英語故事講解：圣誕節(jié)的由來
The Origins of Christmas
圣誕節(jié)的由來
The origins of Christmas go back to before the time of Christ when many ancient cultures celebrated the changing of the seasons. In the northern hemisphere in Europe, for example, the winter solstice, which was the shortest day of the year, occurs around Dec. 25th. During this time extreme celebration occurred and, for most part, businesses and government shutdown. It was a time of pagan celebration with various forms of sinful behavior. These celebrations were based on the day where the cold winter days became shorter and shorter. Since during winter animals were penned, people stayed indoors, crops didn’t grow, etc.,--to know that winter was half over and on its way out was a time of celebration.
圣誕節(jié)的起源可以追溯到基督之前的時代，當(dāng)時許多古老的文化都會對季節(jié)的改變進(jìn)行慶祝。比如說北半球的歐洲會在每年的12月25日左右慶祝冬至--一年中白晝最短的時候。在這期間會舉行一些極端的慶祝活動，大多數(shù)地區(qū)企業(yè)和政府都會閉門歇業(yè)。當(dāng)時這是異教徒舉行慶祝活動的日子，他們會做出各種有罪的行為。在寒冷的冬天變得越來越短的那一天，這些慶祝活動就會舉行。因?yàn)槎旒倚蠖歼M(jìn)圈了、人們待在室內(nèi)很少外出、莊稼也停止了生長…，當(dāng)知道冬天已經(jīng)過半、并且馬上就將結(jié)束的時候，就應(yīng)該舉行慶祝活動。
In the ancient Roman system of religion, Saturn was the god of agriculture. Each year during the summer, the god Jupiter would force Saturn out of his dominant position in the heavenly realm; and the days would begin to shorten. In the temple to Saturn in Rome, the feet of Saturn were then symbolically bound with chains until the winter solstice when the length of days began to increase. It was this winter solstice, December 25th, that was a time of celebration and exchange of gifts as the hardness of winter began to wane and the days grew longer. So, based on this celestial event, Saturnalia became a week long celebration that began on December 17 and ended on the 25th. In addition, December 25th coincided the day of the birth of the sun-god named Phyrgia a culture in the ancient Balkans.
在古羅馬宗教體系中，薩圖恩(Saturn)是農(nóng)神。每年夏天，主神宙斯就會強(qiáng)迫薩圖恩離開他在神域所主導(dǎo)的地域，白晝就會開始變短。在羅馬薩圖恩神廟，薩圖恩的腳當(dāng)時被象征性地綁上了鐵鏈，直到冬至白晝開始變長時才會解開。同時也是在冬至(12月25日)這個時候，人們會舉行慶祝活動并且互相交換禮物，因?yàn)楹钠D辛已經(jīng)開始減弱、白晝變得越來越長。因此在這一天文事件的基礎(chǔ)之上，農(nóng)神節(jié)(Saturnalia)成為了一個為期一周的節(jié)日，慶祝活動從12月17日開始，到12月25日結(jié)束。此外，12月25日也是一個古巴爾干地區(qū)文化中太陽神佛里幾亞(Phyrgia)的生日。
In the Roman Empire, by the time of Christ, Saturnalia, winter festival, was well known and established. The Roman Church was unable to get rid of the pagan holiday. So in the early 4th Century, the Roman Catholic Church, which was the dominant church in Europe, adopted the holiday and tried to convert into a Christian celebration by declaring December 25 to be the day of the Lord’s birth. They called it the Feast of the Nativity. This custom has been part of western culture ever since.
等到基督時期，農(nóng)神節(jié)，或者冬節(jié)，在羅馬帝國已經(jīng)是眾所周知、人人慶祝的了。羅馬教會無法擺脫去除這個異教徒的節(jié)日。因此在4世紀(jì)早期，羅馬天主教教會(當(dāng)時是歐洲占統(tǒng)治地位的教會)就吸收接納了這一節(jié)日，并且通過宣布12月25日為主誕生的日子，從而將這一節(jié)日皈依為基督徒的節(jié)日。他們將其稱為“基督誕生的盛宴(Feast of the Nativity)”。從那以后，這一習(xí)俗就成為了西方文化的一部分。