一年一度的万圣节就要到啦。这个节日在英国仍然很火热，特别对孩子和年轻人来说更是期待呀。借此机会咱们一起来聊聊万圣节的历史和如今英国年青人最喜欢的庆祝活动吧。

The Origin of Halloween 万圣节来历

Halloween roots lie in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain which was celebrated in what is now Great Britain on a full moon around November 1st. Later the Roman Catholic Church named this day as All Saints Day, formerly known as All Hallowmas. All Saints Day is known in England as All Hallows' Day. The evening before All Saints' Day is All Hallows' Eve, the origin of the American word Halloween.

万圣节起源于古代凯尔特人的萨温节（Samhain），生活在英伦列岛的赛尔特人把11月1日左近的一个月圆日定为节日。后来罗马天主教会把这一天命名为万圣节，在英国被称为All Hallows Day（万圣节）。那么万圣“Hallow”加上前夜“een”就成为了Halloween这个美式表达。所以严格的说Halloween指的是万圣节前夜。

In Britain Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October. However, it is not a public holiday. If the 31st of October falls on a weekday people go to work as normal. The typical colours of Halloween are orange and black, seen on items such as black vampires and pumpkin lanterns.

在英国人们的确是在10月31日这天庆祝万圣节。不过它不是公共假日。如果10月31日赶上工作日，那么人们将正常上班。万圣节的标志性色彩是橘黄和黑色，比如黑色吸血鬼和桔黄色南瓜灯等物品。

Some popular Halloween activities in Britain 英国一些受欢迎的万圣节活动

Pumpkin lanterns 南瓜灯

Pumpkins are on salein shops and supermarkets from as early as the beginning of October. By the last week of October you can see pumpkin lanterns everywhere in shop windows and in people's houses. Although British people used to use potatoes and turnips, now they use pumpkins to make Jack-o-lanterns unique to the Halloween season. The name“Jack-o-lantern"comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who, because of his bad nature, was doomed to roam the earth without a resting place and with only his lit lantern to light the way in the darkness.

从十月初开始南瓜就在商店里出售啦。到十月最后一周，南瓜灯随处可见，商店橱窗里或英国居民家里也会摆放南瓜灯。虽然英国人过去也曾用土豆和萝卜来刻南瓜灯，但是现在他们都用南瓜做万圣节特有的“杰克灯”了。杰克这名字来自爱尔兰民间故事中一个小气鬼，由于他人品不好，所以死无去处，只能靠提着一个南瓜灯的亮光在黑暗中游荡。

Trick or treating 不给糖果就捣乱

Children love this game! They dress up and then knock on the doors of people's houses in their neighbourhood asking for a ‘trick or treat’. The neighbour gives them chocolates, sweets or money as a ‘treat’. If there is no treat, the children play a trick on the neighbour, for example, they might throw soap at the window. It only happens once a year so even the stingiest adultsmightgive something to the kids as a treat!

孩子们可喜欢这个游戏啦！他们化了妆，接着就去邻居家里敲门要“treat 款待”。一般来说邻居都会给孩子们一些巧克力、糖果或钱。如果邻居不给点儿东西意思一下，那么孩子们就会搞点恶作剧，比如他们会把肥皂往玻璃窗上抹。想想一年只有这么一次，所以即便最财迷的人一般也会给孩子们一些“款待”的。

Halloween parties万圣节派对

Across the UK, people throw parties to celebrate Halloween. The biggest Halloween party has to be in Sheffield at the end of October. A lot of people go there to experience Fright Night. Can you image a party with about 40,000 people? There are activities for people of all ages: fancy dress catwalk, urban dance, a monster in a fountain and a zombie garden, as well as the traditional apple bobbing and a competition for the best pumpkin lantern.

英国各地都会举办各种派对聚会活动来欢度节日。不过最隆重的要数谢菲尔德的万圣节大派对了。很多人都会去体验一下那里的“恐惧夜晚”。你能想象一个四万人的聚会吗？不论你是什么年龄都会有适合你的活动：化妆走猫步，都市舞，山中大怪还有吸血鬼公园，再有就是英国传统的咬苹果比赛和评选最佳南瓜灯。

Apple bobbing 咬苹果

This is a fun and competitive game which is very traditional. What you do is to place lots of apples in a large tub or a bowl of water - not too cold or too hot. This is because the participants or competitors have to take a bite from one of the apples without using their hands. Sometimes the participants are blindfolded, just to make it even more challenging and fun.

咬苹果（Apple bobbing）是万圣节的一个有趣的竞争游戏，很传统。你需要把很多苹果放在大盆或大桶里，盛满了水，水吗要不冷也不热因为参赛者必须在不用手帮忙的情况下用嘴叼住苹果咬一口。有时候为了让游戏更难也更有趣还会把参赛人的眼睛蒙住。