生日快樂歌的來源英文版Happy Birthday to You

　　    我們都知道生日的時候都會唱一首生日快樂歌：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.

　　關于“祝你生日快樂”一歌是如何產生的故事，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：有姐妹倆，一個叫瑪德里德·希爾，路易思維爾市肯德基實驗幼兒園教師，一個叫柏蒂·希爾，該校的校長。姐妹倆一道為兒童們譜寫了一首歌，歌名為“大家早上好”。瑪德里德是當地贊美歌的專家，再加上她的音樂天分，又是當地教堂的風琴師，而且她姐姐在幼兒教育方面也很有經驗，“大家早上好”一歌無疑是個巨大的成功。

　　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師范學院幼兒教育系系主任之后，一個名叫羅伯特·H·科爾曼的男士未經姐妹倆的允許，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”，這就構成了對姐妹倆的傷害和侮辱。科爾曼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.

　　瑪德里德于1916年逝世后，柏蒂與其另一個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，實際上她們擁有這首歌曲調的版權。由于這首歌曲的法定版權屬于希爾姐妹家，它便被賦予了皇權，無論何時這首歌因商用目的而被唱的時候，其皇權總是會受到保護的。

　　如今生日快樂歌已經是家喻戶曉了，中文版英文版我們都耳熟能詳了。