老司機(jī)帶你品味文學(xué)作品里的圣誕文化|你的圣誕過(guò)對(duì)了嗎？

Christmas is coming!

很多小伙伴都想知道國(guó)外是如何過(guò)圣誕節(jié)的。其實(shí)圣誕節(jié)不是國(guó)內(nèi)“買買買”的節(jié)奏，那么真實(shí)的圣誕節(jié)是什么樣的呢？我們今天就翻開(kāi)經(jīng)典的文學(xué)作品，跟著書(shū)里的文字了解一下真正的圣誕文化。

Charles Dickens是英國(guó)著名的小說(shuō)家，在作品A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories中，他對(duì)圣誕節(jié)做了很多精彩的描寫(xiě)，例如：

The Christmas family-party that we mean, is not a mere assemblage of relations, got up at a week or two’s notice, originating this year, having no family precedent in the last, and not likely to be repeated in the next. No. It is an annual gathering of all the accessible members of the family, young or old, rich or poor; and all the children look forward to it, for two months beforehand, in a fever of anticipation.

西方的圣誕節(jié)就如同中國(guó)的春節(jié)，家庭團(tuán)聚才是這個(gè)節(jié)日的重頭戲。很多同學(xué)都覺(jué)得西方人家庭觀念不重，這種想法大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。在上面的描述中，大家可以看到外國(guó)人對(duì)于家庭尤其是圣誕節(jié)的家庭聚會(huì)是非常重視的！同時(shí)，這也是孩子們一年中最盼望的時(shí)刻。（ps.大家出國(guó)之后如果有機(jī)會(huì)可以向國(guó)外的同學(xué)了解一下他們的家庭是如何對(duì)待圣誕聚會(huì)的）

I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects.

在這段話里，狄更斯提到了我們都非常熟悉的圣誕樹(shù)，但是他把圣誕樹(shù)叫做German toy，這又是為什么呢？

幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，英國(guó)王室一直扮演著引領(lǐng)潮流的角色，喬治王子和凱特王妃穿過(guò)的衣服都早已賣斷貨就是證據(jù)！圣誕樹(shù)在英國(guó)流行起來(lái)也多虧了王室。歐洲各國(guó)的王室之間經(jīng)常聯(lián)姻，維多利亞女王的丈夫阿爾伯特親王就來(lái)自于德國(guó)。他與維多利亞女王結(jié)婚之后，將德國(guó)的一些圣誕習(xí)俗帶到了英國(guó)，其中就包括圣誕樹(shù)。1848年倫敦一家報(bào)紙刊登了皇室在裝飾精美的圣誕樹(shù)下慶祝節(jié)日的圖片（就是下面這張圖），很快裝飾圣誕樹(shù)就在全英國(guó)各個(gè)階層人家里流行起來(lái)了。

那么圣誕樹(shù)上應(yīng)該掛些什么呢？

This time she was sitting under a lovely Christmas tree. It was much bigger and more beautifully decorated than the one she had seen when she peeped through the glass doors at the rich merchant’s house this very last Christmas. Thousands of lighted candles gleamed upon its branches, and coloured pictures, such as she had seen in the shop windows looked down to her.

相信大家對(duì)《安徒生童話》都不陌生，這是一段《賣火柴的小女孩》中對(duì)于圣誕樹(shù)的描寫(xiě)。這恐怕是文學(xué)史上對(duì)圣誕樹(shù)最憂傷的描寫(xiě)了。圣誕樹(shù)上可以掛上各種彩燈、糖果、小禮物和裝飾品，而賣火柴的小女孩看到的圣誕樹(shù)一定是最美麗，最溫馨的，因?yàn)橹挥羞@樣才能和她的命運(yùn)形成鮮明的對(duì)比。（ps.國(guó)外有專門的圣誕樹(shù)裝飾品，大家也可以DIY哦?。?/p>

讀了文學(xué)史上的經(jīng)典作品，我們來(lái)讀一讀當(dāng)代作家筆下的圣誕節(jié)吧！現(xiàn)在，我們一起來(lái)走進(jìn)J.K.Rowling魔法世界里的圣誕節(jié)。

“Merry Christmas,” said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe.

“You, too,” said Harry. “Will you look at this? I’ve got some presents!”

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it—it sounded a bit like an owl.

這段文字正好提到了圣誕節(jié)的一項(xiàng)習(xí)俗，那就是互贈(zèng)禮物。圣誕節(jié)前，人們都會(huì)去圣誕集市、商場(chǎng)或超市為自己的親朋好友挑選圣誕禮物。挑選禮物的過(guò)程非常考驗(yàn)人們的心思，大家都希望自己的禮物可以成為對(duì)方美好的回憶。而且，價(jià)格在西方人看來(lái)并不重要，心意才是最重要的。

上面的文字選自Harry Potter系列小說(shuō)的第一部。Harry從小在Vernon姨夫家長(zhǎng)大，他從來(lái)沒(méi)有收到過(guò)圣誕禮物，但是他到Hogwarts之后收到了很多份禮物。那么，接下來(lái)他收到的這份禮物也是圣誕節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)之一。

“I think I know who that one’s from,” said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. “My mom. I told her you didn’t expect any presents and—oh, no,” he groaned, “she’s made you a Weasley sweater.”

Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.

“Every year she makes us a sweater,” said Ron, unwrapping his own, “and mine’s always maroon.”

“That’s really nice of her,” said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.

沒(méi)錯(cuò)，圣誕節(jié)的時(shí)候，西方人都喜歡穿上各式各樣的圣誕毛衣，圍坐在圣誕樹(shù)或壁爐旁邊，或拍攝家庭合影或吃圣誕大餐。就連皇室貴族也不免俗，下圖就是英國(guó)伊麗莎白女王一家身穿圣誕毛衣的合影。

家庭團(tuán)聚、親友互贈(zèng)禮物、裝飾圣誕樹(shù)、穿著圣誕毛衣談天說(shuō)地才是西方人的圣誕習(xí)俗。各位小伙伴們千萬(wàn)不要被國(guó)內(nèi)商業(yè)包裝的“圣誕文化”誤導(dǎo)哦！最后再次祝大家圣誕快樂(lè)！Happy Christmas!

• 上一篇：2016英國(guó)女王圣誕演講|世界上最純正的英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)料來(lái)啦
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