The real history of Valentine's Day is not comprised of roses, chocolates and pretty cards. Instead, crime, imprisonment and execution are at the genesis of our modern day love fest, dating back to the man whose martyrdom may have inspired the holiday.

　　真正的情人節(jié)歷史可不是由玫瑰、巧克力和精致賀卡組成的呦。如今的情人節(jié)是愛情的節(jié)日，可是從情人節(jié)的起源——瓦倫丁殉道開始， 這個日子就一直沒和犯罪、監(jiān)禁、死刑分開過。

　　There were reportedly three early Christian saints named Valentine, but the one the holiday likely comes from was a Roman priest during the 3rd century A.D. under Emperor Claudius II.

　　傳說中有3位名叫瓦倫丁的早期基督教圣人。情人節(jié)得名于其中一位公元3世紀(jì)的羅馬牧師，當(dāng)時的皇帝是克勞狄二世。

　　The Roman Empire was experiencing massive turmoil at the time. Dubbed the 'Crisis of the Third Century' by scholars, this period saw the empire divide into three competing states, with the threat of invasion all around.

　　當(dāng)時，羅馬陷入了極大的混亂。帝國分裂成三個爭斗不休的國家，四方不斷傳來入侵的警訊，學(xué)者們稱之為“三世紀(jì)危機(jī)”。

　　Claudius made the unpopular decision to ban marriage among young people, believing that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers. With the Roman Empire hanging by a thread, Claudius needed all the brazen war power he could get.

　　因?yàn)橄嘈盼椿榈膽?zhàn)士打仗更勇敢，克勞狄發(fā)布了一項(xiàng)不得人心的禁令，不允許年輕人結(jié)婚。由于羅馬帝國面臨著嚴(yán)重威脅，克勞狄需要所有可能的戰(zhàn)爭力量。

　　This is where Valentine comes in; the pesky priest who believed marriage to be a God-given sacrament. Valentine began officiating marriages in secret but was eventually found out and imprisoned. Author Greg Tobin noted that the advent of the Valentine's Day love note may have come about from young children passing Valentine notes through the prison bars, but this may be embellishment to an otherwise tragic story.

　　這時瓦倫丁出現(xiàn)了。這位討厭的牧師相信婚姻是上帝賜予的圣禮并開始秘密主持婚禮。此事最終暴露，瓦倫丁也被關(guān)入牢房。作家格雷格?托賓指出情人節(jié)的愛情便條可能起源于小孩給牢內(nèi)的瓦倫丁傳字條。然而，這可能只是對另一個悲劇故事的潤飾。

　　Tobin describes Valentine's fate:

　　關(guān)于瓦倫丁的命運(yùn)，托賓這樣寫道：

　　“The priest was eventually beheaded and then named a martyr by the Church because he gave up his life to perform the sacrament of marriage: for love of love and love of God.”

　　“最后，牧師被斬首。教會因?yàn)橥邆惗奚约褐鞒只槎Y這一承載對戀情和上帝的愛的圣儀，冊封他為殉道者。”

　　At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day, and centuries later romantic authors like Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare helped seal the deal with references to the day in their works.

　　五世紀(jì)末，教皇基拉西烏斯一世宣布2月14日為圣瓦倫丁日。幾百年后，杰弗雷?喬叟和莎士比亞等浪漫主義作家用他們的著作將這個日子發(fā)揚(yáng)光大。

　　(來源：滬江英語)