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Historical documents show that, originally, Valentine’s Day had little to do with love.
历史文献表明，情人节最初与爱情没有什么关系。
Ancient Romans did have a fertility celebration in February.
古罗马人确实在2月庆祝生育节。
But, a recorded link between Valentine’s Day and love did not appear until about 1200 years later.
但是，情人节和爱情之间的联系直到大约1200年后才有记录。
In 1382, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem about love.
1382年，杰弗里·乔叟写了一首有关爱情的诗。
He was a famous English Poet.
他是一位著名的英国诗人。
The poem told about birds coming together half-way through the second month of the year.
这首诗讲述了在一年的第二个月鸟儿们聚在一起的故事。
The birds met on this day, Valentine’s Day, to mate.
鸟儿们为了交配在这一天（情人节）相见。
The poem influenced many people.
这首诗影响了许多人。
And soon after, other writers began to use these ideas in their own writing.
不久之后，其他作家开始在他们自己的作品中使用这些想法。
The link between Valentine’s Day and love became common!
情人节和爱情之间的联系就变得普遍了！
By the 17th century, Valentine’s Day was a common celebration all over Great Britain.
到了17世纪，情人节已经成为全英国普遍庆祝的节日。
About a hundred years later, people began to exchange small gifts or notes on Valentine’s Day.
大约一百年后，人们开始在情人节交换小礼物或纸条。
These gifts were an expression of love between family, friends, and lovers.
（交换）礼物是家人、朋友和恋人之间表达爱的方式。
Today, many people still celebrate Valentine’s Day in this way—people in Canada, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
今天，加拿大、墨西哥、美国、英国、法国和澳大利亚的许多人仍然在用这种方式来庆祝情人节。
The most popular gift to exchange is the greeting card.
最流行的交换礼物是贺卡。
It is usually just a simple paper note that expresses love or devotion.
它通常只是一张简单的用来表达爱或奉献的纸条。
A person can send a Valentine’s Day greeting card to his lover, his parents, his co-worker, or even his doctor!
一个人可以给他的情人、他的父母、他的同事，甚至他的医生寄一张情人节贺卡！
In fact, the Greeting Card Association says that world-wide, people send over one thousand million greeting cards every Valentine’s Day!
事实上，贺卡协会表示，每年情人节全世界寄出的贺卡数量超过了10亿张！
But greeting cards are not the only thing people exchange.
但是贺卡并不是人们交换的唯一东西。
Besides sending a card, a couple may go out to a special dinner.
除了送贺卡，情侣们还可以出去吃一顿特别的晚餐。
They may buy each other a present, or just some good tasting candy or chocolate.
他们可能会给对方买一份礼物，或者只是一些好吃的糖果或巧克力。
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
