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“不給糖就搗蛋”游戲、南瓜燈、詭異的服裝，這些都是萬圣節的經典傳統。但你知道這些傳統有多個版本的起源故事嗎？你知道糖蘋果和玉米糖是怎么成為萬圣節美食的嗎？你知道萬圣節裝飾常用的黑色和橙色象征著什么嗎？不要傻傻地只知道化裝舞會和南瓜燈了，一起來豐富一下關于萬圣節的有趣知識吧！ 1. CARVING HALLOWEEN JACK-O'-LANTERNS Jack-O'-Lanterns, which originated in Ireland using turnips instead of pumpkins, are supposedly based on a legend about a man named Stingy Jack who repeatedly trapped the Devil and only let him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell. When he died, however, Jack learned that Heaven didn’t really want his soul either, so he was condemned to wander the Earth as a ghost for all eternity. The Devil gave Jack a lump of burning coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way. Eventually, locals began carving frightening faces into their own gourds to scare off evil spirits. 南瓜燈起源于愛爾蘭，最開始是由蘿卜雕的，不是南瓜。傳說有個綽號叫“吝嗇鬼杰克”的男人屢次捉住魔鬼，并且要魔鬼允諾永遠不會讓他下地獄才肯放掉魔鬼。然而，他去世時才知道，天堂也不愿意接受他的靈魂，所以他只能做孤魂野鬼，永遠在人間游蕩。魔鬼給了杰克一個裝有燃煤的雕刻蘿卜作為照明的燈籠。久而久之，當地人也開始在他們的南瓜上雕刻猙獰的面容，以驅趕惡靈。 2. SEEING GHOSTS Celtic people believed that during the festival Samhain, which marked the transition to the new year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter, spirits walked the Earth. Later, the introduction of All Souls Day on November 2 by Christian missionaries perpetuated the idea of a mingling between the living and the dead around the same time of year. 凱爾特人認為，在薩溫節期間，幽靈便在人間徘徊。薩溫節標志著新的一年的開始（在古凱爾特人的信仰里，新的一年于11月1日開始）和收獲季到冬天的過渡。之后，基督教傳教士在11月2號設立了萬靈節，宣揚稱生者和死者會在一年的這個時間相聚。 3. WEARING SCARY COSTUMES With all these ghosts wandering around the Earth during Samhain, the Celts had to get creative to avoid being terrorized by evil spirits. To fake out the ghosts, people would don disguises so they would be mistaken for spirits themselves and left alone. 傳說薩溫節期間有許多可怕的幽靈游蕩人間，凱爾特人必須巧妙設法避開它們。為了瞞過惡靈，人們會將自己打扮成幽靈的樣子，這樣幽靈便會誤以為對方是同類而離開。 fake out: 以欺騙手法制勝 4. GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE PAGAN WAY There is a lot of debate around the origins of trick-or-treating. One theory proposes that during Samhain, Celtic people would leave out food to placate the souls and ghosts and spirits traveling the Earth that night. Eventually, people began dressing up as these otherworldly beings in exchange for similar offerings of food and drink. 關于“不給糖就搗蛋”傳統的來源有很多爭議，其中一種說法是，凱爾特人在薩溫節期間會擺出食物來安撫那天夜里在人間徘徊的亡靈和鬼神。后來，人們也開始打扮成亡靈的樣子，來換取食物和飲料。 5. GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE SCOTTISH WAY Other researchers speculate that the candy bonanza stems from the Scottish practice of guising, itself a secular version of souling. In the Middle Ages, soulers, usually children and poor adults, would go to local homes and collect food or money in return for prayers said for the dead on All Souls’ Day. Guisers ditched the prayers in favor of non-religious performances like jokes, songs, or other “tricks.” 還有些學者猜測這一傳統來源于蘇格蘭的化裝習俗——將自己裝扮成世俗的幽靈。在中世紀時期，兒童和貧窮的成人通常會裝扮成幽靈，到本地人的家里乞求食物或錢，并以在萬靈節為死者祈禱作為回報。