Dragons can be friendly or fierce (凶狠), they can bring good luck or cause death, but one thing is
sure——people talk about them almost everywhere in the world. For a creature that doesn't actually
exist, that's quite something.
In Chinese culture, dragons are generous and wise, although they can be ①unpredictable. The
dragon was closely connected to the royal family: theemperor's robes (礼袍) have a symbol of a gold
dragon with five claws. ②Other members of the royal family were allowed to wear dragon symbols, too,
but with fewer claws and of a different colour. According to popular belief, if you were born in the
year of the dragon, you are intelligent, brave, and a natural leader.
But in the west, dragons had a different reputation (名声). The very first text in English, the
Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, tells the story of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, who fights and kills a
dangerous dragon but is himself killed in the fight. However, across the border in Wales, the red
dragon which appears on the Welsh flag is a positive symbol, indicating strength and a sense of national
identity.
③Why should the dragon have a different character in different parts of the world? Some experts
believe it is due to the animals that the myths grew out of. In the west, the idea of the dragon
probably came from the snake——an animal which people hated and ④____ ____of (害怕).
But in China, the idea of the dragon may have come from the alligator--a shy animal which lives in
rivers, but which is usually only seen when there is plenty of water--a good sign for agriculture(农业).
So the Chinese dragon was a bringer of ⑤good fortune. |
