★ ★ ★星期三的孩子为何满怀哀伤？来读读这首童谣吧～★ ★ ★

你是星期几出生的 (2023)

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2023 / 日本 / 剧情 爱情 / 大塚恭司 岩本仁志 松原浩 / 饭丰万理江 沟端淳平

最近看过一部十分喜欢的日剧《你是星期几出生的》，被最出圈的一段名台词戳中，甚感有趣，遂稍作检索，发现此处化用了一首历史悠久的英语童谣，原文及自译如下：

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<Monday's Child>

《星期一的孩子》

Monday's child is fair of face,

星期一的孩子面容明丽，

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

星期二的孩子优雅得体，

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

星期三的孩子满怀哀伤，

Thursday's child has far to go,

星期四的孩子前途远长，

Friday's child is loving and giving,

星期五的孩子乐于付出，

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

星期六的孩子谋生辛苦，

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day

还有安息日*出生的小孩

Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

既漂亮迷人又快活自在。

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*注：此处指基督教的安息日，为每周的第一天，即星期日。其来历可追溯至《圣经·旧约·创世记》，上帝花六天时间创造世界万物，第七日休息，故而安息日是休息、做礼拜的日子，不许工作。而犹太教的安息日在犹太历每周的第七天，即星期六。

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为能更好地解读这首童谣，搜到两篇介绍其背景知识的短文，一并摘译如下：

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https://www.reference.com/world-view/wednesday-s-child-full-woe-mean-18a83b24fdebf97e

《“星期三的孩子满怀哀伤”：歌谣〈星期一的孩子〉及其含义》

大卫·纳尔/著

“Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe”: The Monday’s Child Poem & Its Meanings

By David Naar

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尽管人们常将其跟《鹅妈妈童谣》扯上关系，但是该诗歌实际上也许并非源于这部童谣集。而且，《星期一的孩子》初次刊印是在1838年出版的某部书第二卷中，此书题为《德文郡的传统、传奇、迷信与概览：于泰马与塔维两河之畔，描摹当地的风土习俗、古迹历史、自然景观及博物生态》，作者是安娜·伊丽莎·布雷。

由于这个书名委实过度宏大，通常都使用其简称，即A. E. 布雷所著《德文郡的传统》。据此可知，《星期一的孩子》很可能先已在人们口中流传数十年甚至数百年才首度付梓。另有一本书也包含支持这一说法的论据，即亚当·福克斯所作《英格兰1500—1700年的口头与书面文化》。福克斯在书中提到，伊丽莎白时代的作家托马斯·纳什曾经谈及1570年代萨福克的一群老妇，她们“根据某人出生在星期几来预言其命运”。这意味着，基于星期几生日给人们分配各自的属性特征，此种占卜法在英格兰显然可追溯至16世纪。

While often associated with Mother Goose, the poem may not have actually originated with the queen or all nursery rhymes. Moreover, the first time that “Monday’s Child” appeared in print was in the second volume of an 1838 book called Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire: On the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy, Illustrative of Its Manners, Customs, History, Antiquities, Scenery, and Natural History by Anna Eliza Bray.

Due to the book’s overly ambitious title, it’s often simply referred to as A.E. Bray’s Traditions of Devonshire. That said, it’s quite possible that “Monday’s Child” may have been circulating for decades or even centuries before it was first committed to the page. This theory finds support in yet another book called Oral and literate culture in England, 1500-1700, by Adam Fox. Fox recalls how the Elizabethan writer Thomas Nashe once spoke about a group of old women in 1570s Suffolk who would “tell what luck euerie[every] one should haue by the day of the weeke he was borne on.”

What this means is that attributing certain characteristics to people, based on which day of the week they were born on, was apparently a thing back in 16th century England.

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至少，我们所知的几种猜想均有理有据。例如，某一说法溯及一星期各天名称的词源——其中多个名称取自盎格鲁-撒克逊民族崇奉的神祇。“星期三”（Wednesday）源于 “Wodnesdaeg” ，该词来自沃登（Woden）之名，这位大神更广为人知的名字即“奥丁”（Odin）。

身为北欧众神之中的主神，奥丁不仅是威武王者、刚猛战士，还是一位吟游诗人，喜欢扮作旅行者在人间大地四处游弋。奥丁个性严肃认真，重求知胜于一切，为追寻真知灼见，甚至不惜付出了一只眼睛的代价。星期三出生的孩子会经受苦楚，可能便是要反映出当日名称原主人奥丁较为肃穆沉重的面向。“哀伤”（woe）或许没有听上去那么悲惨，或许仅为呈现较深刻持重的气质——甚或是深入参悟生命奥秘的渴望。然而，饶有趣味的是，这首歌谣版本众多，其中一些版本里生在星期三的孩子拥有迥异的人生。在苏格兰版本中，星期三出生的孩子“欢乐开怀”，星期四出生的孩子倒成了“聪慧悲哀”。

In the very least, we have a few educated guesses. For example, one theory goes back to the etymology of the days of the week — many of which derive their names from Anglo-Saxon gods. Wednesday first got its start as “Wodnesdaeg” and was named after Woden, who is more commonly known as Odin.

