万圣节你不知道的6件事

　　1. The Origins of Halloween

　　万圣节的起源

　　Halloween is thought to have originated around 4000 B.C., which means Halloween has been around for over 6,000 years

　　as we know it today, borrow traditions from different festivals namely: the Roman feralia festival commemorating¹ for

　　dead, the roman Pomona festival honoring the goddess of fruit and trees, the Celtic festival Samuin, meaning

　　“summer's end”, which comprise the bulk of origins of Halloween traditions, the Catholic Hallowmas period of “All

　　soul's Day” and All Saint's Day which was instigated² around 800 by a church to try to replace Samuin.

　　万圣节起源于公元前4000年，迄今为止已经延续六千年了。万圣节汲取了几种不同节日的传统：纪念死者的Feralia节、纪念果树女

　　神的Pomona节、凯尔特Samuin节（万圣节的主要传统习俗均源于此）、万灵节，以及圣人节（公元800年时由一家教堂发起，替代之

　　前的凯尔特Samuin节）。

　　2. Color

　　颜色

　　Black and orange are the international colors of Halloween. Black, of course, is a sign of death, gloom and the

　　foreboding night, which are all associated with Halloween. Orange is a traditional emblem³ of fortitude⁴, survival and

　　power, which signify the harvest, and the colors of fall. Halloween is where death (winter) takes over from the

　　life-giving fall harvest, hence the mixtures of black and orange come festival time.

　　黑色和橘红色是万圣节的标配。黑色，意味着死亡、忧郁，预示着夜色到来。橘红色代表着不屈不挠、重生、力量，标志着秋收累累

　　。万圣节过后，死亡（冬季）取代硕果累累的秋季。因此，万圣节的颜色是黑色和橘红色。

　　3. Costumes

　　服装

　　The custom of wearing costumes or masks comes from Celtic tradition of young men impersonating evil spirits, by

　　dressing⁵ up in white costumes with blackened faces or masks in an attempt to placate⁶ these spirit.

　　万圣节的装扮源自凯尔特年轻人模仿幽灵的传统，年轻人穿着白色衣服，把脸涂黑，或者带上面具，以安抚幽灵。

　　4. Trick or Treat

　　不给糖，就捣蛋

　　Trick or Treating has a short history. In 19th century Scotland and Ireland, there is some records of children

　　travelling door-to-door praying for souls or performing for money or cakes on All Hallows Eve. However, the

　　tradition is a short step from the medieval practice of souling, in which beggars went door to door on October 31 to

　　pray for souls in return for food. The food given was often a Soul Cake, which was a small round cake which

　　represented a soul being freed from Purgatory⁷ when the cake was eaten. Today Trick or Treat means “gives us a treat

　　or we'll pull a prank⁸ on you”.

　　“不给糖，就捣蛋”历史较短。十九世纪，一些苏格兰和爱尔兰儿童在万圣节前夕，挨家挨户为灵魂祈祷，或进行表演，索要饼干或

　　小费。然而，相比于中世纪时期乞丐们在10月31日挨家挨户地为灵魂祈祷以换取食物，这已经迈出了一小步。那时，给乞丐们的食物

　　被称作灵魂饼，一种小圆饼。当饼干被吃掉的时候，一个灵魂就会从炼狱中释放出来。如今，不给糖就捣蛋的意思是“给我们糖果，

　　不然我们就会给你来场恶作剧”。

　　5. Jack⁹ O'Lanterns

　　南瓜灯

　　According to Irish legend, Jack O'Lanterns are named after a man named Jack. This crafty¹⁰ fellow fooled the devil on

　　numerous occasions and, as a result, his soul was condemned¹¹ to hang about Earth for all eternity¹². Jack, barred from

　　both heaven and hell, put the burning ember given to him by Beelzebub into the very first ”jack-o-lantern”, in

　　order to ward¹³ off any more encounters with the Evil one.

　　爱尔兰传说中，南瓜灯以一个男人的名字Jack命名。Jack愚弄恶魔很多次，最终，他死后，灵魂被罚永世在天地间游荡。他的亡灵既

　　不能上天堂，也不能入地狱，只好把Beelzebub给他的蜡烛放在第一个南瓜灯内，以免自己遇到恶魔。

　　6. Turnips¹⁴ Instead of Pumpkins¹⁵

　　萝卜还是南瓜

　　The first Jack O'Lanterns were actually made from turnips by the Celts to ward off evil spirits during Samuin, The

　　Celts would hollow out turnips then carve faces in them and place candles inside. The turnips were then either

　　placed in the windows to keep evil spirits from encountering a home or carried around as lanterns. The tradition

　　eventually melded with the North American tradition of carving¹⁶ pumpkins.

　　事实上，第一个南瓜灯是由白萝卜做的。凯尔特人挖空白萝卜，在表面雕上人脸的形状，再把蜡烛放在里面。然后把它放在窗户上，

　　以免幽灵进入房间，或者随身携带。后来，这一习俗和北美人民雕刻南瓜的习俗融合在一起，形成了现在的南瓜灯。

1 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

2 instigated   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government has instigated a programme of economic reform. 政府已实施了经济改革方案。
• He instigated the revolt. 他策动了这次叛乱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

4 fortitude   

n.坚忍不拔；刚毅

参考例句：

• His dauntless fortitude makes him absolutely fearless.他不屈不挠的坚韧让他绝无恐惧。
• He bore the pain with great fortitude.他以极大的毅力忍受了痛苦。

5 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

6 placate   

v.抚慰，平息(愤怒)

参考例句：

• He never attempts to placate his enemy.他从不企图与敌人和解。
• Even a written apology failed to placate the indignant hostess.甚至一纸书面道歉都没能安抚这个怒气冲冲的女主人。

7 purgatory   

n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的

参考例句：

• Every step of the last three miles was purgatory.最后3英里时每一步都像是受罪。
• Marriage,with peace,is this world's paradise;with strife,this world's purgatory.和谐的婚姻是尘世的乐园，不和谐的婚姻则是人生的炼狱。

8 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

10 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

12 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

13 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

14 turnips   

芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表

参考例句：

• Well, I like turnips, tomatoes, eggplants, cauliflowers, onions and carrots. 噢，我喜欢大萝卜、西红柿、茄子、菜花、洋葱和胡萝卜。 来自魔法英语-口语突破（高中）
• This is turnip soup, made from real turnips. 这是大头菜汤，用真正的大头菜做的。

15 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

16 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。