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高中英语课文阅读材料Furthermore...
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The Spring Festival
(Key words: celebrate, important, legend, spirit, frightened, peaceful, antithetical couplets, charm, blessing, feast, superstition, climax, normal)
Every time a new year approaches, each country and each nationality will celebrate the occasion with great enthusiasm according to its own customs, to say goodbye to the old year and to welcome the new year. The Spring Festival, the first day of the first month of a Chinese lunar, is the most important festival in China.
The legend of ‘Nian' (年)
As legend goes, in remote times there was a kind of evil (邪恶的) spirit called “Nian", who would come out hurting people at the turn of each winter and spring.
It was so powerful that it could swallow up all the people in a village in one big bite. Village people were very scared of Nian.
One day, an old man came to the villagers' rescue (拯救). The old man asked Nian, “I know you can swallow people, but can you swallow other beasts who are by no means your worthy opponents?"
Nian accepted the challenge and swallowed the beasts that had harmed the villagers and their farm animals for years.
The old man then told the villagers to put red paper decorations on their windows and doors for Nian is afraid of the colour red. He also taught the villagers to burn stalks (茎，秆) of bamboo. Nian was so frightened when it heard the crackle and saw the flames of burning bamboo.
Both Nian and the other beasts were scared into hiding in the forests. The villagers could once again enjoy their peaceful life. And the customs of putting up red paper and lighting firecrackers is carried on from generation to generation.
Antithetical couplets
It is a tradition to put up antithetical couplets (对联) at the Spring Festival. The couplets, written on two scrolls of paper to be pasted one on each side of the door, were originally called “peach wood charms (符咒) against evil spirits".
According to legend, there once lived in a beautiful mountain two brothers, Shen Nai and Yu Lei by name. The two brothers, industrious and brave, grew a large grove of peach trees and often helped the poor to fight against monsters. After their death, the two brothers became gods in heaven.
The two brothers were held in awe (畏怯) by the evil spirits so that even the mere sight of the peach trees they had planted would be enough to scare them away. So on Lunar New Year's Eve, people would make peach wood charms by writing their names on two pieces of peach wood and hang them on both sides of the door, hoping to be blessed with peace and happiness in the new year. Later their names were replaced with the blessing words or poems.
Activities
Days before the Lunar New Year celebration, Chinese families are busy giving their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and makes the house ready for good luck to enter. All brooms and dust pans are put away on Lunar New Year's Eve so good luck cannot be swept away.
The Lunar New Year's Eve dinner is a feast with all the members of the family getting together. One popular food is “Jiao Zi" which are dumplings boiled in water. After dinner, the whole family stays up all night playing cards, chatting or watching TV programmes dedicated to the New Year's celebration. Lights in the house are kept on during the whole night.
Very early the next morning, children greet their parents and receive their Lunar New Year presents. They usually get small red envelopes with gift money inside, as in Chinese tradition the colour red is believed to bring good luck. The rest of the first day is spent visiting relatives, friends and neighbours.
There are many ancient superstitions (迷信) still practicsd on Lunar New Year's Day in China. Some believe it is bad luck to wash your hair on this day because you would wash away the good luck of the new year. It is believed that if you cry on the Spring Festival, the Lunar New Year's Day, you will cry all through the year. Therefore, children are indulged (纵容) by their parents — even though they might be naughty, they are not punished on Lunar New Year's Day!
The second day is a day for prayer (祷告，祈祷) to the gods and to the ancestors of the family.
The fifth day of the Lunar New Year celebration finds many Chinese families staying home. It is considered bad luck to visit friends and relatives on the fifth day. It is a day to honour the God of Wealth.
The seventh day is a time for farmers to show off their produce. Farmers make a special drink using seven different vegetables and eat noodles for a long life.
The Lunar New Year celebration reaches a second climax on the Lantern Festival which falls on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar new year. On that particular night, people have their celebrations under the first full moon of the lunar new year which is symbolic of family reunion and a full happy life. A typical food is “Tang Yuan" （called “Yuan Xiao" in North China）, dumplings made of glutinous rice (糯米) rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy fillings. The day marks the end of the Lunar New Year celebration and life goes back to normal.
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