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每年11月5日是英国传统的“篝火节”，即Guy Fwak Night。传说三四百年前有个叫Guy Fwak的人密谋刺杀女王，后来阴谋败露，被扔进篝火里活活烧死。以后，各地每年就会举行大型篝火晚会，甚至会有穿戴整齐、写着Guy Fwak的假人，被扔进篝火，一年年一次次地被烧死。每年篝火节的时候，很多人会在海边燃起篝火。跳跃的火光映着远处耀眼的焰火，衬着眼前的那片海，还有头顶的星空，真是一个难得的浪漫之夜。
Last Saturday I went to see a bonfire at Burgess Hill town centre.I had heard from Hannah Wells that there would be a parade2 at 9:00 a.m..On the day I was looking forward to it and was somewhat disappointed to find out that it would start at 6:00 p.m.At about 6:l0 p.m., I arrived in town feeling very excited.To my surprise it had not started yet. There were few people in the street. We didn’t know where the parade was to take place. Then, I heard the sound of Scottish music coming from an alleyway3 next to a shop.The alleyway led us to the market place. A crowd was gathered but only the people who were taking part in the parade were there.
They were dressed in all kinds of fancy outfits4. There were composers5, medieval6 knights, monks and nuns7, Indians, ladies in the Middle Ages, and witches and wizards and even babies! We mingled8 among the crowd admiring their costume. I liked the composers’ costumes.They were from Georgian times with powder, white wig9 and golden tailcoat10 complete with lacy11 cuffs12.The medieval knights were standing right next to us.They were wearing dazzling silver armour13 and holding shield14 and sword.
The audience gradually arrived.People chatted among themselves and many bought flashing toys, necklaces, earrings, hoops and balls. Little children were in high spirits playing with their toys.
By this time, it was dark. A loudspeaker rang out, telling the people which groups had come to perform at the festival. Groups from Hastings, Eastbourne, Little Hampton, Newhaven and many small towns and villages were all taking part.I was amazed that people from so many bigger places had come to the small town of Burgess Hill.
Finally the waiting was over. The truck with loudspeaker rolled forward slowly. The audience waved their flashing toys enthusiastically15. At the beginning of each group in the procession, there was a young man holding a sign bearing the logo16 or crest17 of the city they came from and burning torches18 on top.The first group was a band wearing traditional Scottish kilts, a kind of skirt,playing bagpipes19 and drums.They were from Burgess Hill. Next came people in costumes. One group dressed as babies in humongous20 nappies21 and with frilly22 bonnet23, holding very large dummies24 and bottles, which would be bigger than real babies themselves. They were very funny. One man tapped me on the head with his large “milk bottle” made with fabric25. Everybody in the parade was holding a flaming torch.It was a wooden stick of about a metre long with a flammable substance burning on top. There were also clowns. They just had white and red paint on their faces and clowny outfits on. Each of them had a small white collection pot.They shook them as they walked past and people dropped pennies in. When the end of the parade went past, the crowd went to a different street to see it again.
Only this time there was something new.It was some big numbers standing on a massive frame carried by a group of men. The numbers were “118”, perhaps with the meaning of the 118th year for the festival. Each number was the size of a window and they were on fire!The night was a little chilly but when the burning numbers came near it suddenly became rather warm. A lot of people carried small, flaming torches and also there were some burning torches stuck to the side of the road.So the whole scene was like a mass of fire. The crowd watched the procession in awe and admiration.The burning numbers looked a bit dangerous but it was thrilling to watch. We saw the rest of the procession pass us again though I was not a bit bored.At the very end of the procession was a muddy,old farm tractor with blue flashing lights on top.Some boys were running behind it picking up the burning torches from the street and dunking26 them into barrels27 of co1d water.
The bonfire festival was not exactly what I had expected but I went home thoroughly satisfied with what I had seen.
