Unit 2 I think that mooncakes are delicious!
P13 3a
Full Moon, Full Feelings
Chinese people have been celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoying mooncakes for centuries. Mooncakes have the shape of a full moon on
mid-autumn night. They carry people’s wishes to the families they love and miss.
There are many traditional folk stories about this festival. However, most people think that the story of Chang’e is the most touching. Chang’e was Hou Yi’s beautiful wife. After Hou Yi shot down the nine suns, a goddess gave him a magic medicine to thank him. Whoever drank this could live forever, and Hou Yi planned to drink it with Chang’e. However, a bad man, Feng Meng, tried to steal the medicine when Hou Yi was not home. Chang’e refused to give it to him and drank it all. She became very light and flew up to the moon. Hou Yi was so sad that he called out her name to the moon every night. One night, he found that the moon was so bright and round that he could see his wife there. He quickly laid out her favorite fruits and desserts in the garden. How he wished that Chang’e could come back!
After this, people started the tradition of admiring the moon and sharing mooncakes with their families.
Section A 3a
满满的月亮 满满的情思
千百年来中华儿女一直过中秋、吃月饼。月饼有着中秋夜满月的外形、它寄托着人们对所热爱、所思念的家人的美好祝愿。
关于这个节日有着许许多多的传统的民间故事，但大多数人认为，嫦娥的故事最为感人。嫦娥是后羿的美丽妻子。当后羿射下九个太阳之后，一位女神仙送给他一种仙药作为答谢，无论谁喝下这种仙药便可长生不老。于是后羿计划于嫦娥一起分享。然而，歹人降蒙企图在后羿外出之际抢夺仙药。嫦娥拒绝把药给他，便将它全部喝下，她变得那么轻盈，然后飞到月宫。后羿伤心至极，每夜面对月亮呼喊着嫦娥的名字。一天夜里，他发现月亮又圆又亮，他看见了自己的妻子。于是他很快在院子里摆下了嫦娥最喜欢吃的果品、蛋糕。他是多么希望嫦娥能够回到他身边啊！
从此，人们开始了赏月和与家人共享月饼的传统习俗。
