新視野大學(xué)英語視聽說教程第三冊 Unit 9 Task3: St.Valentine’s Story

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　　Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. He wanted to have a big army, and he expected men to volunteer to join. Seeing many men did not want to leave their wives and families, Claudius had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So he passed a law to forbid any more marriages. I thought it waspreposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

　　I was a priest, and one of my favorite activities was to marry couples. I kept on performing marriage ceremonies, secretly. One night, we heard footsteps and shouts of soldiers outside. It was scary! The couple I was marrying escaped in time, but I was caught. I was thrown injail and told that my punishment was death.

　　Then wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

　　One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

　　I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day.