Daphne, a famous band for fashionable shoes of girls, originates from a moving, tragic love story of Greek legends. Apollo was a handsome, strong and intelligent young man, who was the god of the sun, music, poetry, medicine, and prophecy. His first lover was Daphne, a beautiful nymph with rosy cheek, silvery voice and springy knees, however, the beauty despised his love and ran away from him every time she saw him even though she knew he fell in love with her desperately. Eventually her father, a river god, transformed Daphne into a laurel tree on her renewed pleadings when Apollo was about to grasp her. Haunted by her memories, the grieved Apollo then declared this tree’s leaves, laurels, were to become the god’s token of glory and to remain green year in and year out. From then on, laurels serve as the symbol of victory, success and distinction in western culture, as it did in the case of The Poet Laureate spread in the Buckingham Palace ever since the seventeenth century. Here is the story at length in Chinese version.
相传希腊神话中林泽仙女达芙妮(Daphne)长得丰姿绰约，艳丽非凡。主管光明、青春、音乐和诗歌的太阳神阿波罗(Apollo)为其美貌所倾倒，夜夜相思，追求攻势相当热烈，怎无奈流水有情落花无意，Daphne总是逃避他的追求。一天俩人河边偶遇，姑娘一见拔腿就跑，太阳神在后穷追不舍，达芙妮跑得疲惫不堪，抱定宁为玉碎不为瓦全的决心，情急之下请河神父亲就地把自己变成了一株月桂树。阿波罗感伤无限，无限深情地表示：“愿你的枝叶四季常青，装饰我的头，装饰我的琴，装饰我的心，让你成为最高荣誉的象征”。他将月桂树移植到自己的'神庙旁朝夕相处，取其枝叶编成花冠带在头上，以示对达芙妮的倾慕和怀念。于是阿波罗初恋的破碎记录在月桂树纯洁的高雅上，以桂冠的形式被后人世代相传其荣耀，且看至今仍流传的三个典故吧：to win/gain laurels赢得声望、获得荣誉;to look to one’s laurels爱惜名声、卫冕;to rest/retire on one’s laurels不求上进。
书香门第
