书城外语英语PARTY——爱的港湾
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第26章 异域(2)

This yearly festival was later brought to the other regions of the world, including continental Europe and North America. Irish immigrants brought several customs with them, including one of the symbols most commonly associated with Halloween - the “Jack Lantern”.

According to Irish folklore, there once lived a man named Jack who was known for being a drunk and a prankster. One night Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree, and quickly carved an image of a cross on the trunk, trapping the devil. Jack then made him promise that, in exchange for letting him out of the tree, the Devil would never tempt him to sin again. He reluctantly agreed, but was able to exact his revenge upon Jack,s death. Because of his mischievous ways in life, Jack was barred from entering heaven and because of his earlier trick; he was also barred from hell. So he was doomed to wander the earth until the end of time, with only a “Jack Lanterns” to warm him.

In Ireland, they originally used turnips for their “Jack Lanterns”, but upon arriving in north America, they discovered that pumpkins were abundant and easier to carve out.

多了解一点万圣节

万圣节在爱尔兰被叫做Samhain,公元第5 世纪开始被称为万圣节。

Samhain在10月31 日到11月1 日举行。在这段时间,据说在我们的世界和亡者世界的边界力量减弱,新近去世的鬼会还魂,附在活人的身上。

因此在这个节日里,村民们就自己扮成鬼魂精灵,手提“杰克灯笼”,游走村外,嘴里说着“TrickorTreat”(不给糖,就捣蛋),引导鬼魂离开,避邪免灾。

这一年一度的节日后来传到了世界各地,包括欧洲大陆和北美。爱尔兰移民带来一些他们的习俗,包括与万圣节相关的符号之一——“杰克灯笼”。

传说,爱尔兰曾经有一个名叫杰克的爱恶作剧的酒鬼。一天晚上,他把一个魔鬼骗上树,然后在树干上刻了个十字架,让魔鬼下不来。后来魔鬼不得不保证,以后再也不会引诱杰克去做坏事,杰克这才让它下来。杰克死后,魔鬼报复了,它让杰克上天不得入地无门,只能在阳间漫无目的流浪,手里只有一盏灯笼取暖。

爱尔兰人的“杰克灯笼”通常是用大头菜刻成的,而在北美洲,则换成了南瓜。

Adrenaline Junkies of All Ages Flock to Pamplona

Spain,s San Fermin bullrunning fiesta attracts all manner of thrillseekers.

“I,ve never been seriously injured. I lost my kidney one year,” said Bomber, a 56yearold Californian, after one early morning run.

Fellow American R.J. Smith of Spokane, Washington, ran with the bulls in Pamplona for the 31st time this year, despite a long white scar from a bull,s goring on his buttock and a false hip beneath it which bear witness to his bullrunning addiction.

Some come to San Fermin for the fiesta and never see a bull, some come to see their friends and others to follow writer Ernest Hemingway,s footsteps. But for many the bullrunning fiesta, which takes places from July 6 to 14, has become a mecca for adrenaline junkies from all over the world.

Smith, a 67yearold former air force pilot who still hangglides on skis, says bullrunning is obsessive.

“It draws you. Once you do it you want to do it again and again and again.” That seemed to be the case for his godson who came to Pamplona for the second time this year, despite swearing after his first experience he never would.

“I got out and I said I,m never doing this ever again. It scared me so damn bad,” Daniel Voltz told reporters the night before the first of this year,s runs. He ran the following morning along the slippery cobbled streets and survived unscathed.

That day, in an unusually clean run, only five people were taken to hospital.

Bomber says he has missed only one fiesta in the last 33 years.

“It,s very very difficult, your adrenaline ... and your imagination (are) running and it,s very hard not to run.”

Extreme sport aficionados say there,s nothing quite like a 1,300pound beast pointing his deadly horns at you with no one there to bail you out.

“I,ve done bungee jumping, parachuting, parascending, diving ... always finding the next stupid thing to do ... This is the best so far. I,m not sure what follows,” said Mark Kinder, a 31yearold information technology manager from England.

“I,m a little bit of an adrenaline junkie.”

