萬圣節的英文資料

Next to Christmas, Halloween is the most commercialized celebration in the United States and Canada. This ancient festival originated far from North America however, and centuries before the first European set foot on the continent.

The ancient Druids 督伊德教（古代高盧人與不列顛人的一種宗教）的教徒 who inhabited what we now call Great Britain placed great importance on the passing of one season to the next, holding “Fire Festivals” which were celebrated for three days （two days on either side of the day itself）。

One of these festivals was called Samhain （pronounced Sha-Von） and it took place on October 31 through 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.

In order to make themselves and their homes less inviting to these wayward spirits, the ancient Celts（凱爾特人）would douse （插入水中， 把弄熄， 弄濕）all their fires. There was also a secondary purpose to this, after extinguishing all their fires, they would re-light them from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning at Usinach, in the Middle of Ireland.

Samhain was considered to be a gateway not only from the land of the dead to the land of the living, but also between Summer and Fall/Winter. For the Druids, this was the last gasp （喘息， 氣喘）of summer （it was also the Celtic New Year）， so therefore they made sure it went out with a bang before they had to button down （把…弄清楚）for the winter ahead.

They would dress up in bizarre costumes and parade through their villages causing destruction in order to scare off any recently departed souls who might be prowling （巡游）for bodies to inhabit, in addition to burning animals and other offerings to the Druidic deities（神， 神性）。 It is also a popular belief that they would burn people who they believed to be possessed, but this has largely been debunked （揭穿， 拆穿假面具， 暴露）as myth.

This yearly festival was adopted by the Roman invaders, who helped to propagate （傳播， 宣傳）it throughout the rest of the world （and at that time, the Roman Empire was the world）。 The word “Halloween” itself actually comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve, or All Saint's Day （November 1）， which is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.

This tradition was later brought to the North American continent by Irish immigrants who were escaping the Potato Famine in their homeland. In addition to the festival itself, the immigrants brought several customs with them, including one of the symbols most commonly associated with Halloween -- the Jack 'O Lantern.

According to Irish folklore, there once lived a man named Jack who was known for being a drunk and a prankster（頑皮的人， 愛開玩笑的人）。 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 single ember（灰燼， 余燼） （carried in a hollowed out turnip.[植]蕪箐， 蕪箐甘藍） to warm him and light his way.

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

萬圣節前夕

萬圣節前夕是美國人年年都會慶祝的秋季節日。它的意思是“神圣的夜晚”,在每年的10月31日，也就是萬圣節前夜。但實際上這不是一個真正的宗教節日，而主要是孩子們的節日。

每年秋天蔬菜成熟可以食用的時候，孩子們就會挑出大個兒的橙色南瓜。然后在南瓜上刻上一張臉，把一根點燃的蠟燭放在里面。看起來就好像有人在向南瓜外面張望。這些燈就叫做“iack-o'-lantems”,意思也就是“杰克的燈”.

每年萬圣節前夕孩子們還戴上奇怪的面具，穿上嚇人的服裝。有些孩子把臉刷成怪物。然后他們拿著盒子或袋子挨家挨戶串門。每來到一個新房子他們就說：“不款待就搗亂！給錢還是吃的！”大人們就會把用來招待的錢或糖放在他們的袋子里了。

不僅孩子，許多成年人也喜歡萬圣節前夕和萬圣節前夕晚會。因為這一天他們可以根據自己的想象把自己裝扮成名流或幽靈。這會帶給他們年輕的快感。

萬圣節的英文介紹：

Halloween

Halloween is an autumn holiday that Americans celebrate every year. It means “holy evening,” and it comes every October 31, the evening before All Saints' Day. However, it is not really a church holiday, it is a holiday for children mainly.

Every autumn, when the vegetables are ready to eat, children pick large orange pumpkins. Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put a burning candle inside. It looks as if there were a person looking out of the pumpkin! These lights are called jack-o'-lanterns, which means “Jack of the lantern”.

The children also put on strange masks and frightening costumes every Halloween. Some children paint their faces to look like monsters. Then they carry boxes or bags from house to house. Every time they come to a new house, they say,“Trick or treat! Money or eat!” The grown-ups put treat-money or candy in their bags.

Not only children, but most grown-ups also love Halloween and Halloween parties because on this day,they can disguise themselves as personages or ghost as their imaginations will lead them. This bring them the satisfaction of being young.