世界各地的新年慶祝習(xí)俗（二）

◎熊艷婷

世界各地的人們都以其別出心裁、獨(dú)具特色的方式迎接新年的到來(lái)，本文將帶領(lǐng)我們繼續(xù)了解一些國(guó)家的新年慶祝活動(dòng)，這些活動(dòng)帶有濃郁的地域特色，形式豐富多彩。

Britain: welcome relatives and friends, drill wells

In Britain, the New Year doesn’t seem to be as grand as Christmas, but according to tradition, every family will have a big New Year’s Eve1)banquet.At midnight, people began the traditional New Year’s greetings, with each family opening their doors and bringing out prepared buns to entertain the guests.The first visitor is usually regarded as a symbol of luck in the New Year. It is said that the first person to get water from a well in the countryside of central England is the blessed one in the New Year, and the water is auspicious, so people2)scrambleto carry buckets and head for the well early in the morning of the New Year.

Japan: listen to the clock, tell the dream, go vegetarian

In Japan, there is a national holiday from December 29 to January 3. On New Year’s Eve, people sit still and listen to the “New Year’s Eve clock”, and then go to bed early. Early in the New Year, families sit around and tell each other about their dreams the night before, so as to predict the good and bad luck of the New Year. On that morning, people eat traditional breakfasts such as sugar taro and soba noodles, drink Tusu wine, and then visit shrines or visit relatives and friends. For the next three days, people will be3)vegetarianand pray for blessings.

France: drink up the wine, watch the wind divination

On New Year’s Eve, the French family get together and drink champagne around the table. The French believe that the weather on New Year’s Day heralds the coming year. In the early morning of the New Year,they go to the streets to look at the direction of the wind to predict: the south wind is a sign of good weather, and this year is safe and hot; when the west wind is blowing,there is a bumper harvest year for fishing and milking; when the east wind blows, the fruit will be high; and when the north wind blows, it is a bad harvest year.

Italy: smash everything, burn the stove

The New Year is an important traditional festival in Italy. Italians believe that the sound of New year’s Eve can4)exorciseevil spirits and achieve New Year’s happiness, so people keep setting off firecrackers that night and5)wantonlybreak everything that can be broken, from small dishes to jar altars, and throw fragments into the street. On New Year’s Day, every family will light a fire in the house, and it can’t be6)extinguishedfor a whole day. Italians believe that fire comes from the sun, and if the fire breaks in the New Year,it will not see the light of day in the coming year and will lead to bad luck.

Spain: eat twelve grapes

In Spain, when the bell begins to chime twelve o’lock on New Year’s Eve, people scramble to eat grapes. If you can eat 12 grapes according to the bell, it symbolizes that every month of the new year is flat, and each grape has a different meaning,such as the first “peace”, the fifth “harmony”,the sixth “refuge”, the seventh “dispel disease”. At the same time, most Spaniards carry a gold or copper coin as a sign of good luck.

Canada: build a snow wall

Canadians have always regarded pure snow as an auspicious symbol. When the New Year comes, people sweep the snow along the road or in the yard around their homes to build a snow wall. They believe that this can prevent the invasion of evil spirits and bring happiness to the new year.

1) banquetn.宴會(huì)

2) scramblev.爭(zhēng)奪

3) vegetariann.素食者

4) exorcisev.驅(qū)除

5) wantonlyadv.肆意地

6) extinguishv.熄滅

英國(guó)：迎親友，打井水

在英國(guó)，新年似乎沒(méi)有圣誕節(jié)那么隆重，但是根據(jù)傳統(tǒng)，家家戶(hù)戶(hù)都會(huì)吃一頓豐盛的新年晚宴。待到午夜降臨，人們就開(kāi)始了傳統(tǒng)的拜年活動(dòng)，每個(gè)家庭都把大門(mén)打開(kāi)，拿出早已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好的小圓面包招待客人。第一個(gè)來(lái)客通常被認(rèn)為是新的一年運(yùn)氣的象征。據(jù)說(shuō)新年第一個(gè)在英國(guó)中部鄉(xiāng)村打到井水的人就是新一年的有福之人，打來(lái)的水則是吉祥之水，所以新年一大早，人們就爭(zhēng)先恐后地拎著桶，向井邊走去。

日本：聽(tīng)鐘，述夢(mèng)，吃素

在日本，從12 月29 日到1 月3 日，全國(guó)統(tǒng)一休假。除夕夜，人們靜坐聆聽(tīng)“除夕鐘”，而后便早早上床入夢(mèng)。新年一大早，一家人圍坐在一起，互相講述前一夜的夢(mèng)，以此來(lái)占卜新一年的吉兇。新年早上，人們要吃砂糖芋艿、蕎麥面等傳統(tǒng)早餐，喝屠蘇酒，然后去神廟參拜，或者走親訪(fǎng)友。之后一連三天，人們會(huì)吃素祈福。

法國(guó)：喝藏酒，看風(fēng)占卜

除夕夜，法國(guó)人合家團(tuán)聚，圍桌飲香檳酒。法國(guó)人認(rèn)為新年這一天的天氣預(yù)示著新一年的年景。新年清晨，他們上街看風(fēng)向來(lái)占卜：刮南風(fēng)，預(yù)示風(fēng)調(diào)雨順，這一年會(huì)是平安而炎熱；刮西風(fēng)，則預(yù)示有一個(gè)捕魚(yú)和擠奶的豐收年；刮東風(fēng)，水果將高產(chǎn)；刮北風(fēng)，則是歉收年。

意大利：打碎一切，燃爐旺火

新年是意大利的重要傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日。意大利人認(rèn)為，新年前夜響聲連天可以驅(qū)邪，求得新年如意，所以人們當(dāng)晚就不停地燃放煙花爆竹，還肆意打碎一切可以打碎的東西，小到碗碟，大到缸壇，并且把碎片統(tǒng)統(tǒng)拋到街上。新年這一天，家家戶(hù)戶(hù)都要在屋子里燃一爐旺火，而且整整一天不能熄滅。意大利人認(rèn)為，火來(lái)自太陽(yáng)，新年斷了火，來(lái)年就會(huì)不見(jiàn)天日，會(huì)招來(lái)厄運(yùn)。

西班牙：吃12 顆葡萄

在西班牙，當(dāng)除夕夜12 點(diǎn)的鐘聲剛開(kāi)始敲響，人們便爭(zhēng)著吃葡萄。如果能循著鐘聲吃下12 顆葡萄，便象征著這年的每個(gè)月都平安，而且每顆葡萄還有不同的含義，如第一顆“平安”、第五顆“和睦”、第六顆“避難”、第七顆“祛病”……同時(shí)，大多數(shù)西班牙人身上會(huì)攜一枚金幣或銅幣以示吉祥。

加拿大：筑雪墻

加拿大人一直把純潔的雪視為吉祥的象征，每逢新年到來(lái)之際，人們就把道路旁或院子中的積雪掃到自家住宅周?chē)鹨坏姥?。他們相信，這樣可以阻止邪魔入侵，為新的一年帶來(lái)幸福。