The meaning of Halloween
萬(wàn)圣節(jié)的內(nèi)涵
原文地址：http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/10/economist-explains-28
ON OCTOBER 31st, American children will dress up as witches and ghosts, sometimes dripping with fake blood, and knock on their neighbours’ doors to demand sweets. Often, their parents will too. In the days before, many will have transformed their gardens into graveyards, scattered with polystyrene bones and headstones, and crawling with enormous furry spiders. Visiting Europeans often find this bizarre; but Halloween is catching on in their countries, too. In Britain, it has long been out-competed by Guy Fawkes Day, held on November 5th, when Brits light bonfires and fireworks to remember the foiling of an early-17th-century plot by Catholic terrorists to blow up the House of Lords. Yet Halloween is on the rise, as growing bands of drunken ghouls in Britain’s city centres attest. So what is it?
在 10 月 31 日财搁，美國(guó)的孩子們會(huì)把自己打扮得像女巫或者幽靈浮定，甚至?xí)眉傺炎约和磕ǖ臐窳芰艿模缓笄瞄_(kāi)鄰居家的門要糖果吃阴幌。通常饿肺，他們的父母也會(huì)這么干蒋困。在之前的幾天，許多人會(huì)將自己的花園裝扮成墓地敬辣，放上一些塑料制作的骨頭或者頭骨雪标，最后再加一些毛茸茸的蜘蛛。對(duì)此來(lái)游玩的歐洲人可能會(huì)覺(jué)得很奇怪溉跃；但萬(wàn)圣節(jié)也在其他國(guó)家開(kāi)始流行起來(lái)村刨。在英國(guó)，舉辦于 11 月 5 號(hào)的蓋伊·缸ィ克斯之夜是一個(gè)超越了萬(wàn)圣節(jié)的節(jié)日嵌牺，在那一天，英國(guó)人會(huì)燃起篝火，燃放煙花來(lái)紀(jì)念在 17 世紀(jì)早期成功挫敗了一批天主教徒陰謀炸毀國(guó)會(huì)大廈的事件逆粹。盡管如此募疮，萬(wàn)圣節(jié)也越來(lái)越受歡迎，正如在英國(guó)城市中心增加的喝醉的食尸鬼數(shù)量所證明的僻弹。那么阿浓，萬(wàn)圣節(jié)是什么呢？
Its shiny, inflammable witch costumes probably have their origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, during which people marked the onset of winter by dressing up as evil spirits. Around the eighth century, the Christian church co-opted the festival. It became Hallows (or “Holy”) Day, on which Christians remembered dead relations and saints. Hallows Day began with a vigil held the evening before—hence Hallow E’en, a contraction of evening, which became Halloween. At this time, the poor would sing and pray for alms, a practice known as “souling”. Some think this was the precursor to modern trick-or-treating. After Hallows Day became frowned upon, as a Catholic festival, during the Reformation, the holiday was construed as a burst of pre-Winter revelry. It became known as Mischief Night, taking on an association with naughtiness that has stuck. In the America of 1950, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee tried in vain to rescue the festival for the virtuous. They recommended that Halloween be rebranded as “National Youth Honour Day”. This didn’t catch on.
