Christmas
Although, for Christians, Christmas is not the most important of festivals, it is probably the most widely celebrated religious occasion in the West. This festival celebrates the birth of the messiah in Bethlehem Palestine about two thousand years ago. This messiah was Jesus Christ who, Christians believe, was sent to save mankind and absolve them from their sins. Nowadays, you might be forgiven for missing the religious element to this festival as it has descended somewhat into an orgy of consumerism and indulgence. Gifts are given amongst family and friends and cards wishing “Seasonal Greetings” sent between just about everyone. Father Christmas, otherwise known as Santa Claus, is said to squeeze his way down chimneys across the world on Christmas Eve and deliver presents to any children that have behaved well over the last year. Another important motif of the festival is the Christmas tree, around which traditionally people would dance around hinting at the pagan origins of this mid-winter celebration.
圣诞节
虽然对基督教徒来说，圣诞节并不是其最重要的节日，但是在西方，它却是一个最受广泛庆祝的节日。圣诞节庆祝的是两千多年前弥赛亚(犹太人盼望的复国救主)在巴勒斯坦伯利恒的诞生。这个弥赛亚就是耶稣(基督教信奉的救世主)。基督教徒相信，耶稣是被派来拯救人类并协助人们摆脱罪恶的救世主。如今，就算你已经忘记了这个节日的本来意义也不会有人怪罪你，因为，现在的圣诞节已经演变成为大肆消费、狂欢与纵情享受的节日。在这个节日里，亲人们、朋友间都会互送礼物，满载着“节日祝福”的贺卡也会送到每一个人的手中。“圣诞之父”（Father Christmas），也就是我们所熟知的“圣诞老人”（Santa Claus），据说会在圣诞节前夕顺着烟囱下来，给世界各地的孩子们送去礼物，这些收到礼物的孩子必定是那些在过去的一年中各方面表现都很优秀的孩子。圣诞节的另一个重点是圣诞树，在这一天，人们会围着圣诞树跳舞，这也表明圣诞树是圣诞节形成之前的隆冬节日的重要组成部分。
Easter
For religious, as opposed to cultural, Christians, this is the fundamental festival of Christianity. It celebrates the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified and died and then rose again a few days later. Jesus claimed in his life that he was the Son of God. The Jews, viewing this as heinous blasphemy, had him handed over to the Roman governor of Palestine and demanded that he be executed. Following his death on the cross however, Jesus appeared to his disciples and told them to spread his gospel of love and forgiveness around the world. Despite the religious theme to Easter, to many people in the west, this festival is simply about the exchange of chocolate eggs, said to be delivered by the Easter Bunny. Again, one can see, as with Christmas, hints of the pagan origins of this festival, onto which has been grafted the later Christian message of Easter. The early pagan concern was with the onset of spring and the rebirth of nature symbolized by an egg!
复活节
对基督徒来说，复活节在宗教上的意义与在文化上的意义是不一样的，它是基督教中最重要的节日。它纪念的是耶稣在十字架上受刑死后几天内又复活这件事。耶稣声称自己是“上帝的儿子”。犹太人认为这是极其恶毒的亵渎话，因此把耶稣交给了当时在巴勒斯坦的罗马统治者，要求将这个“狂妄之徒”处死。在十字架上被钉死后，耶稣又出现在他的信徒们面前，号召大家把爱和宽容的信仰散播到世界各地。忽略了宗教上的本来意义，现在的许多西方人只把这个节日当成了一个互换“复活节彩蛋”的节日，还美其名曰是“复活兔”赠送的。大家可以看到，就像圣诞节一样，以前的宗教成份已经融入到了复活节当中，在复活节形成之前，人们正是利用“彩蛋”来暗示春天的到来和自然万物的新生。
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a very important cultural festival in the United States. It takes place on the last Thursday of November and its purpose, as its name suggests, is to give thanks for all that we have. The Mayflower pilgrims held the very first Thanksgiving. After having barely survived a harsh winter and following an abundant harvest, they decided to hold a feast to give thanks. Largely redolent of the traditional English Harvest Festival, a significant and unique element to this original Thanksgiving was that the pilgrims invited 91 local Indians to whom they felt indebted for assisting their survival in that first bleak year. This spirit of friendship did not last however, a few years on and the pilgrims were condemning the Indians as heathen. Nowadays, the festival is a chance for family to get together and enjoy the traditional food such as roast turkey and pumpkin pie that no Thanksgiving could do without.