上周六我到伯吉斯·希尔镇中心参加了一次篝火节。在这之前，汉纳·韦尔斯曾对我说，从早上9点起将会举行游行活动。从那天起我就一直盼望着这个活动，但后来的消息让我感到有点儿沮丧，因为活动要等到下午6点才开始。当天下午约6点10分我来到了这个小镇，心里特高兴。奇怪的是，活动还没有开始。街上几乎没有人，我们也不知道游行活动在什么地方举行。就在那时，我听到了从一家商店旁边的一条小巷中传来了苏格兰音乐。我们顺着这条小巷走过去，便来到了当地的集市。已经有一群人在那儿集合，不过只是些要参加游行活动的人。
他们都穿着各种各样稀奇古怪的衣服。这些人里边有作曲家、有穿着中世纪骑士服装的人，还有一些僧侣和修女、印第安人、穿着中世纪衣服的青年女子、男女巫师，甚至还有小孩呢！我们来到了这些人中间，对他们的服装啧啧称叹。我喜欢那些作曲家们所穿的衣服。他们的打扮还是英国乔治国王时代的样子，头上戴着扑了粉的白色假发，身上穿着金色的燕尾服，衣服的袖口上还装饰着花边。穿着中世纪骑士服装的人就站在我们的旁边。他们穿着闪闪发光的银盔甲，手里还拿着盾牌和宝剑。
游人们也陆陆续续来到了这里。人们聊起天来，许多人还带来了亮闪闪的玩具棒、项链、耳环、铁圈和皮球。小孩们聚精会神地摆弄着自己的玩具。
这时，天黑了下来。喇叭响了起来，告诉游人们都有哪些团队来参加这次节日活动。这些团队来自黑斯廷斯、伊斯特本、利特尔汉普顿、纽黑文等大城市，还有其他许多来自小城镇和山村的团队。这些人愿意从那么多的大地方跑到伯吉斯·希尔镇这个小地方来，我对此感到很惊讶。
我们的等候终于结束了。那辆装了高音喇叭的卡车开始慢慢往前开。那些旁观的游人热烈地挥舞着他们手中的玩具棒。在每个游行团队的前面，都有一个男青年领队，这些领队手中举着一块带有标识或饰物的标牌，说明该团队来自什么地方。标牌上面还点燃了火把。首先出现的团队穿着传统苏格兰短裙，吹着风笛，还敲着鼓，他们来自伯吉斯·希尔镇。接着来的团队都穿着滑稽的服装，有一支队伍装扮成婴儿的样子，穿着硕大的尿布，戴着花边帽子，手里还拿着一些比真小孩还大的奶嘴和奶瓶。他们真是太好玩了。这支队伍里的一个男子还用他的织布做的大“奶瓶”敲了一下我的头。游行队伍中的每个人手上都拿了一支点燃的火把。木制的火把杆长约一米，上面有可燃的东西。游行队伍中还有小丑。他们的脸上涂着白色和红色的颜料，身上穿着小丑衣服，手里拿着一个白色的讨钱盘子。这些小丑边走边摇动着他们的讨钱盘，旁边的游人就往盘子中扔便士。当游行队伍全部经过后，旁观的人群又赶紧跑到另外一条大街上去观看。
此时游行队伍变出了新花样。有一大群人抬出了特别大的数字牌。这些数字牌标着“118”，可能表示今年的游行活动是第118次的意思。每个数字都有一扇窗户那么大，而且还燃烧着!那天晚上有点冷，但当这些燃烧着的数字牌经过我们身边时，我们一下子感觉到很温暖。还有许多人手上拿着小一点的火把，道路两旁也有不少燃烧着的火把。因此整个场面就变成了火的世界。旁观的人群惊奇而羡慕地看着游行队伍。那些燃烧着的数字牌看起来有点不安全，但却让人感到很刺激。余下的游行队伍再次经过我们身边，我一点儿都没感觉到厌倦。在游行队伍的最后面，是一辆沾满了泥巴的旧农用拖拉机，拖拉机的车顶上亮着蓝灯。一些小孩追在拖拉机的后边，捡起那些还在燃烧着的火把，并把它们浸入装着冷水的水桶中。
这次篝火节与我当初想象的并不完全一样，但看到了上面发生的一切，我还是心满意足地回家了。
杨梦秋 摘译自English Salon
Last Saturday I went to see a bonfire at Burgess Hill town centre.I had heard from Hannah Wells that there would be a parade2 at 9:00 a.m..On the day I was looking forward to it and was somewhat disappointed to find out that it would start at 6:00 p.m.At about 6:l0 p.m., I arrived in town feeling very excited.To my surprise it had not started yet. There were few people in the street. We didn’t know where the parade was to take place. Then, I heard the sound of Scottish music coming from an alleyway3 next to a shop.The alleyway led us to the market place. A crowd was gathered but only the people who were taking part in the parade were there.