萬(wàn)圣節(jié)中的那些光鮮的女巫服飾或許來(lái)源于古代凱爾特人名為薩溫節(jié)的節(jié)日蹋绽，在那一天芭毙，人們會(huì)打扮成惡靈來(lái)預(yù)示冬季的來(lái)臨。在 8 世紀(jì)卸耘，基督徒加入了這個(gè)節(jié)日稿蹲。于是它就成為了 Hollows Day ，基督徒以此來(lái)紀(jì)念死去的親友與圣人鹊奖。Hollows Day 以守夜作為開(kāi)端苛聘，于是成為了 Hallow E’en ，也就是夜晚的縮寫忠聚，最終演變成了 Halloween 设哗。在這個(gè)節(jié)日，窮人會(huì)歌唱以及請(qǐng)求施舍两蟀，也就是被稱為“souling”的活動(dòng)网梢。許多人認(rèn)為這就是現(xiàn)代不給糖就搗亂的前身。在宗教改革期間赂毯，萬(wàn)圣節(jié)作為天主教節(jié)日被禁止之后战虏，它的含義就演變成了冬季前的狂歡。也被稱之為惡作劇之夜而廣為人知党涕，開(kāi)始于頑皮相聯(lián)系烦感。在 1950 年美國(guó)的參議院司法委員會(huì)試圖將這個(gè)節(jié)日重新定義為高尚的，然而徒勞無(wú)果膛堤。他們推薦把萬(wàn)圣節(jié)改為全國(guó)青年紀(jì)念日手趣。但并沒(méi)有被廣泛接受。
For Halloween was by then in the process of being transformed into the hugely popular and commercialised event it is today. Having fallen dormant elsewhere, it enjoyed an early 20th-century revival in America, perhaps because of its similarity to non-European festivals celebrated there, including the Latin American Day of the Dead, and Teng Chieh, at which Chinese commune with their ancestors. As Halloween grew in popularity, other European traditions were mixed with it, especially those of harvest festivals, including games such as apple bobbing and guessing the identity of a future spouse. But it was not until the post-war period that it really took off. A swelling consumer culture, shifts to suburbia—which lends itself to pop-up graveyards and trick-or-treating—and the advent of horror movies all gave rise to a prolonged boom in trickery, treats and haunted houses.
從那時(shí)起肥荔，萬(wàn)圣節(jié)就慢慢演變成為了現(xiàn)在這樣一個(gè)高度流行與商業(yè)化的節(jié)日绿渣。經(jīng)過(guò)在其他地區(qū)的蟄伏，最終萬(wàn)圣節(jié)在 20 世紀(jì)中期的美國(guó)煥發(fā)青春燕耿，或許是因?yàn)樗c其他的許多非歐洲節(jié)日存在許多的相似之處中符，例如拉丁美洲的死亡節(jié)，中國(guó)人紀(jì)念祖先的中元節(jié)誉帅。隨著萬(wàn)圣節(jié)越來(lái)越受到歡迎淀散，許多的歐洲習(xí)俗特別是感恩節(jié)的也開(kāi)始混合進(jìn)來(lái)谭期，例如咬蘋果以及猜測(cè)未來(lái)伴侶身份的游戲。但這些直到二戰(zhàn)之后才真正的流行起來(lái)吧凉。膨脹的消費(fèi)文化影響到了郊區(qū)人民的生活態(tài)度隧出，同樣也帶來(lái)了將花園裝扮成目的，不給糖就搗亂以及恐怖電影的來(lái)臨阀捅，這些最終都促使搗蛋胀瞪，糖果以及鬼屋文化的繁榮。
Today, the sight of grown men dressed as zombies, half-burying themselves in their front-gardens in order to rise up and terrify passers-by can still be surprising, to foreign eyes at least. Hardworking Americans really do go for Halloween; this year they will spend about $7 billion on the festival. But then, if you have only a couple of weeks’ holiday a year, why wouldn’t you let your hair down, dye it green, and douse yourself in fake blood?
如今饲鄙，成年人裝扮成僵尸凄诞，將自己半埋在門口花園然后突然爬起來(lái)恐嚇路人仍然效果拔群，至少對(duì)外國(guó)人是這樣忍级。勤勞的美國(guó)人確實(shí)熱愛(ài)萬(wàn)圣節(jié)帆谍；今年他們?cè)谶@個(gè)節(jié)日大約會(huì)消費(fèi) 70 億美元。但同時(shí)轴咱，如果你一年只有幾個(gè)星期的假期汛蝙，那么為什么不把頭發(fā)梳下來(lái)，染成綠色朴肺，往自己身上潑灑假血呢窖剑？
