People have been passionate about roses since the beginning of time. In fact， it is said that the floors of Cleopatra's palace were carpeted with delicate rose petals， and that the wise and knowing Confucius had a 600-book library specifically on how to care for roses.

    人類有史以來就鐘情于玫瑰。據(jù)說，克婁巴特拉的宮殿的地面就鋪滿了嬌嫩的玫瑰花瓣，博學(xué)的孔子有600冊藏書專門講述如何培育玫瑰。

    The rose is a legend on its own. The story goes that during the Roman Empire， there was an incredibly beautiful maiden named Rhodanthe. Her beauty drew many zealous suitors who pursued her relentlessly. Exhausted by their pursuit， Rhodanthe was forced to take refuge from her suitors in the temple of her friend Diana. Unfortunately， Diana became jealous. And when the suitors broke down her temple gates to get near their beloved Rhodanthe， she became angry turning Rhodanthe into a rose and her suitors into thorns.

    玫瑰本身就是一個傳說。在羅馬帝國時代，有一個名叫羅丹斯的美麗絕倫的少女。她的麗姿引來了無數(shù)狂熱的求婚者鍥而不舍地追求她。羅丹斯實(shí)在招架不住了，不得不到朋友狄安娜的神廟里躲避她的求婚者。不幸的是，狄安娜產(chǎn)生了嫉妒之心。當(dāng)求婚者沖進(jìn)了神廟的大門，要接近他們所愛戀著的羅丹斯時，狄安娜一怒之下將羅丹斯變成了一枝玫瑰花，將她的求婚者變成了花刺。

    In Greek legend， the rose was created by Chloris， the Greek goddess of flowers. It was just a lifeless seed of a nymph that Chloris found one day in a clearing in the woods. She asked the help of Aphrodite， the goddess of love， who gave her beauty Dionysus， the god of wine， added nectar to give her a sweet scent， and the three Graces gave her charm， brightness and joy. Then Zephyr， the West Wind， blew away the clouds so that Apollo， the sun god， could shine and made this flower bloom. And so the Rose was born and was immediately crowned the Queen of Flowers.

    在希臘傳說中，玫瑰是希臘花神克羅斯創(chuàng)造的。當(dāng)初玫瑰只是林中一個仙女的尚無生命的一粒種子。一天，花神克羅斯偶然在森林的一塊空地上發(fā)現(xiàn)了它。克羅斯請求愛神阿佛洛狄特賦予了它美麗的容貌；讓酒神狄俄尼索斯?jié)矠⒘松窬疲�使它擁有了芬芳的氣味。又有美惠三女神將魅力、聰穎和歡樂賜予了它。隨后，西風(fēng)之神吹散了云朵，太陽神阿波羅得以照耀它并使它開花。玫瑰就這樣誕生了，并立即被封為花中之皇后。