在我长大一点儿后，开始讨厌学校里过瓦伦丁节的那套仪式。我不喜欢那种又干又脆的贺卡纸的感觉，用舌头舔信封的封口也让我觉得恶心。此外，喜欢每一个同学的第一次冲动已经消退——有的孩子并不那么好，我不想将他们作为我在瓦伦丁节最喜欢的人，可贺卡上总是写着这类的话。
也许更为有意义的是，我的心开始在某些女孩面前悸动——大约11岁的时候，我对詹妮斯·拉姆开始了少不更事的迷恋。实际上，我记得曾在六七张贺卡上写上了她的名字，而令我难受的是，詹妮斯恋上了莱瑞·琼斯，所以她就给他很多贺卡，可莱瑞却给了多恩·洛克威尔很多贺卡，事情就这样在教室里发生着。瓦伦丁节变成了一件痛苦的事情——它带来了因为爱没有回报而感到的心碎。（在Google键入“心碎”，有607000个网址；键入“没有回报的爱”，118000个网址）
谢天谢地，在大约12岁的时候，这些少年之间送贺卡的愚蠢游戏结束了。当然，内心的痛苦与狂喜还继续着。在12年级（高三）的时候，我的语文老师斯嘎拉夫人（她祖上是苏格兰人）不断地赞美苏格兰诗人罗伯特·彭斯的诗。在那个年龄，我还不喜欢学校，不喜欢斯嘎拉夫人，当然也不喜欢诗，但那时候我很倾心于琳达·弗勒，为了给她留下好印象我愿意做任何事情。在那年的瓦伦丁节，斯嘎拉夫人大声朗读了彭斯的诗《一朵红红的玫瑰》。或许是我对琳达的迷恋让我变得敏感，诗中交织在一起的甜蜜与快乐、无望与希望一下子就抓住了我。
现在，在刚过了瓦伦丁节的时候，我们读一下这首著名的诗是很适宜的，顺利说一句，在Google上键入这首诗的第一行，就会有21900个网址蹦出来。
一朵红红的玫瑰
啊，我的恋人像红红的玫瑰，
六月里绽放；
啊，我的恋人像一支乐曲，
美妙，悠扬。
你真美，可爱的姑娘，
我爱你至深至切；
永远爱你，我的挚爱，
直到四海干涸。
直到四海干涸，
直到岩石消融！
我会永远爱你，
只要生命无穷。
再见吧，我惟一的恋人，
再见吧，这只是暂别片刻；
我定会回来，我的恋人，
即使万里相隔！
几年以前，我读到一份有关100个男人的调查，他们是各行各业的明星人物，全都过了60岁。他们被问及如果能重新活一次，会有哪些与今生不一样的地方，他们几乎异口同声地回答：“要更多地去爱。”
这里还有一些信息：在因特网的Google搜索引擎中键入“瓦伦丁节”，会发现150万个网点，而“爱”一词则是1.2亿个网点，“什么是爱”10.8万个网点。
The Origin of April Fools’Day
The first of April is a special day，on which practical jokes may be played without punishment.The origin of the custom is uncertain，but it seems to have come about in France as a result of the change in 1582.
In sixteenthcentury France，the start of the new year was observed on April first.It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night.Then in 1582，Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world，and the new year fell on January first.There were some people，however，who hadn’t heard or didn’t believe the change in the date，so they continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April first.Others played tricks on them and called them “April Fools”.
In France today，children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends’backs.When the “young fool”discovers this trick，the prankster yells “April Fish！”Today American play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the same day.
愚人节的来历
四月一日是个特殊的日子。那天，人们可以恶作剧，却不被惩罚。此传统的来历不详，不过似乎起源于法国1582年的一次变故。
十六世纪，法国的新年是从四月一日开始的，其庆祝方式和今天差不多，也是聚会，跳舞跳到深夜。1582年，教皇格利高利颁布了基督教徒的新历法，把新年规定在一月一日。但是，总有一些人没听说或者不相信日子的变动，所以他们就继续在四月一日庆祝新年。那些知道的人们就捉弄他们，叫他们“四月愚人”。
如今，法国的小孩仍旧往他们的小朋友背上贴纸鱼，以此愚弄他们。一旦被愚弄的小孩发现了这把戏，调皮的孩子们就会起哄，叫唤“愚人鱼！”现在，美国人也在四月一日这一天和朋友或是陌生人开些类似的玩笑。
Know More About Halloween
Halloween was called Samhain by the Irish.It came to be known as Halloween sometime around the fifth century A.D..
Samhain took place on October 31through to November 1.During this period，it was believed that the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened，allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess the living.
To celebrate the festival，the Irish would dress up in bizarre costumes and parade through their villages，causing destruction and saying “TrickorTreat”，in order to scare off any recently departed souls who might be prowling for bodies to inhabit.
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地流浪，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 6to 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 33years.