Mid-summer’s NightTraditions Looking for the Fern Flower仲夏夜尋找蕨花的傳統

In many places， the mid-summer’s night on June 21st， the longest day （and theshortest night） of the year， is celebrated in many ways. In some countries， peoplemake flower wreaths2， but in some others， there is a special tradition： looking for thefern flower.

在許多地方，6 月21 日仲夏之夜，一年中最長的白天（和最短的夜晚），以多種方式慶祝。在一些國家，人們會扎花環，但在其他一些國家有一個特殊的傳統：尋找蕨花。

What is the fern flower legend³？

蕨花的傳說是什么？

It is said that whoever finds the fern flower on that day，will get the gift of eternal4 life， youth5 and wealth6. Thatflower shines7 in the dark but can only be found on that night.It is usually in a place in the forest people don’t know. What’smore， a person looking for the fern flower might have to facedanger. That’s why people prepared8 well when on the way tofind the fern flowers.

據說在這一天找到蕨花的人將得到永生、青春和財富作為禮物。那朵花在黑暗中發光，但只能在那個晚上才能找到，而且通常是在森林里不為人知的地方。更重要的是，尋找蕨花的人可能會面臨危險。這就是為什么人們在尋找蕨花的路上都做好了充分的準備。

So， what does the legend say？

那么袁那個傳說是怎么說的呢？

Long ago， there was a young boy called Jack. He was a very curious9 boy，always getting into trouble10. Once， he heard the story of the fern flower， andvowed11 to find it. The first two times he went into the forest to look for the flower，he found it but couldn’t get it. Because he was too late and the shortest night of theyear was already over.

很久以前，有一個小男孩叫杰克。他是個很好奇的孩子，總是遇到麻煩。有一次，他聽說了蕨花的故事，發誓要找到它。他頭兩次到森林里去找這種花的時候都找到了，但沒能摘到花，因為他來得太晚了，一年中最短的夜晚已經過去了。

When the third time arrived， Jack put on his bestclothes and once again went into the forest. This time， hedid a good job and he tried his best to get the flower backeven though it burned his fingers. And， by the magic12 ofthe fern flower， all his dreams became true. He was nowruler13 of a big kingdom14 with a big palace15 and manyservants16. Only his family was missing.

第三次來的時候，杰克穿上他最好的衣服，再次走進那片森林。這一次，他做得很好，盡了最大的努力把花拿回來，盡管它灼傷了他的手指。蕨花的魔力讓他實現了所有的夢想。他現在是一個大國的統治者，擁有一座大宮殿和許多仆人。只是他的家人不見了。

This made him sad because he could not share his wealth with anyone. Allthe gold he had， he had to spend on himself. If he did not， he would go back tobeing poor.

這讓他很傷心，因為他不能和任何人分享他的財富。他所有的金子都得花在自己身上。如果不這樣做，他就會變回窮人。

One day， when he missed his family too much， he decided to see his mother. Butshe didn’t recognize17 him. He tried that two more time. The second time， Jack foundout that his father was gone and his mother was very sick. But when he tried to helpher by giving her some gold， he remembered that it would all disappear18 and hewould be poor again.

有一天，他太想念他的家人了，于是他決定去看望他的母親。但她沒認出他來。他又試了兩次。第二次，杰克發現他的父親不見了，母親病得很重。但當他想給她一些金子幫幫她時，他想起這些錢會全部消失，他又會變得貧窮。

Jack was sad because he couldn’t help his family. Thenhe became sick and sad， and knew that his wealth had no useif he couldn’t share it with his family. The third time he triedto go to his village， he found out that his parents had died. Inthe end， Jack is then swallowed19 whole into the ground andnever seen again. As for the fern flower， no one could find itany more.

杰克很傷心，因為他不能幫助自己的家人。后來他又生病又難過，他知道如果不能與家人分享，他的財富就毫無用處。當他第三次想回村時，他發現父母已經去世了。最后，杰克被大地整個兒吞噬，再也沒有出現在人前。至于蕨花，再也沒人能找到了。

Is the fern flower real？

蕨花是真的嗎？

The truth is that ferns do not have flowers. But many flowering plantslook like ferns， and some of them do have flowers. There are also so-called“flowering ferns”.

實際上蕨類植物不開花。不過，許多開花植物看起來像蕨類植物，其中一些確實有花，也有被稱作“開花的蕨類植物”的。

Where does this tradition come from？

這個傳統從何而來？

The legend of the fern flower seems to have started inEastern and Northern Europe. It is celebrated in Lithuania，Latvia， Estonia， Sweden， and Finland where it’susually celebrated on summer solstice20 （between June19th and June 25th）.

蕨花的傳說似乎起源于東歐和北歐。立陶宛、拉脫維亞、愛沙尼亞、瑞典和芬蘭通常在夏至（6 月19 日至6 月25 日）慶祝這一傳統。

（英語原文選自：kidworldcitizen.org）