二十四节气·今日立秋 Beginning of Autumn

立秋，作为中国传统二十四节气之一，不仅预示着季节的转换，也承载着深厚的文化意义和民俗传统。了解立秋的气候特征、传统习俗，以及文学中对秋天的经典描述，不仅有助于我们更好地认识这一节气，也能让我们感受到不同文化对秋天的理解和赞美。

立秋的气候特征

尽管立秋的到来预示着凉爽秋日的开始，但酷热的天气并未完全结束，“秋老虎”的威力不容小觑。

The period of hot days after Beginningof Autumn, usually lasting for 30 days, is called "Autumn Tiger" or "Indian Summer". Because of the decreasing precipitation, it is even more sweltering during this period than during Major Heat.

立秋之后的高温天气通常会持续30天左右，这就是人们所说的“秋老虎”。由于降雨量减少，这段时间甚至比大暑时更加闷热。

Autumn Tiger：秋老虎

sweltering：闷热的

立秋的传统习俗

1、立秋习俗之啃秋瓜

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), people would put gourds outside for a day before the Beginningof Autumn, and eat them on Beginningof Autumn day to drive off the summer heat. Today people in Tianjin still keep this custom, believing that eating melons such as towel gourd, white gourd and bitter gourd can prevent diarrhea in autumn and the coming winter and spring.

清朝时，人们会在立秋前一天在屋子外面挂一根瓜，然后在立秋当天吃掉，从而祛除夏季的酷暑。现在天津的人们仍然保留有这一习俗，认为吃丝瓜、冬瓜、苦瓜等食物可以预防秋冬春季腹泻。

2、立秋习俗之贴秋膘

On the first day of the Beginningof Autumn, usually people will weigh themselves and compare their weight to what it was at the Beginningof Summer. If one has lost weight during the summer, then at the beginning of autumn, he or she needs to flesh out by eating many different kinds of delicious food, especially meat.

在立秋第一天，人们通常会称自己的体重，和立夏时的体重作比较。如果在夏天体重下降了，那么秋天开始的时候，人们就会吃许多美味的食物来进补，特别是肉食。

3、立秋习俗之吃桃子

In Hangzhou, people eat peaches on the beginningof Autumn day. The peach stones are kept until New Year’s Eve and thrown into the stove, burned into ash. People believed that in this way, plagues could be prevented for the whole year.

在杭州，人们有在立秋当天吃桃子的习俗。吃完桃子之后，桃核会一直保存到除夕，然后扔进炉子里烧成灰。人们相信这样可以全年预防瘟疫。

4、立秋习俗之咬秋

In Shandong province, people make dumplings during the beginningof Autumn, and they call it "Eating the Autumn". On the day of beginningof Autumn, senior members of the family will stand in the middle of the hall, worshiping a bowl of cereal, and praying for the harvest in autumn. Most of the families will eat dumplings together after beginningof Autumn day.

在山东，人们会在立秋包饺子吃，这被称为“咬秋”。在立秋那天，家里的老人会站在屋子中间，守着一碗麦片粥，祈求秋天丰收。立秋过后，大多数家庭都会在一起吃饺子。

关于秋天的经典英文描述

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.

那一年的秋天似乎突然就到了。九月的第一天早晨秋高气爽，金黄得像一个苹果。

——J.K.罗琳《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》

I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.

我无法忍受一切浪费珍贵东西的行为，比如说外面秋日暖阳，而我却待在了屋里。

——纳撒尼尔·霍桑《美国笔记》

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.

冬天是蚀刻版画，春天是水彩画，夏天是油画，而秋天是混合了这一切的马赛克。

——斯坦利·霍洛维茨

Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical deions extant of autumn ― that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness ― that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at deion, or some lines of feeling.

她漫步中的欣喜一定源于运动本身和这个天色，源于面对黄叶和枯萎的树篱而会心一笑的场景，以及源于向自己重复赞美秋的万千诗般佳句——那个给品味和柔情带来古怪无尽影响的季节——那个每一个值得阅读的诗人试图用言语表述或有感而发的季节。

——简·奥斯汀 《劝导》

Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods. And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt.

现今，秋天的气息像火焰般沿着树木蔓延。随着一天天的过去，秋叶飘落入泥。

——威廉·阿林厄姆