书城外语英语PARTY——域外风情
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第8章 Customs and Festivals风俗与节日(4)

Sometimes they would play along with us and pretend to be scaredscared adj.恐惧的 by some ghost or witch. But they would always have some candy and maybe an apple to put in our “trick or treat bags.” But what if no one come to the door,or if someone chasedchase n.追赶,追击 vt.追赶,追逐,雕镂us away? Then we,d play a trick on them,usually taking a piece of soap and make marks on their windows.And afterwards we would go home and count who got the most candy. One popular teenagers,Halloween trick was to unroll a roll of toilet paper and throw it high into a tree again and again until the tree was all wrapped in the white paper. The paper would often stay in the tree for weeks until a heavy snow or rain washed it off. No real harm done,but it made a big mess of both the tree and the yard under it. One kind of Halloween mischiefmischief n.伤害,危害,故障,恶作剧,淘气,调皮的人,损害.

万圣节

关于万圣节有这样一个故事,是说有一个叫杰克的爱尔兰人,因为他对钱特别吝啬,所以不允许他进入天堂,而被打入地狱。但是在那里他老是捉弄魔鬼撒旦,所以被踢出地狱,罚他提着灯笼永远在人世里行走。

在十月三十一日,爱尔兰的孩子们用土豆和萝卜制作“杰克的灯笼”,他们把中间挖掉、表面上打洞并在里边点上蜡烛。为村里庆祝督伊德神的万圣节,孩子们提着这种灯笼挨家挨户乞讨食物。这种灯笼的爱尔兰名字是“拿灯笼的杰克”或者“杰克的灯笼”,缩写为Jacko,lantern 现在拼写为jack o lantern。

现在你在大多数书里读到的万圣节只是孩子们开心的夜晚。在小学校里,万圣节是每年十月份开始庆祝的。

孩子们会制作万圣节的装饰品:各种各样橘黄色的南瓜灯。你可以用黑色的纸做一个可怕的造型——一个骑在扫帚把上戴着尖尖帽子的女巫飞过天空,或者是黑蝙蝠飞过月亮。这些都代表厄运。当然黑猫代表运气更差。有时候会出现黑猫骑在女巫扫帚后面飞向天空的造型。

在万圣节的晚上,我们都穿着爸爸妈妈的旧衣服和旧鞋子,戴上面具,打算外出。比我们小的孩子必须和他们的母亲一块出去,我们大一点的就一起哄到邻居家,按他们的门铃并大声喊道:“恶作剧还是招待!”意思是给我们吃的,要不我们就捉弄你,里边的人们应该出来评价我们的化装。

“噢!这是鬼,那是女巫,这是个老太婆。”

有时候他们会跟我们一起玩,假装被鬼或者女巫吓着了。但是他们通常会带一些糖果或者苹果放进我们的“恶作剧还是招待”的口袋里。可是要是没人回答门铃或者是有人把我们赶开该怎么办呢?我们就捉弄他们,通常是拿一块肥皂把他们的玻璃涂得乱七八糟。然后我们回家,数数谁的糖果最多。

还有一个典型的万圣节花招是把一卷手纸拉开,不停地往树上扔,直到树全被白纸裹起来。除非下大雪或大雨把纸冲掉,纸会一直呆在树上。这并不造成真正的伤害,只是把树和院子搞乱,一种万圣节的恶作剧。

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national Holidays in the United States and is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country.

In 1620,the settlers,or Pilgrimspilgrim n.圣地朝拜者,朝圣they sailed to America on the May flower,seeking a place where they could have freedom of worshipworship n.崇拜,礼拜,尊敬 vi.敬神,拜神 vt.崇拜,尊敬. After a tempestuous twomonth voyage they landed at in icy November,what is now Plymouth,Massachusetts.

During their first winter,over half of the settlers died of starvation or epidemicsepidemic adj.流行的,传染的,流行性 n.时疫,疫疾流行,(风尚等的)流行,流行病). Those who survived began sowing in the first spring.

All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety,knowing that their lives and the future existenceexistence n.存在,实在,生活,存在物,实在物 of the colony depended on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed. Years later,President of the United States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today.

The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table,people will find apples,oranges,chestnutschestnut n.栗子,walnutswalnut n.胡桃,胡桃木and grapes. There will be plum pudding,mince pie,other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash. The best and most attractive among them are roast turkeyturkey n.火鸡,无用的东西and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.

Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressingdressing n.穿衣,装饰,敷裹,敷料,调味品 to absorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with families and with the regions where one lives,it is not easy to get a consensus on the precise kind of stuffing for the royal bird.

Thanksgiving today is,in every sense,a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year,s bounty and reverently ask for continued blessings.

感恩节

感恩节是美国国定假日中最地道、最美国式的节日,而且它和早期美国历史最为密切相关。

1620年,一些朝圣者(或称为清教徒)乘坐“五月花”号船去美国寻求宗教自由。他们在海上颠簸折腾了两个月之后,终于在酷寒的十一月里,在现在的马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯登陆。

在第一个冬天,半数以上的移民都死于饥饿和传染病,活下来的人们在第一个春季开始播种。整个夏天他们都热切地盼望着丰收的到来,他们深知自己的生存以及殖民地的存在与否都将取决于即将到来的收成。后来,庄稼获得了意外的丰收,所以大家决定要选一个日子来感谢上帝的恩典。多年以后,美国总统宣布每年十一月的第四个星期四为感恩节。感恩节庆祝活动便定在这一天,直到如今。

感恩节庆祝模式许多年来从未改变。丰盛的家宴早在几个月之前就开始着手准备。人们在餐桌上可以吃到苹果、橘子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄,还有葡萄干布丁、碎肉馅饼、各种其他食物以及红莓苔汁和鲜果汁,其中最妙和最吸引人的大菜是烤火鸡和番瓜馅饼,这些菜一直是感恩节中最富于传统意义和最受人喜爱的食品。

人人都赞成感恩节大餐必须以烤火鸡为主菜。火鸡在烘烤时要以面包作填料以吸收从中流出来的美味汁液,但烹饪技艺常因家庭和地区的不同而各异,应用什么填料也就很难求得一致。

今天的感恩节是一个不折不扣的国定假日。在这一天,具有各种信仰和各种背景的美国人,共同为他们一年来所受到的上苍的恩典表示感谢,虔诚地祈求上帝继续赐福。

Easter Eggs

Spring is a time for new life. Flowers begin to bloombloom v.盛开 after the long winter. Birds begin to build nests to lay their eggs in. In forests and fields,many animals have babies this time of year. Days begin to get longer and the sun gets warmer. People begin to enjoy the outdoors and all the beautiful weather of spring.

The most important holiday in spring,especially for Christianschristian n.基督徒,is Easter. This Christian holiday is not on the same date every year,but its always on a Sunday. It can be any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Many people celebrate Easter by buying new clothes. Children celebrate by hunting for colored eggs that their parents have hidden around the house. People also give Easter baskets filled with candy and other goodies goody n.pl.糕饼;糖果 to one another to celebrate the day.

But the holiday is more than new clothes and good things to eat. On Easter,many people go to church to celebrate Jesus resurrectionresurrection n.复活 from the dead. The Bible tells about Jesus and His death and resurrection. Jesus died because of peoples sinssin n.罪. But He rose again and gave forgiveness and new life to everyone who believes in Him. Isnt that something to celebrate in spring?