馬 驥

（寧夏銀川景博中學(xué)）

談到風(fēng)箏，人們常會想起清代詩人高鼎那句膾炙人口的名句：“兒童散學(xué)歸來早，忙趁東風(fēng)放紙鳶”。但是風(fēng)箏是誰在什么時候發(fā)明的，最初用作什么用途，很多人都是一頭霧水。那么現(xiàn)代風(fēng)箏背后又有哪些有趣的故事呢？

One night two millennia ago, a Han Dynasty general sent a square-shaped assemblage of bamboo and cloth into the air above enemy territory in central China.He was trying to measure how much earth his men would need to tunnel through to tear their adversaries’（敵人的）defense line.

It is one of the most famous early stories of kite flying.Similar devices were later used by other Chinese armies; they launched them after dark in whipping winds in hopes that the noise would scare off foes , and used them to deliver threats via missives（信 函）tied to the kites’ tails.In 1232, Chinese military kites dropped pages of propaganda（消息）into the compound of a Mongolian prisoners-of-war camp, inciting first a chaos and then a mass escape.

In Singapore and Borneo, fishers have long trailed lures from kites attached to their boats.In Japan, washi-paper versions, often depicting scenes from legends, have been flown for good luck since the 17th century.

Today, of course, these delicate air-craft-built from light wood or plastic frames shaped to create lift, covered in a thin material such as paper or silk,and piloted via long strings—are considered toys, not tools of warfare.And yet they have captured us for centuries, serving a range of practical and spiritual functions in cultures around the world.

Indeed, very few major cultural institutions have deemed kites worthy of preservation.But in the 1990s and early 2000s, kite flying experienced a boom in the American West and parts od Europe, due in part to the popularization of kits surfing.Groups of kiters who gathered at windswept places like the Hawaiian island of Maui, the city of Seattle in the Pacific Northwest of the US, and the Atlantic coast of France began to take interest in its lore（知識）.

Thus a wave of younger artists has been inspired to pioneer new forms.In Austria, Anna Rubin, 48,often employs ancient methods for her art, including hand-splitting the bamboo for the frames and using hand-pressed natural fibres to cover them.She wants to carry on traditions she fears may be lost by a culture fixated on the future, but she’s equally inspired by the joy of work.“Everyone should, once in their life, make a kite and fly it,”she says.

And in New York, visual artists Jacob Hashimoto,49, assembles massive installations from dozens of palm-size kites to hang from the ceiling of his studio or gallery.He inherited his interest in kite making from his father.“The kite making is a pan-cultural practice that makes it a beautiful, democratic thing,”he says.“In many ways, it’s a global property—we all own the relationship between us and the sky.”

His work is a reminder that, especially after a period of when so many people were forced to stay rooted in place, kites offer us a means to defy gravity.In the hands of a willing flier, they give us a way up and out.

【作品背景簡介】本文選自2021 年9 月29 日出版的New York Times雜志，后被English Digest轉(zhuǎn)載。風(fēng)箏源于中國，從中國走向世界，在各國人民的努力下成了一種特有的文化和精神符號。本文契合“人與社會”的主題，用英文講述了中國文化故事。在后疫情時代，一些外國藝術(shù)家賦予風(fēng)箏新的藝術(shù)含義——適當(dāng)放飛自我，尋求靈魂的自由。

全篇譯文

2000 年前的一個夜晚，中國中部敵方統(tǒng)治的區(qū)域上方，一位漢朝將軍放飛了一個由竹子和布做成的方形風(fēng)箏。他試圖測算出士兵坑道掘進的距離來摧毀敵人的防線。

這是關(guān)于放風(fēng)箏的早期經(jīng)典故事之一。后來的中國軍隊也使用過類似的裝置。黑夜中頂著強風(fēng)放飛風(fēng)箏，希望利用產(chǎn)生的噪聲嚇退敵人，還用風(fēng)箏尾部的連接裝置投遞大量傳單來威懾敵方。公元1232 年，中國軍隊的風(fēng)箏在蒙古戰(zhàn)俘營投下大量宣傳單，引起了軍士嘩變和隨后的大逃亡。

在新加坡和馬來亞的婆羅洲，漁民用系在船尾的風(fēng)箏來追蹤布置下的誘餌。17 世紀以來，日本人放飛描繪著傳說故事的楮紙風(fēng)箏來祈福。

時至今日，這些由輕質(zhì)木料和塑料框架做成的精巧飛行器仍然可以產(chǎn)生向上的升力。只不過外覆類似紙或者絲綢的輕薄材料，用長線操控的風(fēng)箏被視為玩具，而不是戰(zhàn)爭工具。盡管如此，風(fēng)箏讓我們癡迷了數(shù)個世紀，在全世界的各民族文化中都有著一系列實用和精神的功能。

事實上，認為風(fēng)箏有保護價值的重點文化機構(gòu)寥寥無幾。但是二十世紀九十年代到二十一世紀之初，一定程度上在風(fēng)箏沖浪活動的助推下，放風(fēng)箏在美國西部和歐洲部分地區(qū)再度興盛。成群結(jié)隊的風(fēng)箏愛好者聚集在強風(fēng)盛行的夏威夷毛伊島、太平洋沿岸城市西雅圖和法國大西洋沿岸地區(qū)探究風(fēng)箏的傳說。

