几个英美国家的主要节日

几个英美国家的主要节日

马兰芬

Christmas

Although, for Christians, Christmas is not the most important of fest ivals, it is probably the most widely celebrated religious occasion i n the West. This festival celebrates the birth of the messiah in Beth lehem 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 famil y and friends and cards wishing “Seasonal Greetings” sent between j ust about everyone. Father Christmas, otherwise known as Santa Claus, is said to squeeze his way down chimneys across the world on Christm as Eve and deliver presents to any children that have behaved well ov er the last year. Another important motif of the festival is the Chri stmas tree, around which traditionally people would dance around hint ing at the pagan origins of this mid-winter celebration.

圣诞节

圣诞节的假期是12月25——26日，但很多的企业和政府机关都从12

月24放到元月2，3号的。

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 fundam ental festival of Christianity. It celebrates the fact that Jesus Chr

ist was crucified and died and then rose again a few days later. Jesu s claimed in his life that he was the Son of God. The Jews, viewing t his as heinous blasphemy, had him handed over to the Roman governor o f Palestine and demanded that he be executed. Following his death on the cross however, Jesus appeared to his disciples and told them to s pread his gospel of love and forgiveness around the world. Despite th e religious theme to Easter, to many people in the west, this festiva l is simply about the exchange of chocolate eggs, said to be delivere d by the Easter Bunny. Again, one can see, as with Christmas, hints o f the pagan origins of this festival, onto which has been grafted the ater Christian message of Easter. The early pagan concern was with t he onset of spring and the rebirth of nature symbolized by an egg!

复活节

一般在每年春分后月圆第一个星期天，约在3月7日左右。

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 Stat es. 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 May flower pilgrims held the very first Thanksgiving. After having barely survived a harsh winter and following an abundant harvest, they deci ded to hold a feast to give thanks. Largely redolent of the tradition al 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 firs t bleak year. This spirit of friendship did not last however, a few y ears on and the pilgrims were condemning the Indians as heathen. Nowa days, the festival is a chance for family to get together and enjoy t he traditional food such as roast turkey and pumpkin pie that no Than ksgiving could do without.

感恩节