双语盘点各国圣诞节庆祝方式

英语自学网

　　Most of you are familiar with American, Canadian and English Christmas
customs, which are largely the same, including Santa bringing presents that sit
below a lit up tree. But have you ever wondered just how Christmas is celebrated
in China, or in Finland? Whether you’re just interested in learning more about
other cultures or want to incorporate some new traditions into your holiday
celebrations, this article is filled with all you need to know about
international Christmases。
        　　大多数人对英美加这些国家如何过圣诞都很熟悉。它们的圣诞习俗大同小异，包括圣诞老人在点亮的圣诞树下放上礼物。但是你曾想过中国、芬兰这些国家是如何庆祝圣诞的吗?不管你是有兴趣了解其他文化，还是想为自己的圣诞庆祝添点新花样，这篇文章将给你所有“必知”的不同国家的圣诞知识。
       

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     Finland
        　　芬兰
        　　Finnish people honor their departed loved ones on Christmas Eve by visiting
the cemeteries and leaving candles on the graves of their family members. If
they live too far away to visit their loved one’s graves, most graveyards have
an area you can light a candle to remember those buried in other cemeteries. The
soft snow and gentle glow of the candles make graveyards a very beautiful place
to visit on Christmas Eve。
        　　芬兰人会在圣诞节去墓地，并在他们家人的墓地上留下点燃的蜡烛，以此来怀念他们过世的亲人。如果他们住的太远，没办法去亲人的墓地，大多数墓地上都会有一个区域供他们怀念在其他墓地上安息的亲人们。柔软的积雪和轻柔的烛光让墓地成了一个的漂亮的平安夜拜访地。
            
            

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     Spain
        　　西班牙
        　　Spain’s celebrations vary greatly depending on the region. In the Basque
regions, the Santa role is filled by Olentzero, a fat man in a beret who smokes
a pipe. He used to be an enforcer against naughty children who was said to throw
a sickle down the chimney to cut the throats of kids who didn’t sleep. Nowadays
though, he is a positive character like Santa that only brings good
presents。
        　　西班牙的庆祝风俗不同地区大不相同。在斯巴达地区，圣诞老人名叫奥林泽罗(Olentzero)，是一个戴着四角帽、抽着大烟斗的胖老人。他过去的职责是惩罚淘气包，据说他会从烟囱里扔下镰刀，切断不睡觉的小孩的喉咙。但如今，他是像圣诞老人那样只带来好礼物的正面形象。
        　　In the Catalan region, families “feed” a little log called a “Caga tio”
every night from the 8th to the 23rd. On Christmas Eve, the family hits the log
with a stick to release sweet treats that have been hidden in his hollow center.
If you hadn’t guessed yet, “Caga tio” translates to “pooping log。”
        　　在加泰罗尼亚地区，人们会从12月8号到23号一直“喂食”一块叫“察加蒂奥”(Caga
tio)的原木。在平安夜，他们会用棍子敲这块原木，让藏在中空的木头中的糖果掉出来。如果你还未猜出“察加蒂奥”什么意思，它字面翻译就是“排便原木”。
        　　The celebration ends when the log poops out something decidedly not sweet,
usually a dried herring, an onion or a head of garlic. Catalans must enjoy poop
jokes because aside from their pooping log, they also celebrate with a
“Caganer,” a nativity scene character that is seen to be pooping in the corner
of the scene。
        　　庆祝活动的结尾就是“原木‘排’出不甜的东西，往往是干鲱鱼、洋葱或蒜头”。加泰罗尼亚人一定很享受“大便”笑话，因为除了“排便原木”，他们还庆祝一个基督诞生场景中的人物(Caganer)，据说他被看到在场景的一角拉大便。
            
            

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      Italy
        　　意大利
        　　In Italy, there is no Santa, but instead there a woman called a Befana that
performs the general duties of Saint Nick. The story is that the three wise men
stopped during their travels and asked a woman for food and shelter. She said
no, but later realized her mistake when it was too late. She now travels the
earth looking for the baby Jesus and on January 6th, she leaves kids a sock
filled with candy or a lump of coal。
        　　意大利没有圣诞老人，但有一个叫贝法娜(Befana)的女巫，她履行圣诞老人一般的职责。据说从前有三位智者在旅行中请求一位女士给些吃的，并能让他们留宿，但女士拒绝了。她接着意识到了自己的错误，但这已经太晚了。如今她环游全球，寻找婴孩时的耶稣，并会在1月6号给孩子们留下装满糖果或煤块的袜子。
            
            

