我們都知道生日的時(shí)候都會(huì)唱一首生日快樂歌：Happy Birthday to You.

　　今天我們就來了解的一下英語生日快樂歌的來源。The story of how the song "Happy Birthday to You" came to be, began as a sweet one, that later soured. Two sisters, Mildred Hill, a teacher at the Louisville, Kentucky Experimental Kindergarten, and Dr. Patty Hill, the principal of the same school, together wrote a song for the children, entitled "Good Morning to All." When Mildred combined her musical talents, as the resident expert on spiritual songs, and as the organist for her church, with her sister's expertise in the area of Kindergarten Education, "Good Morning to All" was sure to be a success.

　　關(guān)于“祝你生日快樂”一歌是如何產(chǎn)生的故事，一開始是件令人愉快的事，到后來就變了味，令人很掃興。事情是這樣的：有姐妹倆，一個(gè)叫瑪?shù)吕锏?middot;希爾，路易思維爾市肯德基實(shí)驗(yàn)幼兒園教師，一個(gè)叫柏蒂·希爾，該校的校長(zhǎng)。姐妹倆一道為兒童們譜寫了一首歌，歌名為“大家早上好”�，�?shù)吕锏率钱?dāng)?shù)刭澝栏璧膶＜�，再加上她的音樂天分，又是�?dāng)?shù)亟烫玫娘L(fēng)琴師，而且她姐姐在幼兒教育方面也很有經(jīng)驗(yàn)，“大家早上好”一歌無疑是個(gè)巨大的成功。

　　The sisters published the song in a collection entitled "Song Stories of the Kindergarten" in 1893. Thirty-one years later, after Dr. Patty Hill became the head of the Department of Kindergarten Education at Columbia University's Teacher College, a gentleman by the name of Robert H. Coleman published the song, without the sisters' permission. To add insult to injury, he added a second verse, the familiar "Happy Birthday to You."

　　1893年，兩姐妹發(fā)表了一部歌曲集，題名為“幼兒園的故事”。三十一年以后，在柏蒂·希爾出任哥倫比亞大學(xué)師范學(xué)院幼兒教育系系主任之后，一個(gè)名叫羅伯特·H·科爾曼的男士未經(jīng)姐妹倆的允許，私自出版了這首歌，在這首歌后又加上了一段，即大家熟悉的“祝你生日快樂”，這就構(gòu)成了對(duì)姐妹倆的傷害和侮辱�？茽柭�先生增加的第二段歌詞使這首歌很快就十分流行。

　　Mr. Coleman's addition of the second verse popularized the song and, eventually, the sisters' original first verse disappeared. "Happy Birthday to You," the one and only birthday song, had altogether replaced the sisters' original title, "Good Morning to All."

　　最終，姐妹倆的第一段歌詞消失了。“祝你生日快樂”，這首唯一的生日歌完全取代了姐妹倆原來的歌曲“大家早上好！”。

　　After Mildred died in 1916, Patty, together with a third sister named Jessica, sprang into action and took Mr. Coleman to court. In court, they proved that they, indeed, owned the melody. Because the family legally owns the song, it is entitled to royalties from it, whenever it is sung for commercial purposes.

　　瑪?shù)吕锏掠?916年逝世后，柏蒂與其另一個(gè)妹妹杰西卡出面將科爾曼先生告上了法庭。在法庭上，她們證明，實(shí)際上她們擁有這首歌曲調(diào)的版權(quán)。由于這首歌曲的法定版權(quán)屬于希爾姐妹家，它便被賦予了皇權(quán)，無論何時(shí)這首歌因商用目的而被唱的時(shí)候，其皇權(quán)總是會(huì)受到保護(hù)的。

　　如今生日快樂歌已經(jīng)是家喻戶曉了，中文版英文版我們都耳熟能詳了。