有句俗語說：過完臘八就是年！今天就是臘月初八——臘八節(jié)?！芭D八，臘八，凍掉下巴”，這句俗語相信大家都聽說過，臘月初八，被認為是一年中最冷的一天，今天的習俗，就是喝臘八粥。那么，“臘八粥”用英語怎么說呢？其實，臘八的英文就是漢語拼音Laba，也譯作the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month。

Laba Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It’s a day for celebrating harvest, offering sacrifices to ancestors, and worshiping gods. But above all, it is a day for cooking Laba Congee, a hodgepodge of grains, beans and dried fruits used to invoke peace and good fortune. Chinese people believe that eating congee during Laba festival will bring good luck. Laba Congee is infused with Chinese people’s beautiful expectations of a happy life.

農(nóng)歷十二月初八是中國的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日——臘八節(jié)，在這一天人們慶祝豐收、祭祀祖先、拜神。最重要的是，在這一天人們要做由各種谷物、豆類和干果熬成的臘八粥以祈求來年和平及好運。中國人相信臘八節(jié)喝臘八粥會帶來好運，臘八粥充滿著中國人民對幸福生活的美麗期望。

Folktales abound as to the origins of eating congee during Laba Festival. According to the most famous one, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang (reigned 1368-1399), used to herd cattle for a rich man. One day, his carelessness caused a leg of one of the cows to be broken. The rich man was so angry that he locked up the culprit in a small room and didn’t allow food to be given to him. After some time, the famished Zhu Yuanzhang found in a corner of the room a rat hole that contained a supply of stolen red beans, rice, red dates and other produce. These he boiled into congee, on which he feasted voluptuously. Because that day was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang named the congee Laba Congee.

關于臘八節(jié)喝粥的起源，民間故事比比皆是。最著名的一個,明朝的開國皇帝朱元璋(1368 - 1399年在位)，小時候給財主放牛，因牛腿摔斷被財主關在一間屋子里，不給他飯吃， 過了一段時間，快要餓死的朱元璋在屋子的角落里發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個老鼠洞，從中挖掘出紅豆、大米、紅棗等各種糧食，煮成粥食用，覺得非常香甜。因為這一天是農(nóng)歷的十二月八日,皇帝朱元璋將它命名為臘八粥。

不同地區(qū)臘八粥的用料雖有不同，但基本的八種原料包括：

臘八節(jié)喝臘八粥是中國傳統(tǒng)習俗，臘八粥不僅好喝，對身體也十分有益。祝大家臘八節(jié)快樂！記得喝臘八粥哦！