“倒春寒”用英语怎么说？四月用这些词来拥抱春天！

“四月一日天，花稀叶阴薄。泥新燕影忙，蜜熟蜂声乐。”

从春分走向清明，我们迎来了温暖新鲜的四月天。

你或许知道，春分的英文是equinox，这个词其实来自拉丁语aequinoctium，表示白天与黑夜等长，这也就是春分的天文学意义：这一天太阳直射赤道，南北半球昼夜平分，标志着春天的到来。

The word equinox comes from the Latin term aequinoctium, meaning equality between day and night (aequi = equal and noct = night). That is what today is after all: one of the two period of the year when the sun crosses the equator and the days and nights are in equal length all over the earth, marking our spin from winter to spring.

除此之外，正如我们用孟春、阳春、暮春、酣春等词来形容不同的春天，英文里也有许多关于春天的有趣表述。《时代》（Time）杂志为我们总结了在这个艳丽的季节里能用到的一些词汇：

❶Primaveral: /ˌprɪməˈvɪrəl/ adj. 早春的

这个词源于拉丁语的“初春”，能用来形容初春发生的所有事情。基于这个词，春天也可以被称为“黄金时间”（prime time or prime tide）

❷Vernal: /ˈvɜːn(ə)l/ adj. 春天的

这个词同样可以用来形容春天发生或出现的一切，来自拉丁语“与春天有关的”。它也可以有很多种变形：

If you vernalize something, you make it spring-like. If something has spring-like qualities, you might note its vernality. And if a friend of yours has a lovely garden growing in the spring, you should probably compliment them on their impressive vernation.

如果你对某物实施春化处理，就是让它看起来像在春天时一样。如果某物有春天般的特质，你可能会注意到它的春日特性。如果你的一个朋友有一个可爱的花园在春日里充满生机，你或许应该赞美这令人印象深刻的春天。

❶Mud-time: n. 泥泞期

在美国东北部，这个词常用于形容初春地面的冰雪完全融化前，满地泥泞的时期。1902年的一份美国报纸写道：“春天一来，人们就把旧鞋子拿出来修修补补，以便在泥泞期穿着。”

In the Northeast, the straightforwardly named mud time is the period of early spring before the ground is completely thawed and there is much mud. "As soon as spring opens, the people trot out their old shoes," wrote the New Hampshire Portsmouth Herald in 1902, "and have them patched up to wear through mud time."

❷Month-brother: n. 兄弟月

在英国诗人杰拉德·曼利·霍普金斯（Gerard Manley Hopkins）的笔下，三月和四月被称作“兄弟月”，因为他们吵闹而暴躁。相比之下，可爱温和的五月则被称为“姐妹月”。

Both March and April are known as "month-brothers," being the rowdier, stormier siblings to lovely May, known as a "month-sister." These names comes from the poetic stylings of Englishman Gerard Manley Hopkins.

❸Blackberry winter: n. 黑莓冬

主要用于美国南部地区，指晚春的一段寒冷天气，或“寒流”。据说，这个词的出现是因为每年黑莓开花后都会出现寒冷天气，而此后的整个夏天美国人都会吃黑莓馅饼。

Used chiefly in the southern regions of America, this refers to a period of cold weather in the late spring, more boringly called a "cold snap". The term is said to come from chilly weather appearing after the blackberry plants have begun to bloom, which Americans will feast on in cobblers throughout summer.

同样描述这段寒冷天气的词包括后冬（after-winter）,黑刺李冬（blackthorn winter）, 山茱萸冬（dogwood winter）和紫荆冬（redbud winter）。

❶Cuckoo: n. 杜鹃鸟

布谷鸟被称作“春天的先兆”，因为它们会在四月迁徙回到春暖花开的地方。

These migratory birds are known as the "harbingers of spring," arriving in places like the British Isles in April.

因此，布谷鸟常常作为春天的使者出现，吉卜林（Joseph Rudyard Kilpling）就曾在诗中写道：

❷Chelidonian: adj. 和煦的（春风）

这个词指春天的风，来源于希腊语中的“燕子”。据说，当远方的第一只燕子飞来时，就会吹来这一股春风。

This delicious adjective refers to spring winds, and is derived from the Greek word for swallow. Because the Chelidonian winds are said to arise at the first coming of yonder swallows.

❸Pishachi: n. 庇萨奇风

在南亚，春天刮的旋风被称作pishachi。这个词来自梵语，意为“女恶魔”。在非洲，春天里“炎热、干燥而令人窒息的沙风”则被称作simoom，来自阿拉伯语，意为“有毒的风”。

If you happen to be in South Asia this spring and experience a whirlwind, you should tell your friends you are in a pishachi, a word that comes from Sanskrit term for female demon. If you happen to be in Africa and stuck in a "hot, dry, suffocating sand-wind" which sweeps across the deserts at intervals during the spring, you should know that you are in a simoom.

描绘春天的词语远不止这些，古今中外都在这个季节唱起献给青春与生命的歌。

郭沫若译托马斯·纳什（Thomas Nashe）的诗中说：“春，甘美之春，一年之中的尧舜”（Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king）。

在这个甜蜜盛放的时节，你会用什么词句来勾勒春天呢？

信息来源：《时代》杂志 Poetry Foundation