They were dressed in all kinds of fancy outfits4. There were composers5, medieval6 knights, monks and nuns7, Indians, ladies in the Middle Ages, and witches and wizards and even babies! We mingled8 among the crowd admiring their costume. I liked the composers’ costumes.They were from Georgian times with powder, white wig9 and golden tailcoat10 complete with lacy11 cuffs12.The medieval knights were standing right next to us.They were wearing dazzling silver armour13 and holding shield14 and sword.
The audience gradually arrived.People chatted among themselves and many bought flashing toys, necklaces, earrings, hoops and balls. Little children were in high spirits playing with their toys.
By this time, it was dark. A loudspeaker rang out, telling the people which groups had come to perform at the festival. Groups from Hastings, Eastbourne, Little Hampton, Newhaven and many small towns and villages were all taking part.I was amazed that people from so many bigger places had come to the small town of Burgess Hill.
Finally the waiting was over. The truck with loudspeaker rolled forward slowly. The audience waved their flashing toys enthusiastically15. At the beginning of each group in the procession, there was a young man holding a sign bearing the logo16 or crest17 of the city they came from and burning torches18 on top.The first group was a band wearing traditional Scottish kilts, a kind of skirt,playing bagpipes19 and drums.They were from Burgess Hill. Next came people in costumes. One group dressed as babies in humongous20 nappies21 and with frilly22 bonnet23, holding very large dummies24 and bottles, which would be bigger than real babies themselves. They were very funny. One man tapped me on the head with his large “milk bottle” made with fabric25. Everybody in the parade was holding a flaming torch.It was a wooden stick of about a metre long with a flammable substance burning on top. There were also clowns. They just had white and red paint on their faces and clowny outfits on. Each of them had a small white collection pot.They shook them as they walked past and people dropped pennies in. When the end of the parade went past, the crowd went to a different street to see it again.
Only this time there was something new.It was some big numbers standing on a massive frame carried by a group of men. The numbers were “118”, perhaps with the meaning of the 118th year for the festival. Each number was the size of a window and they were on fire!The night was a little chilly but when the burning numbers came near it suddenly became rather warm. A lot of people carried small, flaming torches and also there were some burning torches stuck to the side of the road.So the whole scene was like a mass of fire. The crowd watched the procession in awe and admiration.The burning numbers looked a bit dangerous but it was thrilling to watch. We saw the rest of the procession pass us again though I was not a bit bored.At the very end of the procession was a muddy,old farm tractor with blue flashing lights on top.Some boys were running behind it picking up the burning torches from the street and dunking26 them into barrels27 of co1d water.
The bonfire festival was not exactly what I had expected but I went home thoroughly satisfied with what I had seen.
