英语散文：生日快乐歌的起源

 　　"Happy Birthday to You" Where did that song come from?

　　The story of how the song "Happy Birthday to You" came to be, began as a sweet one, that later soured. Two sisters, Mildred Hill, a teacher at the Louisville, Kentucky Experimental Kindergarten, and Dr. Patty Hill, the principal of the same school, together wrote a song for the children, entitled "Good Morning to All." When Mildred combined her musical talents, as the resident expert on spiritual songs, and as the organist for her church, with her sister's expertise¹ in the area of Kindergarten Education, "Good Morning to All" was sure to be a success.

　　关于“祝你生日快乐”一歌是如何产生的故事，一开始是件令人愉快的事，到后来就变了味，令人很扫兴。事情是这样 的：有姐妹俩，一个叫玛德里德·希尔，路易思维尔市肯德基实验幼儿园教师，一个叫柏蒂·希尔，该校的校长。姐妹 俩一道为儿童们谱写了一首歌，歌名为“大家早上好”。玛德里德是当地赞美歌的专家，再加上她的音乐天分，又是当 地教堂的风琴师，而且她姐姐在幼儿教育方面也很有经验，“大家早上好”一歌无疑是个巨大的成功。

　　The sisters published the song in a collection entitled "Song Stories of the Kindergarten" in 1893. Thirty-one years later, after Dr. Patty Hill became the head of the Department of Kindergarten Education at Columbia University's Teacher College, a gentleman by the name of Robert H. Coleman published the song, without the sisters' permission. To add insult to injury, he added a second verse, the familiar "Happy Birthday to You."

　　1893年，两姐妹发表了一部歌曲集，题名为“幼儿园的故事”。三十一年以后，在柏蒂·希尔出任哥伦比亚大学师范学院幼儿教育系系主任之后，一个名叫罗伯特·H·科尔曼的男士未经姐妹俩的允许，私自出版了这首歌，在这首歌后又加上了一段，即大家熟悉的“祝你生日快乐”，这就构成了对姐妹俩的伤害和侮辱。科尔曼先生增加的第二段歌词使这首歌很快就十分流行。

　　Mr. Coleman's addition of the second verse popularized the song and, eventually, the sisters' original first verse disappeared. "Happy Birthday to You," the one and only birthday song, had altogether replaced the sisters' original title, "Good Morning to All."

　　最终，姐妹俩的第一段歌词消失了。“祝你生日快乐”，这首唯一的生日歌完全取代了姐妹俩原来的歌曲“大家早上好！”。

　　After Mildred died in 1916, Patty, together with a third sister named Jessica, sprang into action and took Mr. Coleman to court. In court, they proved that they, indeed, owned the melody. Because the family legally owns the song, it is entitled to royalties² from it, whenever it is sung for commercial purposes.

　　玛德里德于1916年逝世后，柏蒂与其另一个妹妹杰西卡出面将科尔曼先生告上了法庭。在法庭上，她们证明，实际上她们拥有这首歌曲调的版权。由于这首歌曲的法定版权属于希尔姐妹家，它便被赋予了皇权，无论何时这首歌因商用目的而被唱的时候，其皇权总是会受到保护的。

1 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

2 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分