氣質姐與可愛可

　　In Taiwan, everyone knows the Dragon Boat Festival started with Qu Yuan, an honorable court1 official who committed suicide after being wrongfully put into exile2 from his native land. However, some scholars3 believe the story of Qu Yuan was told after the festival was already widely celebrated. They believe the festival began as dragon worship long before Qu Yuan. The dragon king rules the rivers and protects the villages through the tough winter months. This leads to the conclusion that the food thrown into the river to feed the fish to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body may have actually been offerings4 to the dragon king.
　　Today, the influence of the dragon king remains in the beautifully decorated boats used on this holiday. Through these splendid5 images, the ancient worship of dragons as the masters of floods and rainfall6 as well as protectors of the people is still alive throughout Asia.
　　While dragons were worshipped and respected in Asia, they were portrayed differently in European legends. The tale of Saint George and the evil dragon he killed best shows the difference. Instead of food, this dragon was given a young, innocent princess from the village as a sacrifice7. The story of how the brave Saint George had killed the evil monster spread throughout Europe, which led to other cultures telling their own versions of the story. So important was Saint George that people in England, Greece, Russia, and Portugal all thought of him as their protector, which is the exact opposite of how most Asians see dragons as their protectors.

　　在台灣，每個人都知道端午節始於屈原，他是一位品德高尚的朝廷官員，因被別人誣害而自祖國流放，最後自殺身亡。然而有些學者認為屈原的故事是在這個節日被廣為慶祝後才開始流傳的。他們認為這個節日是始於對龍的敬祀，並且早在屈原之前就已經存在了。龍王主宰著河川，並且保護各個村落安然度過寒冬。這樣的想法衍生出一個結論，就是那些丟進河裡餵食魚類以防牠們吃掉屈原身體的食物，其實有可能是用來供奉龍王的祭品。
　　在今日，龍王帶給後世的影響依舊存在於這個節日中所使用的精美船隻上。透過這些華麗鮮明的圖像可以看出，將龍當作洪水之神、雨神及人民守護神的古老信仰，至今仍活躍於亞洲各地。
　　在亞洲受到人們信奉及尊敬的龍，在歐洲的傳說裡卻有著截然不同的描述。而最能突顯這項差異的就是聖喬治宰殺惡龍的故事。人們用來供奉這隻龍的祭品並非食物，而是村莊裡一位年輕天真的公主。勇敢的聖喬治如何殺掉這頭邪惡怪獸的故事傳遍了歐洲，進而導致其它文化紛紛述說起它們自己版本的故事。聖喬治是如此重要，以致於英國、希臘、俄國及葡萄牙的人民皆視其為守護者，而這點跟多數亞洲人視龍為守護神的觀念正好相反。