万圣夜是哪天晚上（万圣夜原来还是脱单节）

今天是西方的传统节日——Halloween，万圣节（All Saints' Day）前夜，也可以称作“万圣夜”。

提到万圣夜、万圣节，你可能会想到糖果、变装、南瓜灯、鬼怪，以及那句经典的“trick-or-treat（不给糖就捣乱）”，但你知道万圣节原来还是脱单节吗？一起和扇贝君来了解几条关于万圣节的有趣冷知识吧～

1. Originally, you had to dance for your “treat.”

想要糖吗？跳个舞先！

Most experts trace trick-or-treating to the European practice of “mumming,” in which costume-wearing participants would go door-to-door performing choreographed dances, songs and plays in exchange for treats.

大多数专家认为，“不给糖就捣蛋”这一风俗可以追溯到欧洲的化妆表演，小伙伴们穿着戏装挨家挨户表演精心编排的舞蹈、歌唱和戏剧，这样才能换来款待。

这一传统后来才流传到美国，而且起初常出现在感恩节上。

今年的万圣夜活动，你准备好节目了吗？

2. Halloween’s origins come from an ancient Celtic festival.

万圣夜起源于古凯尔特人的节日。

Halloween’s origins come from a Celtic festival for the dead called “Samhain.” Celts believed the ghosts of the dead roamed Earth on this holiday, so people would dress in costumes and leave “treats” out on their front doors to appease the roaming spirits.

万圣夜起源于凯尔特人纪念逝者的“萨温节／夏末节。”凯尔特人相信在节日这天，逝者的鬼魂会来到人间游走，所以人们会穿上特别的服装，并在家门口摆放祭品来抚慰这些游荡的鬼魂。

Granted, the Celts were not solely based in Ireland when these customs started taking shape around the first century B.C., but as will be talked about more in a later section, the Irish Celts were the ones who invented the jack-o’-lantern. This Halloween prototype was eventually disrupted and adapted by Christian missionaries into celebrations closer to what we celebrate today.

这一习俗大概在公元前一世纪成形，虽然当时并非只有爱尔兰才有凯尔特人，但人们后来确定了杰克南瓜灯正是爱尔兰的凯尔特人发明的。最后，经过基督教传教士的介入和修改，这一雏形逐渐演变为庆祝活动，更接近我们现在的庆祝形式。

3. If you’d been around for the earliest Halloween celebrations, you might have worn animal skins and heads.

要是去参加古代的万圣夜活动，穿戴动物的头和毛皮，你就是最靓的仔！

According to ancient Roman records, tribes located in today’s Germany and France traditionally wore costumes of animal heads and skins to connect to spirits of the dead. This tradition continued into modern day celebrations of Samhain, the Celtic holiday that inspired Halloween in America. On this day, people often dressed as evil spirits simply by blackening their faces. The leader of the Samhain parades wore a white sheet and carried a wooden horse head or a decorated horse skull.

根据古罗马文献记载，曾在今德国、法国一带生存过的部落，会穿戴动物的头颅或毛皮，与逝者通灵。这一传统一直延续至现代的萨温节，也就是美国万圣夜的前身。在这一天，人们通常会把脸涂黑，扮成恶魔。萨温节游行的领头人会披着白袍，戴上木制的马头或精心装饰的马头骨。

emmm……仔细想想，画面好像不太美……

4. Jack-o’-lanterns were once made out of turnips, beets and potatoes — not pumpkins.

杰克南瓜灯原来是用萝卜、甜菜头和土豆做的，反正不是南瓜。

The jack-o’-lantern comes from an old Irish tale about a man named Stingy Jack.

杰克南瓜灯源自古老的爱尔兰传说，讲的是吝啬鬼杰克的故事。

According to folklore, Stingy Jack was out getting sloshed with the Devil when Jack convinced his drinking partner to turn himself into a coin to pay for the drinks without spending money. Jack then put the Devil, shaped like a coin, into his pocket, which also contained a silver cross that kept the Devil from transforming back. Jack promised to free the Devil as long as the Devil wouldn’t bother him for a year, and if he died, the Devil could never claim his soul. Jack tricked the Devil again later, getting him to pick a piece of fruit out of a tree and then carving a cross into the bark when the Devil was in the branches. This trick bought Jack another 10 years of devil-free living.