上周六我到伯吉斯·希尔镇中心参加了一次篝火节。在这之前，汉纳·韦尔斯曾对我说，从早上9点起将会举行游行活动。从那天起我就一直盼望着这个活动，但后来的消息让我感到有点儿沮丧，因为活动要等到下午6点才开始。当天下午约6点10分我来到了这个小镇，心里特高兴。奇怪的是，活动还没有开始。街上几乎没有人，我们也不知道游行活动在什么地方举行。就在那时，我听到了从一家商店旁边的一条小巷中传来了苏格兰音乐。我们顺着这条小巷走过去，便来到了当地的集市。已经有一群人在那儿集合，不过只是些要参加游行活动的人。
他们都穿着各种各样稀奇古怪的衣服。这些人里边有作曲家、有穿着中世纪骑士服装的人，还有一些僧侣和修女、印第安人、穿着中世纪衣服的青年女子、男女巫师，甚至还有小孩呢！我们来到了这些人中间，对他们的服装啧啧称叹。我喜欢那些作曲家们所穿的衣服。他们的打扮还是英国乔治国王时代的样子，头上戴着扑了粉的白色假发，身上穿着金色的燕尾服，衣服的袖口上还装饰着花边。穿着中世纪骑士服装的人就站在我们的旁边。他们穿着闪闪发光的银盔甲，手里还拿着盾牌和宝剑。
游人们也陆陆续续来到了这里。人们聊起天来，许多人还带来了亮闪闪的玩具棒、项链、耳环、铁圈和皮球。小孩们聚精会神地摆弄着自己的玩具。
这时，天黑了下来。喇叭响了起来，告诉游人们都有哪些团队来参加这次节日活动。这些团队来自黑斯廷斯、伊斯特本、利特尔汉普顿、纽黑文等大城市，还有其他许多来自小城镇和山村的团队。这些人愿意从那么多的大地方跑到伯吉斯·希尔镇这个小地方来，我对此感到很惊讶。
我们的等候终于结束了。那辆装了高音喇叭的卡车开始慢慢往前开。那些旁观的游人热烈地挥舞着他们手中的玩具棒。在每个游行团队的前面，都有一个男青年领队，这些领队手中举着一块带有标识或饰物的标牌，说明该团队来自什么地方。标牌上面还点燃了火把。首先出现的团队穿着传统苏格兰短裙，吹着风笛，还敲着鼓，他们来自伯吉斯·希尔镇。接着来的团队都穿着滑稽的服装，有一支队伍装扮成婴儿的样子，穿着硕大的尿布，戴着花边帽子，手里还拿着一些比真小孩还大的奶嘴和奶瓶。他们真是太好玩了。这支队伍里的一个男子还用他的织布做的大“奶瓶”敲了一下我的头。游行队伍中的每个人手上都拿了一支点燃的火把。木制的火把杆长约一米，上面有可燃的东西。游行队伍中还有小丑。他们的脸上涂着白色和红色的颜料，身上穿着小丑衣服，手里拿着一个白色的讨钱盘子。这些小丑边走边摇动着他们的讨钱盘，旁边的游人就往盘子中扔便士。当游行队伍全部经过后，旁观的人群又赶紧跑到另外一条大街上去观看。
此时游行队伍变出了新花样。有一大群人抬出了特别大的数字牌。这些数字牌标着“118”，可能表示今年的游行活动是第118次的意思。每个数字都有一扇窗户那么大，而且还燃烧着!那天晚上有点冷，但当这些燃烧着的数字牌经过我们身边时，我们一下子感觉到很温暖。还有许多人手上拿着小一点的火把，道路两旁也有不少燃烧着的火把。因此整个场面就变成了火的世界。旁观的人群惊奇而羡慕地看着游行队伍。那些燃烧着的数字牌看起来有点不安全，但却让人感到很刺激。余下的游行队伍再次经过我们身边，我一点儿都没感觉到厌倦。在游行队伍的最后面，是一辆沾满了泥巴的旧农用拖拉机，拖拉机的车顶上亮着蓝灯。一些小孩追在拖拉机的后边，捡起那些还在燃烧着的火把，并把它们浸入装着冷水的水桶中。
这次篝火节与我当初想象的并不完全一样，但看到了上面发生的一切，我还是心满意足地回家了。
杨梦秋 摘译自English Salon