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[00:00.07]This year, the vernal equinox officially arrives on Tuesday, March 19 at 11:06 pm in Washington, D.C.
在华盛顿特区，今年的春分将于3月19日星期二晚上11:06正式到来。
[00:12.40]That is 3:06 UTC on Wednesday, March 20.
也就是3月20日星期三世界标准时3:06。
[00:19.20]At that time, the sun will be exactly above the Earth's equator.
届时，太阳将正好位于地球赤道上方。
[00:25.27]The word vernal comes from the Latin word vernalis, meaning "of the spring."
“Vernal”一词来自拉丁文“vernalis”，意为“春天”。
[00:32.67]And equinox comes from the Latin words aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night.
而“equinox”一词源于拉丁语中的 “aequus”（意为“相等”）和 “nox”（意为“夜晚”）。
[00:42.37]The day has 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime.
这一天昼夜平分。
[00:48.52]And in the Northern Hemisphere, the day marks the beginning of spring.
在北半球，春分标志着春天的开始。
[00:55.27]On this day, people living in colder areas of the Northern Hemisphere hope they can put away their winter clothes.
在这一天，生活在北半球寒冷地区的人们希望可以收起冬装。
[01:05.17]They also may soon start planting flowers and vegetables in a garden.
他们也可能很快开始在花园里种花种菜。
[01:12.00]Here in Washington, D.C., March 20 also marks the first day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
在华盛顿特区，3月20日也是国家樱花节的第一天。
[01:22.05]Each year, people from around the world come to see the beautiful pink and white blossoms on the thousands of flowering cherry trees.
每年，世界各地的人们都会前来观赏成千上万棵樱花树上粉色和白色的美丽花朵。
[01:34.27]For Washingtonians, the cherry blossoms are a welcome sign that spring has arrived.
对于华盛顿人来说，樱花盛开是春天到来的标志。
[01:42.50]In ancient times, some cultures built structures to signal the start of spring.
在古代，一些文化群体建造了建筑来显示春天的开始。
[01:49.15]Around the year 1000 A.D., for example, the Maya built a pyramid in what is now Mexico's Yucatan.
例如，公元1000年左右，玛雅人在现在的墨西哥尤卡坦半岛建造了一座金字塔。
[02:00.60]It sits within an ancient city called Chichen Itza.
它坐落在一座名为奇琴伊察（Chichen Itza）的古城中。
[02:06.07]On the spring equinox, the sunlight hits in a way that makes the structure look like a snake.
春分时节，阳光照射在金字塔上，让金字塔看起来像一条蛇。
[02:14.85]The Maya called this day "the return of the Sun serpent."
玛雅人称这一天为“太阳蛇的回归”。
[02:21.05]Today, cultures worldwide have their own ways of identifying and celebrating the arrival of spring.
如今，世界各地的文化都以自己的方式来确认和庆祝春天的到来。
[02:30.17]In Japan, spring is marked with a huge cherry blossom festival, known as hanami.
在日本，为庆祝春天会举办一个盛大的樱花节，即“赏樱”。
[02:38.17]The tradition dates back more than a thousand years.
这一传统可以追溯到一千多年前。
[02:42.72]People gather under the blooming trees to eat, drink tea, celebrate and enjoy the cherry blossoms, known as sakura in Japanese.
人们聚集在盛开的樱花树下，吃饭、喝茶、庆祝和欣赏樱花（日语称樱花为sakura）。
[02:56.05]Artists and poets celebrate the short-lived blooms as a symbol of beauty.
艺术家和诗人将短暂绽放的樱花视为美丽的象征。
[03:03.70]In 1912, Japan gave 3,000 cherry trees to the U.S. capital city of Washington, D.C.
1912 年，日本向美国首都华盛顿特区赠送了3000棵樱花树。
[03:13.70]The gift was to honor the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan.
这份礼物是为了纪念美国和日本之间持久的友谊。
[03:21.67]For many countries in Central Asia and the Middle East, the vernal equinox also marks the beginning of a new year.
对于中亚和中东的许多国家来说，春分也标志着新一年的开始。
[03:32.72]The celebration is called Nowruz. The words "now" and "ruz" mean "new day" in Farsi.
庆祝活动被称为诺鲁孜节。在波斯语中，“now”和“ruz”的意思是 “新的一天”。
[03:42.02]Countries along the ancient Silk Road trading path, including Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian nations, celebrate Nowruz.
古丝绸之路贸易沿线国家，包括阿富汗、伊朗、土耳其、乌兹别克斯坦和其他中亚国家，都庆祝诺鲁孜节。
[03:56.20]In the past, Iran was the only country where Nowruz was an official holiday.
过去，伊朗是唯一将诺鲁孜节定为官方节日的国家。
[04:03.00]But after countries gained their independence following the fall of the Soviet Union, many made Nowruz a national holiday, as well.
但随着苏联解体后各国获得独立，许多国家也将诺鲁孜节定为国庆节。
[04:14.27]During Nowruz, people visit family members and friends and exchange gifts.
诺鲁孜节期间，人们会走亲访友，互赠礼物。
[04:21.52]Iranian families set up a "haft seen" display of seven special items that represent spring and new beginnings.
伊朗家庭会摆放“哈夫森”（haft seen），展示代表春天和新开始的七种特殊物品。
[04:32.95]In Uzbekistan and other places in Central Asia, people watch wrestling events, horse races and a special horseback game called, in Uzbek, Kopkari.
在乌兹别克斯坦和中亚其他地方，人们会观看摔跤比赛、赛马和一种特殊的骑马比赛，乌兹别克语称之为“Kopkari”。
[04:47.27]In this game, two teams of players on horseback try to get the body of a headless goat into a goal.
在这个比赛中，两队骑马的选手努力将无头山羊的尸体送进球门。
[04:56.27]A similar game is called buzkashi in Afghanistan and oghlak tartish in Kyrgyzstan and Uyghur-speaking areas.
类似的游戏在阿富汗称为“buzkashi”，在吉尔吉斯斯坦和维吾尔语地区称为“oghlak tartish”。
[05:07.67]People in Valencia, Spain, have their spring celebration called Las Fallas.
西班牙瓦伦西亚人的春季庆祝活动叫做“法雅节”（Las Fallas）。
[05:14.05]It is a wild street festival involving fire.
这是一个疯狂的街头火把节。
[05:18.85]The festival centers on the creation – and burning – of huge colorful statues made of wood, paper and plastic.
节日的中心活动是用木材、纸张和塑料制成巨大的彩色玩偶，然后焚烧。
[05:29.10]The statues are meant to look like real people.
这些玩偶刻意塑造得像真人。
[05:33.02]Valencian communities and organizations work all year to create these structures and place them throughout the city, with fireworks inside.
瓦伦西亚的社区和组织全年都在制作这些玩偶，并将它们放在城市各处，玩偶内还有烟花。
[05:46.02]Las Fallas celebrations began on March 15, with events like bullfights, parades, and cooking and beauty competitions.
法雅节的庆祝活动从3月15日开始，包括斗牛、游行、烹饪和选美比赛等活动。
[05:56.82]Then, at midnight on March 19, the city turns off all its streetlights and the statues are set on fire.
然后在3月19日午夜，城市会熄灭所有路灯，点燃玩偶。
[06:05.92]This marks the end of the festival and the beginning of spring.
这标志着节日结束和春天开始。
[06:12.05]I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm John Russell.
阿什利·汤普森与约翰·罗素为您报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
