Halloween
万圣节
wànshèngjié

Halloween falls every October 31. Halloween has roots in an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. Samhain is a celebration and the end of harvest season marking the Celtic New Year. The ancient Celts believed that on October 31 the boundary between the living and dead dissolved and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing illness or damaging crops. On the day of Halloween the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their windowsill to represent the dead. Since the head is the most important part of the body, the head of any vegetable such as a pumpkin can be used to frighten off any superstitions. Today’s Halloween is marked by children and adults alike wearing costumes which are either scary like ghosts or mummies, or dressing up like another person like George W. Bush. Children then go house to house ringing the doorbell saying, “Trick-or-Treat,” meaning if don’t give me candy I will play a trick on you. For Halloween the traditional foods are candied apples and roasted pumpkin seeds. There are many great movies about Halloween such as ‘Halloween’ and ‘Donnie Darko.’ The colors associate with Halloween are orange and black. On Halloween night unmarried women sit in a darkened room and look into a mirror. If a man’s face appears it is the face of her future husband, but if a skull appears the woman is destined to die before marriage.

万圣节是每年的10月31日，其根源可以追溯到古代凯尔特人的萨温节。收割季节结束之时也是凯尔特新年来临之时，萨温节就是庆祝这样一个时刻的节日。古代凯尔特人相信，10月31日是生死界限融化的时候，届时死亡将会以疾病和毁坏农作物的方式来威胁生命。所以万圣节来临之时，古凯尔特人会放一副骨架在自己窗台上代表死亡。因为头是人身体上最重要的部分，所以象南瓜之类的植物“首级”可以用来驱邪。如今，在万圣节时，孩子们和年轻人要么走吓人路线，穿得像幽灵或者木乃伊；要么走模仿秀路线，打扮得像某个人物，比如小布什（George W. Bush）。然后他们会挨家挨户地敲门，并且会对主人说“不招待，就使坏”（Trick-or-Treat），意思就是：如果你不给我糖吃，我就会对你使坏。万圣节的传统食物是涂了糖的苹果和烤南瓜籽。还有许多以万圣节为主题的电影，比如“万圣节”和“死亡幻觉”。万圣节的主题色是桔色和黑色。有一种说法：在万圣节夜晚，未婚女子在昏暗的房间里照镜子，镜子里如果出现一个男人的脸，那将是她未来的丈夫；如果出现的是一个头骨，那这个女子将永远不能结婚。