复活节的来历 英文简介

　As with almost all "Christian¹" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.

　　和其它基督教节日一样，复活节正慢慢“被世俗”和“被商业”。即便如此，复活节的这两个性质和它的标志并不是必然的“现代产物”。

　　The history of Easter 复活节的历史

　　Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.

　　“复活节是神圣的庆典”的概念在公元200年已经形成，自那时起，复活节就站在了非宗教的一方。而事实上，最初的复活节是异教徒的节日。

　　The ancient Saxons celebrated² the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating³ their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries⁴ encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine⁵ manner.

　　古撒克逊人庆祝春至时非常热闹，因为这也纪念他们祖先和春天的“复活”。在公元200年，基督教的传教士并偶然来到这个拥有异教庆典的北方部落。这些传教士尝试让撒克逊人改信基督教，而他们使用的方法非常隐秘。

　　It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided⁶ to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.

　　早期的基督教人为了庆祝他们神圣的节日而在仪式中自杀，然而这些仪式并没有与以前的庆祝仪式相类似。为了拯救生命，传教士略施小计，在人群中慢慢散布神明的信息，谎称神明允许人们继续庆祝异教节日，但是要使用基督教的方式进行庆祝。

　　As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

　　就这样，复活节在同年出现了，而且被当作耶稣复活的基督教仪式。因此，这个节日就慢慢被改变，渐渐转变为基督教的一个节日。于是，人们渐渐皈依基督教。而复活节早期的名字Eastre，最后也被改成流传至今的拼法Easter。

　　The date of Easter 复活节的日期

　　Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened⁷ by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat⁸ must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical⁹ full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

　　在公元325年之前，复活节的庆祝时间可以是一周中不同的时间，而这些时间包括星期五、星期六和星期天。在那些年里，康斯坦丁大帝组建了尼西亚理事会。这个理事会制定了复活节的标准：复活节应该在第一个满月后或是春分后的第一个星期进行庆祝。在这里，我们要作一下解释。在规定中所指的“满月”是基督教的满月，而“满月”的时间定在阴历月份的第十四天，那么，这个月的1号就是基督教的“新月”。由于天文满月，复活节的日期不会是每年的同一天。另外，基督教的“春分”通常是3月21日。因此，复活节必须在3月22日-4月24日之间的其中一个星期天进行庆祝。2011年4月24日，农历3月22日，星期日为2011年复活节。

　　The Lenten season 四旬斋季节

　　Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration, sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten Season.

　　四旬斋是早期复活节里面为期46天的时期。四旬斋开始于圣灰星期三。“狂欢节”也称为“嘉年华”。在早期，它横跨星期三和圣灰星期四，是一个全世界都进行的庆典。在四旬斋献祭开始前，狂欢节是一个使人身心舒畅的节日。其中，新奥尔良是美国狂欢节的焦点。因此，我们要好好理解四旬斋的宗教含义。

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

4 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

8 caveat   

n.警告； 防止误解的说明

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling.为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。
• As I have written before,that's quite a caveat.正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。

9 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。