Taboos of Chinese New Year （3）

There are traditionally many taboos associated with the New Year Festival, but in recent years some of them have been discarded, especially among urban populations in larger cities. Examples of typical New Year taboos are the following: on the first day of the new year, a woman may not leave her house, otherwise she will be plagued with bad luck for the entirety of the coming year;  a married daughter is not allowed to pay a visit to the house of her parents as a visit from a married daughter on this day is believed to bring bad luck to the parents, causing economic hardship for the family; the act of sweeping on this day is associated with sweeping wealth away, therefore Chinese people do not sweep their house on this day.

传统上有许多与春节联系的禁忌，但是在近几年许多已被废弃了，尤其是在大城市的城市人口中。以下是典型的新年禁忌的例子：新年的第一天女人不可以离开家，否则她在即将到来的全年将会受到坏运的折磨；不允许结婚了的女儿大年初一去拜访父母，据说嫁出去的闺女如果大年初一那天去父母家会给父母带来坏运气造成家里的经济困难；在新年那天打扫与赶走财富的做法，因此中国人大年初一这天不打扫屋子。

During the New Year Festival season (from the 1st to 15th of the Lunar New Year) the following taboos apply:

下面这些禁忌适用于新年期间（正月初一至正月十五）：

 the cry of a child is believed to bring bad luck to the family, so parents do their best to keep children from crying by whatever means possible; the act of breaking tools or other equipment during this period is associated with a loss of wealth for the coming year, therefore tradesmen and business people in general take great precaution to avoid damaging their tools and equipment; a visit to the hospital during this period is believed to bring illness to the person in question for the duration of coming year, therefore visits to the hospital are avoided except in cases of extreme emergency.

据说小孩的啼哭会给家里带来坏运气，因此父母尽他们最大的努力想各种办法来阻止孩子哭；新年期间破坏工具或者设备的行为与来年损失巨大财富相联系，因此一般零售商和商人为了避免毁坏他们的工具和设备会极其留心；据说在新年期间探访病人会使病人来年延长生病时间，所以除非有特殊紧急情况一般大家都避免在新年期间去医院。

 （听力课堂网Vicky翻译）