今天是1805年特拉法加海战的纪念日。在那场海战中，由英雄霍雷肖·纳尔逊率领的皇家海军舰队迎战了兵力占优的法西联合舰队，并取得了震撼人心的伟大胜利，其回响将历经数个世纪而不绝。我今天在此提议，现在是设立年度法定假日的时候了。
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when a Royal Navy fleet under the heroic Horatio Nelson took on a combined French and Spanish force of superior numbers and won a shattering victory whose echoes will ring on down the centuries. I am here today to propose that this is the time for an annual Bank Holiday.
特拉法加不仅由伦敦的特拉法加广场来纪念。在皇家海军的军官餐厅和士兵食堂里，将举行特拉法加之夜晚宴。在正式晚宴之前，通常会备有餐前酒——往往是香槟。人们不再指望现代海军军官真的去用剑战斗：而我的阅兵场剑术操练从来都不是最熟练的，现在也早已被遗忘。我用剑唯一还能做得比较好的事情，就是用它来开香槟。
Trafalgar is not only commemorated by London’s Trafalgar Square. In the wardrooms and messes of the Royal Navy, Trafalgar Night dinners will be held. Before the dinner proper there will be preliminary drinks – often champagne. Modern naval officers are no longer expected to actually fight with a sword: and my parade-ground sword drill, never the most polished, is now long forgotten. The only thing I can still do reasonably well with my sword is open champagne with it.
在晚宴本身上，古老的仪式将一一上演。牛肉将被抬过房间或舱室，高度与肩同齐。巧克力甜点船将在抵达餐桌前排成战斗队形。波特酒将被传递。人们将坐着饮下效忠祝酒，正如皇家海军有幸做的那样，而“永恒的记忆”则将按照习俗，在肃静中起立敬酒。
At the dinner itself, the old rituals will be played out. The beef will be paraded through the room or compartment at shoulder height. The chocolate dessert ships will form lines of battle before arriving on the tables. The port will be passed. The loyal toast will be drunk seated, as the RN is privileged to do, and the Immortal Memory will be toasted standing and in silence, as is the custom.
可能还有其他祝酒：皇家海军对一周中的每一天都有传统的祝酒，例如源自纳尔逊时期的“一场血腥的战争或一个多病的季节”，当时饮酒者希望战斗伤亡或疾病能带来晋升的机会。
There may be other toasts: the RN has a traditional toast for every day of the week, such as “a bloody war or a sickly season”, dating from Nelson’s time when the drinkers hoped that combat casualties or disease might open up opportunities for promotion.
特拉法加之夜也是音乐和歌唱的时刻。人们会期望演唱传统的海军歌曲，比如《橡树之心》。餐桌通常会被有节奏地敲击：最好用另一只手把酒杯举起来。
Trafalgar Night is also a time for music and singing. One would expect to sing traditional naval songs such as Hearts of Oak. The table is normally pounded rhythmically: it’s a good idea to lift your glass in your other hand.
当然，《橡树之心》实际上是在特拉法加之战46年前写的。另一首18世纪初的歌曲在当时已经是海军的最爱，那就是《英格兰的烤牛肉》。这首歌现在唱得不多了，但如果有乐队或鼓手在场，当客人们进来时，以及（当然）当牛肉被抬进来时，就会演奏这段音乐。皇家炮兵部队的军官们也伴随着这个曲调入场用餐。奇怪的是，美国海军陆战队的军官们也是如此。
Hearts of Oak, of course, was actually written 46 years before Trafalgar. Another early 18th-century song which was already a naval favourite at the time was Roast Beef of Old England. It isn’t sung much any more, but if there is a band or a drummer in attendance the music is played as the guests come in, and (of course) as the beef is paraded. The officers of the Royal Artillery are also played in to dinner to this tune. So, curiously, are those of the United States Marines.
当威廉·霍加斯在18世纪40年代创作了同名画作和版画时，《英格兰的烤牛肉》也成为了“做英国人比做法国人好得多”的象征。这些作品描绘了一大块牛肉从一艘船被抬到加莱的一家英国酒馆，而衣衫褴褛、营养不良的法国士兵则在一旁观望。
Roast Beef of Old England also became a symbol of how much better it is to be British than French, when William Hogarth produced a painting and print of the same name in the 1740s. These depict a massive side of beef being carried from a ship to an English tavern in Calais, while ragged, undernourished French soldiers look on.
因此，特拉法加让人联想起一个不列颠统治海洋、身为英国人就是世界伟大国家一部分的时代——甚至比法国等其他伟大国家的公民更加幸运。自那时起，我们（和法国人）经历过起起落落，但特拉法加无疑是庆祝国家假期的绝佳契机，远比五一节假日要好。
Trafalgar, then, is evocative of an age when Britannia ruled the waves and to be British was to be part of the greatest nation in the world – even more fortunate than the citizens of other great nations such as France. We (and the French) have had our ups and downs since then, but surely Trafalgar is a great occasion for a national holiday, far better than the May Day one.
一些传统主义者会谈论五朔节柱和莫里斯舞者，但事实是，早期的五月银行假日是在20世纪70年代黯淡的日子里，由悲惨的左翼人士迈克尔·富特引入的，旨在庆祝国际工会运动，而不是像莫里斯舞者那样任何英国的或令人愉快的东西。此外，我们在一年早些时候有太多的法定假日，而晚些时候则不够。现在是设立特拉法加法定假日的时候了。刘易斯·佩奇是皇家海军前军官
Some traditionalists will speak of maypoles and Morris men, but the truth is the early May Bank Holiday was brought in by the miserable Leftist Michael Foot in the dark days of the 1970s to celebrate the international union movement, not anything British or cheerful like Morris dancers. Also, we have too many Bank Holidays early in the year and not enough later on. It’s time for a Trafalgar Bank Holiday. Lewis Page is a former officer of the Royal Navy