A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan. This festival is a cheerful occasion, for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. All night long, people dance and sing. In the early morning, the food that had been laid out for the dead is thrown into a river or into the sea as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it. In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before, are placed into the water when the festival is over. Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. This is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
festival n. 節(jié)日
lantern n. 燈籠
spectacle n. 景象,壯觀,場面
日本每年過一次“亡靈節(jié)”。這個(gè)節(jié)日是個(gè)歡樂的日子,因?yàn)樵谶@一天,據(jù)說死去的人要回到他們的家里來,活著的人則對他們表示歡迎。因?yàn)轭A(yù)料到他們在經(jīng)過長途旅行之后會感到饑餓,所以為他們擺放好了食品。特制的燈籠掛在各家的門外,為的是幫助亡靈看清道路。整個(gè)夜晚人們載歌載舞。一大早,人們便把為死者擺放的食品扔進(jìn)河中或海里,因?yàn)槿藗冋J(rèn)為活著的人吃了這些東西是不吉利的。在靠海的城鎮(zhèn)中,頭天夜里掛在大街小巷的小燈籠在節(jié)后就放在了水里。成千上萬只燈籠慢慢漂向大海,指引著亡靈返回另一個(gè)世界。這是一個(gè)感人的場面,人們成群地佇立在海岸上,注視著燈籠遠(yuǎn)去,直到再也看不見為止。