故事是这样的。吝啬鬼杰克和恶魔一起喝酒，为了不花钱，他说服恶魔变成硬币来付酒钱。但恶魔变成了硬币后，杰克却把恶魔装进了口袋，还用银十字架镇住了他，使他无法变回原形。杰克承诺只要恶魔一年都不来骚扰他，而且如果他死了，也不来索取他的灵魂，就放恶魔出来。第二年，杰克又戏弄了恶魔，他让恶魔去摘果子，恶魔到树上后，杰克在树皮上刻了十字。这一次，杰克成功让恶魔答应十年都不来找他。（这个恶魔怎么不太聪明的亚子？）

When Jack finally died, God decided he wasn’t fit for heaven, but the Devil had promised never to claim his soul for hell. So Jack was sent off to roam Earth with only a burning coal for light. He put the coal into a turnip as a lantern, and Stingy Jack became “Jack of the Lantern” or “Jack o’ Lantern.” Based on this myth, the Irish carved scary faces into turnips, beets and potatoes to scare away Stingy Jack or any other spirits of the night.

杰克死后，上帝觉得他不配进天堂，而恶魔也答应过不把他的灵魂带入地狱。所以杰克只能游荡在人间，靠着一块燃烧的炭火来照明。他把煤炭放在萝卜里，做成提灯，而吝啬鬼杰克也就变成了“提灯杰克”。根据这个传说，爱尔兰人便在萝卜、甜菜头和土豆上刻上可怕的鬼脸，来驱赶夜里的吝啬鬼杰克或其他的鬼魂。

再后来，19世纪40年代，新移民来到美洲大陆，他们发现了比白萝卜更好的材料——南瓜。所以现在的杰克灯基本都是南瓜做的了。

5. Halloween used to be a great day to find your soulmate.

万圣夜曾是盛大的脱单节？

In some parts of Ireland, people celebrated Halloween by playing romantic fortune-telling games. These games allegedly predicted who they’d marry, and when. In America, young people, particularly girls, continued the old Irish tradition. They often play games, like bobbing for apples, trying to predict future romances.

在爱尔兰一些地区，人们会在万圣夜玩浪漫的算命游戏，据说这些游戏可以预测何时与谁结婚。在美国，尤其是女生之间，仍然沿袭着这个古老的爱尔兰传统，比如玩咬苹果的游戏，来预测未来的爱情。

害！单身狗还不抓紧机会吗？

6. In a few American towns, Halloween was originally referred to as “Cabbage Night.”

在美国一些小镇，万圣夜原本是“卷心菜之夜。”

This came from a Scottish fortune-telling game, where girls used cabbage stumps to predict information about their future husbands. In the early Framingham, Massachusetts, teens skipped the fortune-telling and simply went around throwing cabbage at their neighbors’ houses. This was no isolated tradition: In late 19th century America, country boys reportedly rejoiced in throwing cabbage, corn and assorted rotten vegetables.

这一习俗源自苏格兰的算命游戏，女孩们用卷心菜茎来预测未来的夫婿。而在马萨诸塞州的弗雷明汉，早些时候，熊孩子们干脆跳过算命的环节，直接把卷心菜扔到邻居的家里。这还不是个例，据说在19世纪晚期，美国乡下的小男孩以扔卷心菜、玉米以及各种各样的烂菜为乐。

7. Some animal shelters won’t allow the adoption of black cats around Halloween for fear they’ll be sacrificed.

万圣夜来了，保护我方黑色喵星人！

It’s unclear whether black cats are actually sacrificed around Halloween, but various animal shelters refuse to let people adopt these cats in the lead-up to the holiday. This type of ban is starting to wane, however. Many shelters are actually holding a special black cat promotion around the holiday.

虽然尚不清楚黑猫在万圣夜是否真的会被当作祭品，但许多动物收容所在节前都会拒绝人们领养黑猫。不过，这一禁令在逐渐放宽了。事实上，也有很多收容所会在节日前后专门为黑猫开展领养推广活动。

看完这篇，今天又是涨知识的一天呢！贝贝们今晚怎么安排的呢？祝大家玩得开心吖～

参考文献：

[1] Huffpost. 8 Super Weird Things You Didn’t Know About Halloween. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/halloween-weird-facts_n_5948456[2] Wikipedia. Halloween. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween[3] Wikipedia. All Saints' Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints'_Day

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