Name: 什麼！竟然有土撥鼠日 (Groundhog Day Explained)
Uploaded: 2021-01-19T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 19 s

February is home to one of the most important holidays of the year not to forget: Groundhog Day.

二月有個最不該被忘記的重要節日：土撥鼠日。

情態助動詞 B1

If you live outside of Can-merica then you might not know what a groundhog is.

如果你住在美加以外的地區，可能會不知道什麼是土撥鼠。

They're basically giant grumpy squirrels who dig burrows underground.

牠們基本上就是體型巨大、脾氣暴躁且會挖地洞的松鼠。

Burrows large enough, in fact, to occasionally make their comfy home a structural hazard to your comfy home.

事實上，地洞有時可以大到使牠們舒適的家成為你家的結構危害。

This explains the first half of their name.

這解釋了牠們前半段名字的由來。

The second half is because they're kind of fat, though unlike their fellow Can-mericans, when winter arrives, they need their excess weight to go into hibernation.

名字後半段由來是因為牠們有點胖，不過不同於牠們的美加同伴的事，在冬天時，牠們會需要額外的體重進入冬眠。

The story of the holiday is that on February 2nd the wise groundhogs wake from hibernation to peek out of their burrow and look at the world.

這節日的由來是，聰明的土撥鼠會在二月二日時從冬眠中甦醒，探出洞穴並看看世界。

If they see their shadow, they go back inside, which predicts six more weeks of winter.

如果牠們看見了自己的影子，就會縮回洞中，代表冬天會再持續六週。

If they don't, then spring will come early.

如果牠們沒看見自己的影子，則表示春天會提早到來。

The holiday started in the 1800s as a Pennsylvania Dutch custom of weather prediction and today is celebrated in Canada and 49 of the fifty states, the exception being Alaska, which in 2009, decided to forgo Groundhog Day in favor of Marmot Day.

這個節日始於 19 世紀，是賓夕凡尼亞州預測天氣的習俗，而現今，全加拿大以及美國五十州中除了阿拉斯加，其餘四十九州都會慶祝這個節日，阿拉斯加在 2009 年時決定不過土撥鼠日，轉而過旱獺日。

Outside of Alaska, many groundhogs contend with each other to be the king of seasonal weather prediction.

在阿拉斯加州以外，許多土撥鼠會相互競爭成為當季的天氣預測之王。

Their main weapon in this war being their delightful names such as Queen Charlotte and Sir Walter Wally in North Carolina, Shubenacadie Sam of Nova Scotia, Staten Island Chuck from New York, French Creek Freddie in West Virginia.

土撥鼠們的主要武器是取一個吸引人的名字如北卡羅來納州的 Queen Charlotte 和 Sir Walter Wally，加拿大新斯科細亞省的 Shubenacadie Sam，紐約的 Staten Island Chuck，西維吉尼亞州的 French Creek Freddie。

And...Gus from Athens, Georgia, though this last groundhog is somewhat overshadowed by his neighbor, General Beauregard Lee, who one must assume has stylish facial hair and fans himself on the veranda of his plantation home while drinking mint julep and pining for the day when the south will rise again.

以及喬治亞州雅典城的 Gus，雖然 Gus 與牠的鄰居 General Beauregard Lee 相比之下有些黯然失色，大家認為 General Beauregard Lee 應該有著時髦的臉部毛髮並在自家的陽台上邊扇風邊喝著薄荷朱利普雞尾酒，期待著南方再度興起的一天。

1,000 miles north of the General, Wiarton Willie is the groundhog king of Canada, who throws an annual party to help him stay on top and make sure that the people keep building epic statues of him.

位於General 所在地的北方一千英里是加拿大的土撥鼠之王，Wiarton Willie， 每年會舉辦派對讓牠居高臨下，並確保人類有持續建造牠雄偉的雕像。

But, if there could be only one, Punxsutawney Phil would be him.

但如果只能有一個王，那會是 Punxsutawney Phil。

Not only is his name the most fun to say but he also has quite a posse of top-hatted, tuxedoed men who look after him and call themselves The Inner Circle.

不只是因為牠的名字唸起來最有趣，還因為有一群戴高帽、穿燕尾服並自稱為 The Inner Circle 的人照顧牠。

According to them, Punxsutawney Phil has been making predictions since the 1880s.

根據他們的說法，從 1880 年代起，Punxsutawney Phil 就已經開始預測天氣。

Not a Punxsutawney Phil, mind you, but this Punxsutawney Phil, who is functionally immortal because of a magic life-extending elixir The Inner Circle members prepare for him so that he can continue to make predictions -- and bring in tourist revenue -- until the end of time.

不過，Punxsutawney Phil 當然不是同一隻土撥鼠，但這個名字的功用會永垂不朽，因為 The Inner Circle 會替他準備延長生命的仙丹，讓他繼續預測天氣並賺進觀光收入，直到世界末日。

He also speaks a language called groundhogese that only the president of The Inner Circle can understand.

牠還會說「土撥鼠語」，而這個語言只有 The Inner Circle 的負責人才可以理解。

If you think that Groundhog Day is a dumb, pointless holiday then there are two things you should consider.

如果你覺得土撥鼠日是一個愚蠢且無意義的節日，那麼你需要考慮以下兩件事。

And second, you better be careful on Groundhog Day, because in addition to their weather predicting day jobs, these groundhogs also have the magical power to trap you in an infinite time loop until you learn to be less of a jerk.

第二，在土撥鼠日這天你最好要小心一點，因為土撥鼠除了會預測天氣之外，還會用魔力將你陷在無限的時間輪迴中，直到你學會不再當個討厭鬼。

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什麼！竟然有土撥鼠日 (Groundhog Day Explained)

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