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    Greece
        　　希腊
        　　Residents will fill a shallow bowl with water and then tie wire with a
wooden cross and a sprig of basil over the bowl. Once a day the cross and basil
are dipped into holy water, which is then sprinkled through the house. This
ceremony is used to keep out goblins, known as Killikantzaroi out of the
house。
        　　希腊人会将一只浅碗灌满水，然后用金属丝把一个木制十字架和罗勒小枝系在碗上。每天都要把十字架和罗勒枝浸到圣水中，然后满屋撒圣水。这个礼节是用来防止小妖精(Killikantzaroi)进屋。
        　　These mischievous goblins that come from the center of the earth only
appear during the twelve days of Christmas. While bratty, they’re not really
evil and tend to do bratty things like souring milk and extinguishing fires.
Because they are said to enter the house through the fireplace, fires are left
burning all day and night during this time of year。
        　　这些爱恶作剧的小妖精来自地球的中心，只在圣诞这十二天出现。它们虽然讨厌，但不是真正的恶魔，只是会做讨厌的事情，例如撒出牛奶和熄灭炉火。据说它们是从房子的壁炉进来的，因此希腊人在圣诞期间白天和夜晚都会燃着炉火。
            
            

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France
        　　法国
        　　Children of East France have an evil visitor to keep them behaving all year
long. Le Pere Fouettard, which translates into “The Whipping Father,”
accompanies Saint Nicolas in on December 6. While St. Nick gives good children
presents, Le Pere Fouettard gives coal and whippings to the naughty
children。
        　　法国东部的孩子们有个邪恶的造访者，他叫“鞭子老爹”(Le Pere
Fouettard)，确保孩子们一整年都表现乖巧。圣诞老人12月6号给孩子分发礼物时，他也陪伴左右。“鞭子老爹”会给淘气的孩子煤块和一顿鞭子。
        　　One of the most popular origin stories of the character say that he was a
greedy inn keeper who killed three rich boys on their way to boarding school. In
many versions of the story, he even eats the children. Whether or not he
cannibalizes the boys, the story ends when Saint Nick finds out and resurrects
the children and forces Le Pere Fouettard to act as his servant throughout
time。
        　　关于“鞭子老爹”这个人物的起源，最流行的一个版本是说，他是一个贪婪的旅馆老板，在三个富男孩上学路上把他们杀了。很多其他版本甚至流传他吃小孩。故事的结局是圣诞老人找到并救出了孩子们，还迫使“鞭子老爹”永世做他的仆人。
        　　Aside from The Whipping Father, another popular French tradition involves
making a cake that looks like a traditional Yule log, known as buche de Noel.
Christmas trees never really caught on in the country and while most people
don’t have any use for an actual Yule log, the cake is a fun and festive
substitute. Some of the buche de Nol can get fairly elaborate and even involve
meringue mushrooms and edible flower decorations。
        　　除了“鞭子老爹”的故事，法国圣诞还有一个传统是做“圣诞柴蛋糕”。其实圣诞树从未风靡全法国。虽然圣诞柴对法国人来说没什么实际用途，但这个蛋糕代表了人们的愉快和节日的喜庆。有些“圣诞柴蛋糕”做得相当精致，甚至有蛋白酥皮小蘑菇和能吃的花朵装饰品。
            
            

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     Germany
        　　德国
        　　Belsnickel is the German Santa’s dark enforcer, but he’s not nearly as evil
as Krumpus or The Whipping Father. Instead he just wears fur from head to toe
and gives good girls and boys candy and bad children coal and switches。
        　　贝尔森克(Belsnickel)是德国圣诞老人的惩罚执行者，但他没克拉普斯或鞭子老爹那么邪恶。他从头到脚穿着毛皮，给好孩子们发糖果，给坏孩子们煤块和一顿鞭子。
        　　Many are decorated with a wreath known as an “Adventskranz。” These wreaths
have four candles which serve as a sort of weekly advent calendar, as each
Sunday marks the opportunity to light a new candle。
        　　许多地方都装饰有“降临节花环”(Adventskranz)。花环上有四只蜡烛，代表着降临节周历。每周日都点燃一只蜡烛。四只都被点燃时就意味着圣诞节到了。
        　　On December 21, St. Thomas Day is believed to be the shortest day of the
year and anyone who arrives late to work is called a “Thomas Donkey。” They are
also given a cardboard donkey and made fun of throughout the rest of the
day。
        　　12月21日是“圣·托马斯日”(St. Thomas
Day)，据说是一年中最短的一天。任何在这一天上班迟到的人都被叫做“托马斯驴子”，他们还会收到一个纸板做的驴子，并且被嘲笑一整天。
        　　Like many places in Europe, the Christmas tree is kept secret from the
children until Christmas Eve. The parents bring the tree in, decorate it with
candies, tinsel, lights and toys, put presents and plates of candy treats under
the tree and then ring a bell signaling that the children can enter. The
children then get to eat snacks and the whole family opens presents。
        　　跟欧洲许多地方一样，在德国，圣诞树直到平安夜才能让孩子们看到。父母们把圣诞树拉出来，装饰上蜡烛、金属亮片、彩灯和玩具，把礼物和一碟碟的糖果放在树下，然后摇一下铃，表示孩子们可以进来了。小孩子们便可以吃小吃，全家一起打开礼物。