一年一度的萬(wàn)圣節就要到啦。這個(gè)節日在英國仍然很火熱，特別對孩子和年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)更是期待呀。借此機會(huì )咱們一起來(lái)聊聊萬(wàn)圣節的歷史和如今英國年青人最喜歡的慶祝活動(dòng)吧。
The Origin of Halloween 萬(wàn)圣節來(lái)歷
Halloween roots lie in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain which was celebrated in what is now Great Britain on a full moon around November 1st. Later the Roman Catholic Church named this day as All Saints Day, formerly known as All Hallowmas. All Saints Day is known in England as All Hallows' Day. The evening before All Saints' Day is All Hallows' Eve, the origin of the American word Halloween.
萬(wàn)圣節起源于古代凱爾特人的薩溫節（Samhain），生活在英倫列島的賽爾特人把11月1日左近的一個(gè)月圓日定為節日。后來(lái)羅馬天主教會(huì )把這一天命名為萬(wàn)圣節，在英國被稱(chēng)為All Hallows Day（萬(wàn)圣節）。那么萬(wàn)圣“Hallow”加上前夜“een”就成為了Halloween這個(gè)美式表達。所以嚴格的說(shuō)Halloween指的是萬(wàn)圣節前夜。
In Britain Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October. However, it is not a public holiday. If the 31st of October falls on a weekday people go to work as normal. The typical colours of Halloween are orange and black, seen on items such as black vampires and pumpkin lanterns.
在英國人們的確是在10月31日這天慶祝萬(wàn)圣節。不過(guò)它不是公共假日。如果10月31日趕上工作日，那么人們將正常上班。萬(wàn)圣節的標志性色彩是橘黃和黑色，比如黑色吸血鬼和桔黃色南瓜燈等物品。
Some popular Halloween activities in Britain 英國一些受歡迎的萬(wàn)圣節活動(dòng)
Pumpkin lanterns 南瓜燈
Pumpkins are on salein shops and supermarkets from as early as the beginning of October. By the last week of October you can see pumpkin lanterns everywhere in shop windows and in people's houses. Although British people used to use potatoes and turnips, now they use pumpkins to make Jack-o-lanterns unique to the Halloween season. The name“Jack-o-lantern"comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who, because of his bad nature, was doomed to roam the earth without a resting place and with only his lit lantern to light the way in the darkness.
從十月初開(kāi)始南瓜就在商店里出售啦。到十月最后一周，南瓜燈隨處可見(jiàn)，商店櫥窗里或英國居民家里也會(huì )擺放南瓜燈。雖然英國人過(guò)去也曾用土豆和蘿卜來(lái)刻南瓜燈，但是現在他們都用南瓜做萬(wàn)圣節特有的“杰克燈”了。杰克這名字來(lái)自愛(ài)爾蘭民間故事中一個(gè)小氣鬼，由于他人品不好，所以死無(wú)去處，只能靠提著(zhù)一個(gè)南瓜燈的亮光在黑暗中游蕩。
Trick or treating 不給糖果就搗亂
Children love this game! They dress up and then knock on the doors of people's houses in their neighbourhood asking for a ‘trick or treat’. The neighbour gives them chocolates, sweets or money as a ‘treat’. If there is no treat, the children play a trick on the neighbour, for example, they might throw soap at the window. It only happens once a year so even the stingiest adultsmightgive something to the kids as a treat!
孩子們可喜歡這個(gè)游戲啦！他們化了妝，接著(zhù)就去鄰居家里敲門(mén)要“treat 款待”。一般來(lái)說(shuō)鄰居都會(huì )給孩子們一些巧克力、糖果或錢(qián)。如果鄰居不給點(diǎn)兒東西意思一下，那么孩子們就會(huì )搞點(diǎn)惡作劇，比如他們會(huì )把肥皂往玻璃窗上抹。想想一年只有這么一次，所以即便最財迷的人一般也會(huì )給孩子們一些“款待”的。
Halloween parties萬(wàn)圣節派對
Across the UK, people throw parties to celebrate Halloween. The biggest Halloween party has to be in Sheffield at the end of October. A lot of people go there to experience Fright Night. Can you image a party with about 40,000 people?There are activities for people of all ages:fancy dress catwalk, urban dance, a monster in a fountain and a zombie garden, as well as the traditional apple bobbing and a competition for the best pumpkin lantern.
英國各地都會(huì )舉辦各種派對聚會(huì )活動(dòng)來(lái)歡度節日。不過(guò)最隆重的要數謝菲爾德的萬(wàn)圣節大派對了。很多人都會(huì )去體驗一下那里的“恐懼夜晚”。你能想象一個(gè)四萬(wàn)人的聚會(huì )嗎？不論你是什么年齡都會(huì )有適合你的活動(dòng)：化妝走貓步，都市舞，山中大怪還有吸血鬼公園，再有就是英國傳統的咬蘋(píng)果比賽和評選最佳南瓜燈。
Apple bobbing 咬蘋(píng)果
This is a fun and competitive game which is very traditional. What you do is to place lots of apples in a large tub or a bowl of water - not too cold or too hot. This is because the participants or competitors have to take a bite from one of the apples without using their hands. Sometimes the participants are blindfolded, just to make it even more challenging and fun.
咬蘋(píng)果（Apple bobbing）是萬(wàn)圣節的一個(gè)有趣的競爭游戲，很傳統。你需要把很多蘋(píng)果放在大盆或大桶里，盛滿(mǎn)了水，水嗎要不冷也不熱因為參賽者必須在不用手幫忙的情況下用嘴叼住蘋(píng)果咬一口。有時(shí)候為了讓游戲更難也更有趣還會(huì )把參賽人的眼睛蒙住。