感恩节
在美国，感恩节是一个非常重要的节日。感恩节是在11月的最后一个星期四，它的纪念主题正如它的名字本身所提到的，感谢我们所拥有的一切。最早开始庆祝这个节日的是“五月花号”上的清教徒们。在渡过了一个难熬的严冬后，他们获得了一次大丰收，于是，他们决定举行一个盛大的宴会来表达他们的感激之情。在英国传统的“收获感恩节”中，“感恩节”还有另外一个重要的因素，那就是清教徒们邀请91个当地的印第字安人共同庆祝这个节日，这91个人正是在那个寒冬中给了他们极大支持的人，确实是他们需要感谢的人。然而，这种友谊并未能延续多长时间，几年之后，清教徒们一致谴责这些印第安人是野蛮人。如今，这个节日演变成了一个有机会让家庭成员聚集在一起的节日。在这个节日中，大家在一起享用传统美食，如烤火鸡，南瓜馅饼等这些节日特色食物。
Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night
This is an English festival that takes place on the 5th November. It commemorates what is known as the Gunpowder plot. A group of Catholic conspirators aimed to blow up the Houses of Parliament in Westminster London while the King was present hoping to foment a Catholic revolution. However, they were foiled in their scheme when a guard discovered Guy Fawkes in the basement of Parliament surrounded by barrels of gunpowder. After much torture he revealed all and the conspirators were rounded up and executed in the grizzly fashion of the day reserved for traitors: Hung, Drawn and Quartered. Today this festival is very popular with children. They build their own Guy – a dummy of stuffed clothes that resembles a person – and put it on top of a bonfire. Finally, as the bonfire rages fireworks are released symbolizing the explosions that never took place all those years ago.
盖伊·福克斯之夜 (或篝火节之夜)
这是英国的传统节日，时间为每年的11月5日。它纪念“火药的阴谋”这个历史事件。一小撮天主教反叛分子密谋炸毁位于伦敦威斯敏斯特的英国国会大厦，当时国王正在开会，讨论天主教改革的事宜。但是，密谋泄露了，一个卫兵发现了当时正在国会大厦地窑内，被成桶成桶的炸药包围着的盖伊·福克斯。他们的阴谋被挫败了。在严刑拷打下，盖伊·福克斯招供了一切。于是，阴谋反叛的人被团团包围起来，根据当时的律法以叛国贼论处，被判处绞刑并剖尸裂肢。今天，孩子们都非常喜欢这个节日。他们自己制作“盖伊”－一个用旧衣服填充做成的假人，再把它放到篝火上焚烧。最后，当绚丽的焰火燃放起来时，代表多年前的那场爆炸根本没有发生过。
Mother’s Day
Mothering Sunday was an English observance whereby people were encouraged to return on the 4th Sunday of Lent to the church in which they were baptized, their “Mother Church”. Naturally, this often meant returning to their hometown. At the time it
was common for children as young as 10 to be away from home working so it became the custom that they were on this day allowed to return to visit their families. This evolved into a day for showing respect and love for one’s mother. Mother’s Day in the USA, on the second Sunday of May, has a different origin. It did not develop from another practice as in England, but was instigated in the early 20th Century as a day specifically for expressing gratitude to the Nation’s Mothers. Father’s Day, not as is often believed invented by card companies, actually originated in the USA only a little later, inspired by Mother’s Day.
母亲节
“母亲节”是英国的传统节日，在“四旬斋月”的第四个星期天，人们都要回到自己接受“洗礼”时的教堂－“母亲教堂”去做礼拜。自然而然地，这也代表了回到家乡的意思。那时，年仅10岁的孩童出外打工是很平常的事，因此，在那天回到家中跟家人团聚也就成了一种习俗。渐渐地，这一天变成了对母亲表示尊敬和爱戴的节日。在美国，“母亲节”是在五月的第二个星期天，它的来源跟英国的不大一样。它并不象英国那样是从某一个习俗转变过来的，而是在二十世纪早期兴起，为感谢所有的母亲而特别设立的节日。至于“父亲节”，许多人一直认为是由贺卡制造商发起的，事实并不是这样。在美国，“父亲节”的建立只略微比“母亲节”晚些，是在“母亲节”的推动下产生的。
New year’s Day 新年（1月1日）
Candlemas 圣烛节（基督教）（2月2日）
Valentine’s Day 情人节（2月14日）
Easter 复活节（3月21日）
April fools’ Day 愚人节（4月1日）
Mother’s Day 母亲节（5月的第2个星期日）
Father’s Day 父亲节（6月的第3个星期日）
Halloween 万圣节前夕
All Saints’ Day 万圣节（11月1日）
Thanksgiving Day 感恩节（11月的第4个星期四）
Christmas 圣诞节（12月25日）
你是西交的么。。。选的欧洲文化渊源？
好
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