情人节为什么要送玫瑰？答案找到了

2023-02-14 07:02

在甜蜜而浪漫的情人节，什么最能代表一份矢志不渝的爱情？

虽说人们早已习惯用送花来表达爱，但没有任何一种花能比得上红玫瑰在情人节的象征性意义。

根据美国零售联合会（National Retail Federation）的数据，情人节期间玫瑰的消费十分惊人。

In 2022 alone, people spent $23.9 billion on Valentine's Day, according to the National Retail Federation. Of that, 2.3$ billion went to Valentine's Day flowers - averaging out to nearly $17 per person.

红玫瑰到底为什么能够成为爱情的符号呢？

和许多西方习俗一样，红玫瑰的起源来自希腊神话。有故事说，世界上第一朵红玫瑰是希腊女神阿芙罗狄蒂（Aphrodite）被白玫瑰的刺刮伤后，用血染红的；也有故事说，第一朵红玫瑰生长在阿芙罗狄蒂的情人阿多尼斯（Adonis）死去的地方，是用女神的泪水浇灌的。

真正把玫瑰与浪漫联系起来则是一个漫长的过程，这与花语的逐渐形成与流行密不可分。

An early figure sometimes connected to the association between roses and romance is Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of a British ambassador to Turkey during the 1700s. "Lady Montagu wrote letters home enthusing over a version of Turkish 'flower language,' or the process of assigning certain symbolic meanings to certain flowers."
将玫瑰与浪漫联系起来的早期人物是英国诗人玛丽·沃特利·蒙塔古夫人，她是18世纪英国驻土耳其大使的妻子。“蒙塔古夫人写信回家时，对土耳其的‘花语’很感兴趣，也就是给某些花赋予象征意义的过程。”

花语的概念就这样风靡于19世纪的英国，于是玫瑰在随后的一个世纪里越来越与浪漫的爱情相互联系。

当然，情人节送玫瑰还有另一个实际的原因。

But a huge reason giving roses for Valentine's Day has persisted as a tradition is "simply because roses are beautiful, fabulous-smelling flowers that happen to travel really well... Flowers are usually shipped over long distances, and roses are both gorgeous and hardy, so that's a huge part of why this practice has continued."
情人节送玫瑰主要也因为“玫瑰是一种美丽、香气扑鼻的花，而且碰巧能够承受长途旅行……因为鲜花通常要长途运输。玫瑰既美丽又耐寒，这是情人节送玫瑰传统形成的很大一部分原因。”

我们习惯用红玫瑰赞美爱情，而其实，有这样美好象征的二月花不仅仅是红玫瑰。

For years now, people have ascribed a specific flower or flowers for every month. They call these birth month flowers. Every month has its own flower, and no birth month flowers overlap.
多年以来，人们给每个月份都赋予一种或几种花，并称其为“生日花”。每个月都有属于自己的花，且没有重复。

因为二月在许多地方仍然是凛冽的寒冬，耐寒的紫罗兰和报春花就承载了早春的愿望。

紫罗兰

根据花语，紫罗兰（violet）象征着谦逊、忠诚、永恒的爱、纯真和记忆。

In the Victorian age, a gift of violets was a declaration to always be true. It still serves as a reminder of loyalty, thoughtfulness and dependability. Give a violet to someone to let them know you'll always be there for them!
在维多利亚时代，送紫罗兰代表着一种永恒的宣言。它还是忠诚、体贴和可靠的象征。赠人一朵紫罗兰，会让你爱的人知道，你一直在身边。

图源：视觉中国

报春花

报春花（primrose）在一些古老的传说里是通往仙女王国的大门，象征着保护、安全和爱。

In the Victorian era, a gift of primroses meant young love, while in the language of flowers, it says "I can't live without you." Primrose also has meaning in Norse mythology as a symbol for the goddess of love, Freya.
在维多利亚时代，赠送报春花意味着年轻的爱情，而在花语中，它蕴含的意义是“我不能没有你”。同时，报春花在北欧神话中也是爱神弗雷娅的象征。

以花传情，不拘一格。除了这两种二月的“生日花”，还有很多种鲜花拥有爱的语言，也可以为情人节增添颜色。

郁金香

郁金香（tulip）有明艳的色彩和简洁的美感，在花语中也与浪漫的爱情紧密相连，代表着忠诚与信任。

Purple tulips are said to represent eternal love while pink tulips signify perfect love. If you want to get into the darker side of things, black tulips are said to represent sacrificial love.
据说紫色郁金香代表永恒的爱，而粉色郁金香代表完美的爱。还有一种不那么轻松的选择——黑色郁金香，代表着牺牲的爱。

因为它的英文名tulips与“two lips”（两瓣嘴唇）谐音，郁金香也成为了许多浪漫双关语的元素，如“our tulips should kiss”。

图源：视觉中国

紫丁香

紫丁香（lilac）具有独特的颜色和香气，但也是花期最短的花之一。它只在初春绽放约三周的时间，代表着痴迷和初恋，象征着青年爱情的纯真。

They're ideal to give to a new love to celebrate the burgeoning relationship. They're also perfect to remember a relationship and to ask the recipient "Do you still love me?".
将紫丁香送给新交往的恋人，是庆祝这段恋情迅速发展的理想选择。它同样也很适合用来回忆一段恋情，仿佛在询问对方：“你还爱我吗？”