As the chief god of the Norse pantheon, Odin was not only a fierce king and warrior but also a poet who loved traveling the earth disguised as a traveler. Seeking knowledge above all else, Odin was a serious personality who even sacrificed one of his eyes in the pursuit of enlightenment. It’s possible that the woe of Wednesday’s child could be a reflection of some of the more serious attributes of Odin, the weekday’s namesake. “Woe” may not be quite as tragic as it sounds and may have simply indicated a more serious demeanor — or even a longing to understand the deeper mysteries of life.

Interestingly, however, there are a variety of different versions of “Monday’s Child,” some of which tell a much different story about Wednesday babies. In a Scottish version of the poem, Wednesday’s child is “merry and glad,” while Thursday’s child is “wise and sad.”

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星期一出生的孩子“面容明丽”。此句何意呢？根据韦氏词典的释义，“面容明丽”（fair-faced）可用以描述肤色白晳或美貌之人。

对星期二出生的孩子之描述似是相当直白简单。其“优雅得体”（grace），既可表示行为举止风度翩翩，又可意指为人彬彬有礼、亲和友善。

星期四出生的孩子“前途远长”（far to go），该作何解？把这个句子稍微改一改，想成是预言说星期四出生的孩子会“走得长远”（go far），大概就更容易理解了。这可能喻指人生将收获成功，又或是星期四生人也许热爱旅行。

星期五出生的孩子“乐于付出”，意即拥有无愧于人的宽广心胸。

具有讽刺意味的是，即便星期六已变成多数人休闲放松的日子，星期六出生的孩子却注定要为生计而努力打拼。其根源或许在于，在星期日劳作曾是遭人鄙弃之事，人们不得不尽量把即将完工的活计统统塞到星期六。

来看同样重要的最后一句，生在星期日也就是安息日的孩子，“不但漂亮迷人，而且快活自在”（bonny and blithe, and good and gay）。兴许你不太熟悉这些形容词，“bonny”意为“漂亮、有魅力的”，“blithe”意为“快活无忧的”；“gay”意为“欢乐的”或“愉快的”；而“good”呢，就是“美好的”。既然人们曾对安息日予以隆重崇尚，那么，在一星期中公认最神圣的这天出生的孩子集种种正面特质于一身，也自是理所当然。

* Monday’s child is “fair of face.” So, what’s that supposed to mean? According to the Merriam-Webster, “fair-faced” can be used to describe someone who has a light complexion or someone who is beautiful.

* Tuesday’s child seems pretty straightforward. They possess grace, which can either mean an elegant demeanor or general courteousness and goodwill.

* What does it mean that Thursday’s child has “far to go?” It may be easier to rearrange the words a bit and think of it as a prediction that Thursday’s child will “go far.” This can be a metaphor for success in life or, perhaps, that people born on Thursdays will love to travel.

* Friday’s child is “loving and giving,” indicating a shamelessly big heart.

* Ironically, Saturday’s child is destined to work hard for a living, even though Saturday has become the day that most of us use as a time to relax. This may go back to a time when working on Sundays was looked down upon and people had to try to cram last-minute chores in on Saturday.

* Last but not least, Sunday’s child, being born on the Sabbath, will be bonny and blithe, and good and gay. For those who may be unfamiliar with those terms, bonny means attractive; blithe means joyous; gay means merry or cheerful; and good means, well, good. Given how folks once revered the Sabbath, it makes sense that children who are born on what many consider the holiest day of the week would be blessed with positive traits.

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https://interestingliterature.com/2023/05/mondays-child-fair-of-face-poem-summary-analysis/

《歌谣〈星期一的孩子〉之概括与解析》

奥利弗·特尔/著

A Summary and Analysis of the ‘Monday’s Child’ Poem

By Dr Oliver Tearle

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1893年，某位仅署名“弗朗西丝”的作者出版了小说《星期五的孩子》，其中，满怀伤痛的是星期五出生的孩子，乐于付出的则是星期三出生的孩子。某种意义上，这倒合情合理：毕竟，人们长久以来都认为星期五与厄运或不幸相涉，比如传统上的13号黑色星期五，以及耶稣受难日也是在星期五。

纷纭各异的版本中，唯独一项始终不变，即星期日出生的孩子总是福运傍身。

Indeed, this was nothing new: in 1893, an author known simply as ‘Frances’ published a novel, Friday’s Child, in which it is Friday’s child who is full of woe and Wednesday’s child who is loving and giving. This makes sense, in certain respects: after all, Friday has long been associated with bad luck or misfortune, as the tradition of Friday the 13th, and Good Friday being the day of the Crucifixion, attest.

The one thing that is always consistent in the numerous variants of the poem is that Sunday’s child always has a favourable outcome.

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当查尔斯·亚当斯留意到这首歌谣，“星期三的孩子满怀哀伤”一句深深烙印在其心里，而他正是大热动画剧集《亚当斯一家》的编剧。于是，亚当斯一家中的女儿由之得名“星期三”，因为她的设定恰是满怀忧郁。

One person who heeded the rhyme and bore the line ‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe’ firmly in mind was Charles Addams, the creator of the popular Addams Family cartoon. He named the daughter of the family Wednesday Addams because she was supposed to be full of woe.

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