1、古时候人们认为恶灵（evil spirits）会在每年10月31日的夜晚重返人间。为了驱逐恶灵，他们会将房子里的炉火和烛台（candles）熄灭（extinguish），将房子弄得很荒凉（inhospitable），好像没人居住一样，这样恶灵就不会进屋去。他们也会故意穿得很邋遢（sloppily dressed），看起来很丑，这样恶灵就不愿意接近他们了。另外，他们还知道恶灵害怕噪音，于是他们穿着奇形怪状的服装（costume）上街游行（parade）。这就是万圣节的由来（origin）。,Halloween is as fun as it is today because the pagans
2、 did not listen to the church. They carried on practicing many Samhain rites at Halloween, some of which still exist today. Trick-or-treating, for example, came from the pagan belief that ghosts made trouble for the living on their annual trip to earth. To protect themselves from harmful spirits, pe
3、ople wore costumes to look like the spirits and made offerings of food such as bread, eggs, and apples for luck. Wearing masks and costumes to confuse the ghosts, people went door-to-door to collect the offerings. Generous people lit large fires and were wished well, but stingy ones were threatened.
4、 The custom continues today, with millions of children getting dressed up and knocking on doors asking for treats. While most modern people are not afraid of ghosts, on Halloween, the stingy have something to fear, as some people go through with the “trick“ and throw eggs at stingy peoples homes.,万圣
5、节像今天这样有趣，是因为异教徒没有听从教会。他们在万圣节继续沿用许多缩温节的仪式，有些仪式现在仍然存在。 例如，“不给糖就捣蛋“这个习俗，来源于异教徒相信鬼魂会在每年降临人间的时候给活着的人制造麻烦。为了保护自己不被恶灵伤害，人们穿上看起来像鬼的衣服，并且准备面包、鸡蛋、苹果等食物当供品以求好运。人们戴着面具，穿着迷惑鬼魂的鬼服，挨家挨户收供品。慷慨的人点起灯火，受到良好祝愿，但吝啬的人却受到威胁。 这个习俗延续至今，成千上万的儿童穿戴起来，逐户敲门要求款待。然而大多数现代人并不怕鬼，在万圣节，当小气的人看见有人拿着“家伙“经过，并朝小气的人的家里丢鸡蛋的时候，不免会有些提心吊胆。,It ma
6、y surprise you to learn that Halloween got its name because the Catholic Church tried to replace the pagan festival of Samhain with one that honored Catholic saints. Samhain was a special time of the year, when the people of Britain and Ireland remembered their dead. These people believed that dead
7、souls could enter the land of the living on this day, so every October 31 they lit bonfires and held feasts for good luck. Since the church wanted the pagans to celebrate their All Hallows Day festival - the day for Catholic saints - the church changed the festivals day to November 1, the day after
8、Samhain. However, instead of just honoring Catholic saints on All Hallows Day, the pagans still went on celebrating Samhain on October 31.,如果你知道，万圣节的由来是因为天主教会试图以一个让异教徒感念天主教圣人的节日来取代异教的“缩温节“，你可能会感到惊讶。缩温节是一年中很特别的日子，英国人和爱尔兰人在这个时候悼念他们死去的亲友。这些人相信， 死去的灵魂会在这一天来到人世间，因此每年10月31日他们,燃起篝火，举办盛宴以求好运。因为想让异教徒庆祝他们的“诸圣
9、日“（也就是天主教圣人日），天主教会把诸圣日改到11月1日，缩温节的第二天。然而，异教徒除了在诸圣日对天主教圣人表示尊敬之外，仍继续在10月31日庆祝缩温节。,Halloween is a night when, across America, fantasies come to life. Lower Manhattan is no exception as New Yorkers turn out en masse to the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. They come for the entertainment to see the pa
10、rades signature papier-mache puppet bobbing above the crowds, and to indulge in an elaborate game of dress-up. Everyday rules are temporarily suspended and thousands of costumed New Yorkers parade in the streets without fear of being judged. Men in hats (and little else) walk alongside kazoo-playing
11、 old ladies. No one is worried by the bizarre or weird, because at the Village Parade, Halloween is a night when anything goes. Anything but crime, that is. Halloween, a night of mayhem in most other U.S. cities, is peaceful in Greenwich Village. The joyous spirit of the partygoers results in a nigh
12、t when crime is lower than on any other night of the year. This proves, in more ways than one, that Halloween is when ones wildest fantasies can come true for New Yorkers.,全美各地，万圣节是一个梦想成真的夜晚。当纽约人全体涌向格林威治村举办的万圣节游行时，下曼哈顿也不例外。他们为了娱乐前去观赏游行的重头戏纸糊木偶在人群中晃动，同时也纵情于一场别出心裁的化装游戏。 平时的规矩暂时被搁在一边，数以千计盛装的纽约人在街上游行，无畏
13、他人评判的眼光。男人会戴着帽子（穿得很少）一路走在吹笛的老妇身边。没有人会担心这些怪人或异类，因为在这次游行中，万圣节是一个为所欲为的晚上。 也就是说，除了犯罪什么都可以做。万圣节当晚，美国其他多数城市处于一片混乱时，格林威治村却很安宁。聚会狂欢者玩得很尽兴，使当晚的犯罪率比同年其他夜晚要低。这也从各方面证明了，对纽约人而言万圣节是把各种天马行空的幻想化为现实的一刻。,纽约市的万圣节大游行 (Halloween Parade) 堪称是纽约格林威治村 (Greenwich Village) 的年度盛事 (annual event)。这个游行源于1973年，刚开始只是一位面具制作家 (mask m
14、aker) 兼木偶操作师 (puppeteer) Ralph Lee 的简单想法。当时他带着几个小孩在社区内办了一次小型的万圣节游行。第二年，纽约剧院邀请他将此构想带上大街，开始了一年一度的大游行。后来10月的最后一周正式被定为“万圣周“(Halloweek)。 现在，每年大约有三万名化装的游行者和近二百万人前来观赏。阵容庞大的游行队伍里，随处可见各式各样的奇异装扮 (fancy costume)，即使是看尽千奇百怪的纽约人 (New Yorker)也对它啧啧称奇。此外，还有数人同时操作的巨大人偶 (giant puppet)，将奇幻的意象具体呈现出来。最后，游行路线 (route)会来到纽约市最狂野的同性恋区，大街小巷挤满了尽情表演的变装人 (cross-dresser)，为这场疯狂大聚会划下完美的句号。 大游行每年都会搭配不同的主题 (theme)，比如环保、爱滋病等。去年因为“9o11“恐怖袭击事件 (terrorist attacks)，格林威治村树立起(erect)一座振翅飞起的凤凰雕像 (statue of the phoenix)，象征纽约市的重生 (reborn after a baptism of fire)。,
