欧美文化博览 文化博览:犹太人的故事(4)

And at the heart of the celebration is the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt,the story of stories, replayed around the Seder table with the help of the Seder plate and its symbolic¹ foods, and a ritual book called the Haggadah.

庆祝活动的核心是古代以色列人从埃及的奴役中获得解放,其中所蕴含的故事,通过逾越节家宴的餐桌及其具有象征意义的食物,以及一种称为哈加达的仪式书传递。

This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

这是苦难的面包,我们的祖先在埃及之地所食用的。

All who are hungry, let them come and eat.

致所有人感到饥饿的人,请他们来吃。

But this is about more than just retelling an ancient story. It's about reliving it.

但这不仅仅是重新讲述一个古老的故事。这是关于重温。

What do we think, everybody, um, salt water for tears or Red Sea?

我们会作何选择,每一个人,嗯,眼泪流成的盐水还是红海海水?

What do we think? Tears?

我们想的是什么呢?眼泪?

Is Red Sea an alternate, er...?

红海是一种选项吗?

And the Haggadah provokes questions that belong as much to the here and now as to the long ago.

而哈加达所在这里尽可能多提出的问题属于很久以前。

In every generation, there are those who rise up against us and seek to destroy us,but the Holy One, blessed be he,saves us from their hands.

在每一代中,有些人起来反对我们,试图摧毁我们,但圣者是应当称颂的,他们拯救我们。

This is a tough passage, really.

那是一种艰难困苦,真的。

I mean, this says that we can predict, really, that in every generation there will be exterminators just around the corner.

我的意思是,这表示,我们可以预测,真的,在每一代会有毁灭者在伺机而动。

I mean, is Jewish culture always expecting the worst?

我的意思是,犹太文化总是期待最糟糕的情况发生?

1 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。