隨著時間流逝，化裝者不再用祈禱，而是用笑話、歌曲或其他“把戲”等非宗教表演作為回報。 6. GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE AMERICAN WAY Some sources argue that our modern trick-or-treating stems from belsnickling, a tradition in German-American communities where children would dress in costume and then call on their neighbors to see if the adults could guess the identities of the disguised guests. In one version of the practice, the children were rewarded with food or other treats if no one could identify them. 一些來源指出，現代的“不給糖就搗蛋”來源于德裔美國人社區的一個名叫“貝斯尼克”的傳統。孩子們化裝好，然后去拜訪鄰居，看他們能否猜出裝扮后的客人是誰。在其中一個版本的習俗中，如果沒被認出來，這個孩子就可以得到食物或者其他獎勵。 7. GETTING SPOOKED BY BLACK CATS The association of black cats and spookiness actually dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, when these dark kitties were considered a symbol of the Devil. It didn’t help the felines’ reputations when, centuries later, accused witches were often found to have cats, especially black ones, as companions. People started believing that the cats were a witch’s “familiar”—animals that gave them an assist with their dark magic—and the two have been linked ever since. 黑貓和幽靈的聯系可以追溯到中世紀，當時黑色的小貓被視為魔鬼的象征。即使在幾個世紀以后，黑貓的名聲也沒有好轉，因為被指控為巫婆的人通常都有貓作伴，特別是黑貓。人們開始相信貓是巫婆“親密”的伙伴，并能助長她們的黑魔法。自此之后兩者便常常被聯系在一起。 8. BOBBING FOR APPLES This game traces its origins to a courting ritual that was part of a Roman festival honoring Pomona, the goddess of agriculture and abundance. Multiple variations existed, but the gist was that young men and women would be able to foretell their future relationships based on the game. When the Romans conquered the British Isles, the Pomona festival was blended with the similarly timed Samhain, a precursor to Halloween. 咬蘋果游戲的起源可以追溯到一個求愛儀式。它是羅馬節日的一部分，用來紀念農業和豐饒女神波莫娜。這個游戲有多種變化，但主旨在于年輕男女能夠根據游戲來預測他們未來的關系。羅馬人征服不列顛群島時，波莫納節與幾乎同時期的薩溫節（萬圣節的前身）融合在一起。 precursor[pri?k??rs?r]: n. 前兆 9. DECORATING WITH BLACK AND ORANGE The classic Halloween colors can also trace their origins back to the Celtic festival Samhain. Black represented the “death” of summer while orange is emblematic of the autumn harvest season. 這兩個經典的萬圣節顏色也可以追溯到凱爾特人的薩溫節。黑色象征著夏天的“死亡”，而橙色則象征著秋收季節。 10. PLAYING PRANKS As a phenomenon that often varies by region, the pre-Halloween tradition, also known as “Devil’s Night”, is credited with a different origin depending on whom you ask. Some sources say that pranks were originally part of May Day celebrations. But Samhain, and eventually All Souls Day, seem to have included good-natured mischief. When Scottish and Irish immigrants came to America, they brought along the tradition of celebrating Mischief Night as part of Halloween, which was great for candy-fueled pranksters. 萬圣節前的惡作劇傳統也被稱為“魔鬼之夜”，經常因地而異。不同的人對它的起源有著不同的回答。有一些來源稱，惡作劇原本是五一勞動節慶祝活動的一部分。但是薩溫節，以及后來的萬靈節，似乎就已經包含了善意的惡作劇。蘇格蘭和愛爾蘭移民來到美國，他們也帶來了在萬圣節前夕慶祝“惡作劇之夜”的傳統，這對于酷愛糖果的惡作劇者來說太棒了。 11. LIGHTING CANDLES AND BONFIRES These days, candles are more likely than towering traditional bonfires, but for much of the early history of Halloween, open flames were integral in lighting the way for souls seeking the afterlife. 