of the holiday was a priest who attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II around 270.At this stage，the factual ends and the mythic begins。According to one legend，Claudius II had prohibited marriage for young men，claiming that bachelors made better soldiers。Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death。Another legend has it that Valentine，imprisoned by Claudius，fell in love with the daughter of his jailer。Before he was executed，he allegedly sent her a letter signed“from your Valentine”。Probably the most plausible story surrounding St。Valentine is one not focused on Eros（passionate love）but on Agape（Christian love）：he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion。
In 1969，the Catholic Church revised its liturgical calendar，removing the feast days of saints whose historical origins were questionable。St。Valentine was one of the casualties。
Chaucer's Love Birds
It was not until the 14th century that this Christian feast day became definitively associated with love。According to UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly，author of Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine，it was Chaucer who first linked St。Valentine's Day with romance。
In 1381，Chaucer composed a poem in honor of the engagement between England's Richard II and Anne of Bohemia。As was the poetic tradition，Chaucer associated the occasion with a feast day。In“The Parliament of Fowls，”the royal engagement，the mating season of birds，and St。Valentine's Day are linked：
For this was on St。Valentine's Day，When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate。
Tradition of Valentine's Cards
Over the centuries，the holiday evolved，and by the 18th century，gift-giving and exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine's Day had become common in England。Hand-made valentine cards made of lace，ribbons，and featuring cupids and hearts eventually spread to the American colonies。The tradition of Valentine's cards did not become widespread in the United States，however，until the 1850s，when Esther A。Howland，a Mount Holyoke graduate and native of Worcester，Mass，began mass-producing them。Today，of course，the holiday has become a booming commercial success。According to the Greeting Card Association，25%of all cards sent each year are valentines。
多个瓦伦丁
教皇想纪念哪个圣瓦伦丁？这还是个谜。根据天主教百科全书，至少有3个早期的基督教圣徒叫圣瓦伦丁。其中一个是罗马的牧师，另一个是特里尼的教皇，还有一个，人们除了知道他死在非洲外，几乎一无所知。更令人惊异的是，据说三个瓦伦丁都于2月14日殉教。
大多数学者相信这个节日纪念的圣瓦伦丁是一个牧师，他于公元270年失去了罗马皇帝克劳迪亚斯二世的宠信。在这期间，实在的东西结束，迷信的东西开始。根据一个传说，克劳迪亚斯二世已经禁止年轻的男子结婚，宣称单身汉可以成为更好的军人。瓦伦丁继续秘密地主持婚礼，但最终被罗马人知道并处死。另一个传说认为瓦伦丁被克劳迪亚斯监禁，并同狱卒的女儿相爱。在他被处死前，依其申述，他给她写了封信，署名“来自你的瓦伦丁”。或许围绕瓦伦丁的似乎最可信的故事是没有专注于厄洛斯（感情的爱），而是专注于亚佳泊（基督教的爱）：他因拒绝与宗教断绝关系而被杀害。
1969年，天主教会校订了其礼拜的日历，将历史渊源有疑问的圣徒去除。圣瓦伦丁是其中一个被除名者。
乔叟的爱鸟
直到十四世纪，基督教节日才决定性地与爱关联。据《乔叟和圣瓦伦丁的礼拜》的作者，洛杉矶加利福尼亚大学的中世纪学者亨利·安斯加尔·凯利说，是乔叟首先将圣瓦伦丁节和爱情联系起来。
1381年，乔叟为了祝贺英格兰理查德二世和波希米亚郡主安妮的订婚而作了一首诗。按照诗歌的惯例，乔叟将这个事件和节日相结合。在诗歌《百鸟议会》中，皇家订婚、鸟的交配季节和圣瓦伦丁节相联系，诗中写道：
因为这是在圣瓦伦丁节，这是每只鸟选择配偶的时间。
情人节贺卡传统
在过去的几个世纪，这个假日得到了发展。到了18世纪，在情人节赠送礼物和互赠手工制做的贺卡在英国成为普遍现象。手工制作的由缎带、丝带制成，并绘有丘比特和心形的情人节贺卡最终传到了美洲殖民地。情人节赠送卡片的传统没有在美国广泛传播。然而，到十八世纪五十年代，一个名叫埃丝特·A·霍兰德的毕业于蒙特霍利约克的麻省伍斯特市的大学生开始大规模生产贺卡。当然，在今天，这个节日成为了急速发展的商业成功机会。据美国贺卡生产商协会证实，每年赠送的贺卡有25%是情人节礼物。
