万圣节的来历
The History of Halloween
万圣节是西方传统节日，时间为每年的10月31日夜晚，又称“鬼怪夜”和“鬼怪节”。因鬼怪节的第二天是西方世界的万圣节（或圣人节），故鬼怪之夜便被称为万圣节前夜。
万圣节前夜是儿童们纵情玩闹的好时候。当夜幕降临时，孩子们便穿上五颜六色的化妆服，戴上各种妖怪式的面具。不少孩子还手提一盏“杰克灯”。杰克灯的做法是将南瓜掏空，内插一支小腊烛，外面刻上笑眯眯的的眼睛和大嘴巴。蜡烛点燃后，人们在很远的地方便可看到刻在瓜上这张憨态可掬的笑脸。在月光照耀下，孩子们来到邻居前，威吓般地喊着：“TRICK-OR-TREAT”。意思是“耍恶作剧还是给予款待。”如得不到款待，调皮的孩子就会把人家门上的拉手涂上肥皂，或者把别人和猫涂上颜色。这些小恶作剧常令大人们啼笑皆非。大多数人家则早早备好糖果，以款待这些天真烂漫的小客人。许多成年人则把自已打扮成孩子或动物或各种各样的模样，聚集于广场，或群游于街头，载歌载舞，互开玩笑。
“耍恶作剧还是给予款待”的习俗则起源于爱尔兰。几百年前，爱尔兰农民就在万圣节前挨家挨户去讨取食物，为节日做准备。对慷慨解囊的人，他们诚心诚意地为他们祝福；对吝啬的人，他们则施以恐吓和诅咒。
万圣节前夜在爱尔兰、苏格兰曾经是最重要的节日。19世纪末，爱尔兰移民把万圣节前夜的习俗带到了美国，后来又传入哥仑比亚及其它拉丁美洲国家。今天，万圣节前夜在美国比英国还要热闹得多。届时，不少学校和家庭要为孩子们组织丰富多采的晚会和娱乐活动。孩子们自已动手布置会场，装饰环境，然后在桔黄色灯光的映照下，装扮成女巫和海盗，表演各种节目，或者做游戏。其中最流行的游戏是“咬苹果”。游戏时，人们让苹果漂浮在装满水的盆里，然后让孩子们在不要手的条件下用嘴去咬苹果，谁先咬到，谁就是优胜者。
Halloween一词的产生：
很多民族都在万圣节前夜有庆典聚会，这又被叫做“All Hallow E'en”、“The Eve of All Hallows”、“Hallow e'en”，或者“The eve of All Saintas'Day”。最终约定俗成演变成了“Halloween”，中文意译成了万圣节之夜。
“trick or treat”的传说：
孩子们今天着装挨家要糖的习俗，据说起源于爱尔兰。古西欧时候的爱尔兰异教徒们，相信在万圣节前夜鬼魂会群集于居家附近，并接受设宴款待。因而，在“宴会”结束后，村民们就自己扮成鬼魂精灵，游走村外，引导鬼魂离开，避邪免灾。于此同时，村民们也都注意在屋前院后的摆布些水果及其他食品，喂足鬼魂而不至于让它们伤害人类和动物或者掠夺其他收成。后来这习俗一直延续下来，就成了孩子们取笑不慷慨之家的玩笑。
南瓜灯的由来
至于南瓜灯也至少有两种说法。一种说是人挖空了南瓜又刻上鬼脸点上烛火用以驱散鬼魂的；另一种说是鬼魂点上的烛火，试图骗取人们上当而跟着鬼魂走，所以人们就在南瓜表面刻上一个嘲讽的脸面，用以调笑鬼魂：哼！傻瓜才会上你的当。传说因为首用南瓜的是一位爱尔兰人Jack，所以人们又将鬼脸南瓜灯叫做Jack-O-Lantern。
History and Customs of Halloween
鬼影憧憧万圣节
幽灵，面具，南瓜灯笼， 永远神秘的万圣节。只是，这些都是怎么来的呢？
Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate?
Q: Where does the word "Halloween" originally come from?
A: The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hallows Day” (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.
Q: Why is Halloween celebrated, and how?
A: It was believed that during the period from October 31 through to November 1,the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened, allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess (缠绕） the living.
In order to make themselves and their homes less inviting to these spirits, the ancient Celts (凯尔特人) extinguished the fires in their homes to make them cold and undesirable, and built huge sacred （神圣的) bonfires (篝火), where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices (祭品) to the Celtic deities (神). During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth (壁炉) fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.They also dressed up in bizarre (古怪的) costumes and parade through their villages causing destruction in order to scare off any recently departed souls who might be prowling (搜寻) for bodies to inhabit.
Q: How did the custom of "trick-or-treating" come into being?
A: The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants (醋栗). The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors (赠送人). At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo （地狱的边境) for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite (促进，加速) a soul's passage to heaven.
The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going-a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale(麦芽酒), food, and money.
Q: And what about the jack-o?lantern (把南瓜挖空并雕成人面形的杰克灯） custom?
A: The jack-o?lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore (民间传说). As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster(臭名昭著的酒鬼和骗子), tricked Satan (撒旦) into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping (困住) the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.
According to the folktale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his mischievous (有害的) ways in life, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember (余火未尽的煤块或木块) to light his way through the frigid (寒冷的) darkness. Theember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip (萝卜) to keep it glowing longer.
Q: But why people use pumpkins instead of turnips nowadays?
A: The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful and easier to carve out than turnips. So the jack-o?lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.