What Is a Phoenix?鳳凰是什么鑰

If you could be any bird， real or not， which would you choose？ fansmay say that one bird rises above the rest： the phoenix.

如果你可以成為任何一種鳥，無論是真的還是假的，你會選擇哪一種呢？《哈利·波特》的書迷們可能會說，有一種鳥超群絕倫：鳳凰。

The phoenix is a mythical2 bird. It has been around since the time of the ancient3 Egyptians. It was first described in writings by the ancient Greeks. Thestories about phoenix moved on to the Romans then. It’s been passed along fromone generation4 to the next.

鳳凰是一種神話中的鳥。它在古埃及人的時代就已經存在了。它最早是由古希臘人用文字描述的。后來，關于鳳凰的故事傳到了羅馬人那里，自此代代相傳。

The phoenix has been differently described over time. Many believe thisspecial bird looks like some bird. But others think it looks like other birds. Manypeople describe a picture of a beautiful bird with red and gold feathers5. Others sayits feathers are purple or bear all the colors of the peacock.

隨著時間的推移，人們對鳳凰的描述有所不同。許多人認為這種特殊的鳥看起來像某種鳥。但其他人認為它看起來像另外幾種鳥。很多人描繪出一只美麗的長著紅色和金色羽毛的鳥。其他人說它的羽毛是紫色的，或者有孔雀羽毛的所有顏色。

All pictures agree on one thing： a golden halo6. The phoenix reflects7 so muchlight like the Sun. People have always thought the phoenix has something to do withthe Sun. According to mythical stories， only one phoenix lives at a time. It lives forabout 500 years.

所有的描述都有一個共同點：金色的光暈。鳳凰像太陽一樣反射很多光芒。人們一直認為鳳凰與太陽有關。根據神話故事，一個時間段只存在一只鳳凰，它的壽命約為500 年。

At the end of its life， the phoenix builds a nest. It then sets the nest on fire andpasses away in the fire. Out of the ashes8， a new phoenix comes to life. When it’sstrong enough， it flies the last phoenix’s ashes to Heliopolis in Egypt.

在生命臨終之時，鳳凰會筑好一個巢穴。然后，它會點燃巢穴，并在大火中死去。從灰燼中，一只新的鳳凰復活了。在足夠強大時，它會帶著死去的那只鳳凰的骨灰飛到埃及的太陽城。

Birds like the phoenix can be found in the mythical stories of many cultures. Itincludes stories from China， Japan， Russia， and American Indian nations. Today， thephoenix is still seen as a symbol of getting back to life after a setback9 by risingfrom the ashes.

像鳳凰這樣的鳥可以在許多文化的神話故事中找到，其中包括來自中國、日本、俄羅斯和美洲印第安人的故事。時至今日，鳳凰仍然被視為一種在經歷挫折后重新振作的象征。

Do you know any stories about this special bird？ After all these years， thephoenix is still a popular topic in stories today.

你知道關于這種特殊鳥類的故事嗎？這么多年過去了，鳳凰至今仍然是故事中的熱門話題。

▏Notes

1. phoenix 鳳凰，不死鳥

2. mythical 神話的，神話中的，想象的，虛構的

3. ancient 古代的，遠古的

4. generation 一代人

5. feather 羽毛

6. halo 日，月或其他發光體的光暈

7. reflect 反射，光，熱或聲音

8. ash 灰，灰燼，廢墟，骨灰

9. setback 挫折，阻礙