如今，在萬圣節慶祝活動中，人們更有可能點燃蠟燭而不是高聳的傳統篝火。但在萬圣節的早期歷史中，明火在為尋求來世的靈魂照亮道路方面是不可或缺的。 12. EATING CANDY APPLES People have been coating fruit in sugar syrups as a means of preservation for centuries. Since the development of the Roman festival of Pomona, the goddess often represented by and associated with apples, the fruit has had a place in harvest celebrations. But the first mention of candy apples being given out at Halloween didn’t occur until the 1950s. 幾個世紀以來，人們一直將水果裹在糖漿中保存。隨著羅馬波莫納節的發展，蘋果經常作為女神波莫納的代表，與之聯系在一起，因此蘋果在豐收慶典中也占有一席之地。但直到20世紀50年代，才首次提到在萬圣節時贈送糖蘋果。 13. SPOTTING BATS It’s likely that bats were present at the earliest celebrations of proto-Halloween, not just symbolically but literally. As part of Samhain, the Celts lit large bonfires, which attracted insects. The insects, in turn, attracted bats, which soon became associated with the festival. Medieval folklore expanded upon the spooky connotation of bats with a number of superstitions built around the idea that bats were the harbingers of death. 蝙蝠很可能出現在最早的萬圣節慶祝活動中，這種說法不僅是象征性的，而且有事實佐證。作為薩溫節的一部分，凱爾特人點燃篝火來吸引昆蟲。這些昆蟲反過來又吸引了蝙蝠，因此蝙蝠與薩溫節很快聯系在一起。中世紀的民間傳說擴展了蝙蝠令人毛骨悚然的內涵，圍繞著蝙蝠是死亡來臨的前兆存在著許多迷信說法。 harbinger[?hɑ?rb?nd??r]: n. 先驅；前兆；預告者 14. GORGING ON CANDY The act of going door-to-door for handouts has long been a part of Halloween celebrations. But until the middle of the 20th century, the “treats” kids received were not necessarily candy. Toys, coins, fruit, and nuts were just as likely to be given out. The rise in the popularity of trick-or-treating in the 1950s inspired candy companies to make a marketing push with small, individually wrapped confections. People obliged out of convenience, but candy didn’t dominate at the exclusion of all other treats until parents started fearing anything unwrapped in the 1970s. 挨家挨戶地“討糖果”一直是萬圣節慶祝活動的一部分。但在20世紀中葉前，孩子們得到的“款待”不一定是糖果，也有可能得到玩具、硬幣、水果和堅果。20世紀50年代，“不給糖就搗蛋”活動的興起，促使糖果公司紛紛推出獨立包裝的小糖果。人們出于便利才考慮購買這種小糖果。但直到20世紀70年代，家長們開始擔心任何未經包裝的東西有衛生隱患，糖果才開始在這些款待物中占據主導地位。 15. MUNCHING ON CANDY CORN According to some stories, a candymaker at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia invented the revolutionary tri-color candy in the 1880s. The treats didn’t become a widespread phenomenon until another company brought the candy to the masses in 1898. At the time, candy corn was called Chicken Feed and sold in boxes with the slogan "Something worth crowing for." Originally just autumnal candy because of corn’s association with harvest time, candy corn became Halloween-specific when trick-or-treating rose to prominence in the US in the 1950s. 根據一些故事的說法，費城文德利糖果公司的一位糖果制造商在19世紀80年代發明了革命性的三色糖果。但直到1898年另一家公司將這種糖果推向大眾，它才風靡起來。當時，玉米糖被稱為“雞飼料”，裝在盒子里出售，廣告語是“值得為之歡呼的東西”。最初玉米糖只是秋天的糖果，因為玉米與收獲季節有關。在20世紀50年代，隨著“不給糖就搗蛋”活動在美國的興起，玉米糖成為了萬圣節專屬糖果。 英文來源：Mental Floss 翻譯&編輯：丹妮 |
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