惊险、刺激、狂热尽在

潘普洛纳奔牛节

西班牙的圣·费尔明奔牛节吸引了形形色色寻求惊险刺激的人们。

56岁的加利福尼亚州人伯默尔在一次晨跑后说:“我从来没受过重伤,有一年我失去了一个肾。”

今年,来自华盛顿州斯波肯镇的美国人R·J·史密斯第31次来到潘普洛纳和公牛们一起奔跑。尽管他臀部有着一条被牛角顶伤后留下的长长的白色伤疤,伤疤下面是人工假臀,这些足以证明他的奔牛嗜好。

有些到圣·费尔明来参加奔牛节的人从不看公牛,有的人是来看朋友的,还有一些人到此寻访作家欧内斯特·海明威的足迹。但对多数人来说,7月6日到14日的奔牛节已经成为全世界酷爱惊险刺激的人们向往的圣地。

67岁的前空军飞行员史密斯至今仍然参与雪橇滑雪,他说奔牛活动让人不能自拔。

“它吸引着你。一旦你参加了一次,你就会想要一次又一次地参加。”他的教子似乎正是如此:今年,他第二次来到潘普洛纳,尽管首次参加奔牛活动后,他曾经发誓永远也不来了。

“我离开时说过,我以后无论如何都不会这样干了,我真是被吓得够呛。”丹尼尔·沃兹在今年首场奔牛活动前夜告诉记者。次日清晨,他沿着滑溜溜的圆石街道奔跑,所幸没有受伤。

那天的奔牛活动秩序异常得好,只有五人被送进了医院。

伯默尔说,过去33年里他只错过了一次奔牛节。

“确实非常困难,你的兴奋……还有你的想象力在流动、在奔跑,不去跑实在太难了。”

极限运动狂热爱好者说,没有什么能像这样了——一头1300磅的巨兽将致命的双角刺向你,而没有人能保护你。

31岁的IT经理、英国人马克·金德说:“我玩过蹦极、跳伞、空中速降和跳水等等,我总能发现下一件要做的傻事……这是迄今为止最棒的一件。我不确定接下来的会是什么。”

“我算是一个刺激爱好者。”

Thanks and Apologies

As the American people,s concept of being polite is different from that held here, I,d like to discuss with you the use of “please”, “excuse me” and “thank you”. I have noticed that the Chinese people use “please” as often as we do on most occasions. But on some occasions they don,t use this word. For instance, Chinese teachers rarely say “please sit down” when their students have answered their questions and the traffic police here are also not accustomed to using “please” when they are on duty.

We say “please pass me the salt” instead of stretching out our arms to reach for it. So don,t forget to say “please” whenever the situation requires it if you are in the United States.

I believe we say “excuse me” more often and on more occasions than the Chinese people. We say “Excuse me” when we need to pass in front of someone, to leave a party or the dinner table or when we want to excuse ourselves from company or find ourselves late for an appointment and so on.

“Thank you” means that you appreciate what someone has done for you, very often very small and most ordinary things. So we in the West thank people all day long.

美国人说“致谢与道歉”

美国人对礼貌的概念与中国也有所不同。在这里,我想和你们一起讨论一下“请(please)”、“对不起(excuse me)”和“谢谢(thank you)”的用法。我注意到,在大多数场合,中国人和我们一样常常用“请”这个词,但在某些场合你们又不用。比如,中国教师在他们的学生回答问题后很少说“请坐”,中国的交通警在他们值勤时也不太习惯用“请”这个词。

在餐桌上,美国人说“请把盐递给我”,而不是自己伸手去拿。假如你们去美国,那么,当情况需要时可别忘了说“请”。

我相信,美国人说“对不起”的时候要比中国人多得多或更为普遍。当我们要经过某人的面前、要离开宴会或餐桌,或者是当我们要离开同伴(或约会迟到等等)时,我们都要说声“对不起”。

“谢谢你”意味着你在某人为你做了什么事后表示谢意,那通常是一件无足轻重和极其普通的事情。所以,西方人真是从早到晚谢不离口。

Morals in Americans