February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air， romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day， it is customary for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner， buy her flowers and chocolates， write poems， sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals①！
This is the scene that greets you on Valentine’s Day， named after Valentine who was a priest in third century Rome.
When the emperor② decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives， he banned marriage. But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies③ for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered， the emperor had him put to death. While in prison， it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death on 14th Feb 270 DC， he wrote her a letter， which he signed “From your Valentine”， an expression that is still in use today.
Valentine died for what he believed in and so was made a Saint， as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic figures. February 14 was named Valentine’s Day to commemorate④ the Priest Valentine， and Chinese call it “lovers’ day”.
One of the symbols of St. Valentine’s Day is the Roman god of Love， called Cupid. Cupid is often printed on the card， who is winged⑤ infant without wearing anything， poised to shoot his arrow into a heart. He would shoot an arrow of love into a person’s heart to make the person fall in love immediately， maybe with the first person to come along. Sometimes one arrow would go through two hearts， holding them together. So on February 14th not only do we have picture of the Christian⑥ St. Valentine but we also have pictures of the non-Christian Cupid， the Roman god of Love.
① petaln. 花瓣
② emperorn. 皇帝
③ ceremonyn. 仪式，典礼
④ commemoratev. 纪念，庆祝
⑤ wingedadj. 有翼的，迅速的，飞行的，翼受伤的
⑥ Christiann. 基督徒，信徒 adj. 基督教的，信基督教的
情人节
2月作为浪漫的月份由来已久。在这个时节，空气中弥漫着玫瑰花的芳香，影院里放映浪漫的电影，而爱情故事充斥了各种报纸和杂志。
在2月14日这一天，男孩通常都要邀请女朋友共赴正餐。除此之外，男孩还要为女朋友买花和巧克力，为她写诗，为她歌唱，甚至还要用玫瑰花瓣拼出女孩的名字。
映入你眼帘的这幕情景就是情人节。情人节又名瓦伦丁节，是以公元3世纪一名罗马牧师的名字命名的。
当时的罗马皇帝认为单身男人比有老婆的男人更适合当兵打仗，于是他下令禁止结婚。但是瓦伦丁继续秘密地为年轻的爱人们举行结婚仪式。当他的行为被发现后，皇帝判处瓦伦丁死刑。据说在狱中，瓦伦丁与狱卒的女儿坠入爱河。公元270年2月14日，瓦伦丁临死前给她写了一封信，信中他签上了“来自你的瓦伦丁”。这一措辞沿用至今。
瓦伦丁为他的信仰而牺牲，因而被奉为圣徒，并且成为历史上最浪漫的人物之一。为了纪念瓦伦丁，人们将每年的2月14日，命名为瓦伦丁节，中国人称之为情人节。
情人节的标志之一是罗马爱神——丘比特。丘比特经常被印在卡片上，他是一个赤身裸体、长有翅膀的婴儿，手里拿着箭，摆出一副要射心的姿势。他把爱之箭射中一个人的心，这个人会很快坠入爱河，可能是和他（她）第一个见到的人。有时候，一只箭会射中两颗心，把它们穿在一起。所以在2月14日，我们不仅有基督的“圣·瓦伦登”的画像，还有非基督的罗马爱神丘比特的画像。