因此而受到啟發(fā)的年輕藝術(shù)家們也開創(chuàng)了新的藝術(shù)形式。在奧地利，48 歲的安娜魯斌將古代的風(fēng)箏制作方法融入藝術(shù)，比如手剝竹子做框架和手工壓制自然纖維覆蓋其上。在一個只關(guān)注未來的文化氛圍中，她擔(dān)心傳統(tǒng)可能會逐漸丟失，但她也同樣感受到了制作風(fēng)箏的樂趣。她說：“每個人在其一生當(dāng)中都應(yīng)該做一次風(fēng)箏，然后放飛?！?/p>

同樣在紐約，49 歲的視覺藝術(shù)家橋本·雅各布用許多手掌大小的風(fēng)箏組裝成了多個造型懸掛在他工作室或者畫廊的房頂上。他的風(fēng)箏制作興趣來自他的父親。他說：“風(fēng)箏制作是個泛文化行為，非常美妙，很接地氣。在許多方面，風(fēng)箏制作是全球共享的財富，我們都具有一種天人關(guān)系。”

他的努力是個很好的提醒，特別是很多人在被迫經(jīng)歷了一段封閉時間后，風(fēng)箏給我們提供了一個掙脫地球引力的方式。手持風(fēng)箏，放飛自我。

人教版課標(biāo)詞匯復(fù)現(xiàn)

measurevt.測量；估計（必修二U2）

defensen.防御；保衛(wèi)（必修二U4）

devicen.策略；儀器（必修一U1）

launchvt.發(fā)射；發(fā)起（必修三U4）

scarevt.驚嚇；使害怕（必修三U2）

chaosn.混亂；雜亂；紊亂（選必三U3）

attachvt.系；綁；貼（必修三U4）

versionn.版本；說法（選必三U4）

flown.流動vt.流；流動（選必一U1）

delicateadj.精致的；脆弱的（選必三U4）

framen.畫面；框架（選必三U1）

preservevt.維持；保持；保護（必修二U1）

boomn./vi繁榮；迅速發(fā)展（選必二U2）

due to由于；因為（必修二U2）

fibren.纖維；纖維制品（選必二U3）

inspirevt.鼓舞；激勵（必修二U3）

propertyn.性質(zhì)；財產(chǎn)（選必一U1）

標(biāo)外詞匯積累

assemblagen.組裝；裝配；裝配藝術(shù)品

incitevt.激起；煽動

lurevt.引誘；誘惑；哄騙

splitvt.使分裂；使分離

installationn.安裝；設(shè)置；裝置；設(shè)施

defyvt.公然違抗；公然反對；向……挑戰(zhàn)；質(zhì)疑

閱讀小練

一、根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容，選擇最佳答案。

1.Why does the author describe the kite story in Han Dynasty?

A.Chinese military art in Han Dynasty was so distinguished in the world.

B.Kites were even used in Han Dynasty two thousand years ago.

C.Chinese people made the best kites to serve the daily purpose.

D.Enemy’s defense line can be easily torn into pieces with the aid of kites.

2.What does the underlined word “foes”mean in the second paragraph?

A.Neighbors.B.Friends.

C.Kite runners.D.Enemies.

3.What motivates Anna Rubin to keep the tradition of making kite?

A.Ambition and dream.

B.Confidence and courage.

C.Uncertainty and imagination.

D.Responsibility and joy.

4.What might be the best title for the text?

A.China has the tradition of making the best kites since ancient time.

B.Kites spread Chinese culture among nations in an artistic way.

C.A new generation of artists is taking their creations of kites to greater heights.

D.Some major cultural institutions have deemed kites worthy of preservation.

二、用所給單詞的適當(dāng)形式填空。

1.It was difficult _________________________ (measure) the precise impact of the labor action.

2.People used to build strong walls round their towns as a ________________________________ (defend) against enemies.

3.When you send an e-mail you can also send a sound or graphic file as an ________________________________ (attach).

4.A radio signal has both electrical and magnetic_____________(property).

答案和解析

一、1.B。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段第一句話和“It is one of the most famous early stories of kite flying.”可知，中國早在兩千年前就在軍事領(lǐng)域使用風(fēng)箏，該部分信息主要介紹風(fēng)箏的起源很早。

2.D。詞義猜測題，根據(jù)上下文的提示可知，其他中國軍隊也這樣使用過風(fēng)箏，在黑夜中制造噪聲恐嚇敵人或者敵對勢力。

3.D。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第六段第三句可知，Anna Rubin 擔(dān)心制作風(fēng)箏的制作古法會失傳，也被這份工作的快樂所感染，說明作為青年藝術(shù)家的一員，她有傳承藝術(shù)的責(zé)任心，也樂在其中。

4.C。標(biāo)題判斷題。根據(jù)全文可知，開篇介紹了風(fēng)箏的起源和古代制作工藝，然后傳播到中國周邊國家，中間筆鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，到了現(xiàn)今，風(fēng)箏在風(fēng)箏沖浪體育運動的推動下被很多年輕人熱捧。其中藝術(shù)家們走在了最前面，介紹了兩位先鋒派風(fēng)箏藝術(shù)家不僅僅傳承歷史，還推陳出新，創(chuàng)造了新的風(fēng)箏藝術(shù)形式，將這項源于中國，福澤世界的技藝推向了新的高度。

二、1.to measure 2.defense 3.attachment 4.properties