去年我們還不知道 Halloween 有多好玩,所以無聊地待在家裡,也不知道準備糖果。一整晚都聽到大學生在公車站鬼吼鬼叫搭不上巴士。今年,在 Peggy 的鼓勵下,我做了自己的 costume,晚上當然也要到鎮上瘋一瘋。

Tamama 的大頭非常受歡迎。不過美國人普遍不知道這是什麼東西。一整個晚上我都要扯著嗓子回答『What are you』這個問題...

一開始我還很耐心地解釋:『I'm a tadpole.』『What?』『Tadpole, a baby frog.』『Err...』『See? I have a little tail (shaking my bottom).... and I have webs (shaking my hands)』『Oh.... tadpole...』『Yes, my name is Tamama.』『What?』『Tamama.』『Talapa?』『....』

因為隔著大頭實在很難聽到彼此的話,雞同鴨講一陣之後我就放棄了。遇到有人問,就直接回答『Wa da si wa Tamama desu!!』結果有個老外竟然很高興地開始和我講日文! XD

有些人會很得意地跑來說:『You're a poket-mon, right?』呃....好吧,雖不中亦不遠矣。(Keroro 怎麼不趕快來入侵美國佬啊!皮卡丘已經老了吧?)


還有一些人看到我的背影就很興奮地跑來正面看,他們以為我裝扮成一顆大眼球!(後來我也的確遇到一顆大眼球先生!)(Tamama 的頭比大眼球還大喔!應該是昨晚最大的頭吧? XD)



那顆大頭頗有份量,後來我戴得累了,梁斌說要幫我頂著,我就交接給他。結果他一戴上竟然變得超級受歡迎,可能是個子比較高吧,更顯眼了。好多人跑來爭著和他照相,而且大多是可愛妹妹。東杰在旁邊看得很吃味,後來也搶去戴了一會兒。哈哈。

脫掉大頭的我則被認為是 penguin....呃....好吧,是有點像啦.... XD

我們在鎮上逛了一個多鐘頭,夜深之後愈來愈冷,但是人潮仍不斷湧入,街上狂歡的人很多都喝醉了。為了安全起見,大夥決定打道回府。

回到家才十點多,但是要糖果的小朋友們應該都已經收工了,真可惜我準備了一大堆糖果都沒發出去呢!(我覺得小朋友的 costume 比大人的還可愛呢)




以下附上 Peggy 提供的萬聖節典故:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Children throught the United States celebrate Halloween over October 31st, and in Santa Cruz, especially, even many adults get into the spirit of the day and dress up as ghost and other fanciful creatures, go trick and treating, and have parties with prizes for the best costumes. On Halloween Day, don't be surprised if the checkout clerk at the supermarket is a witch, of if the teller at your bank is a monster or princess. But despite enjoying the holiday, few people know where Halloween comes from. This is not surprising because the Halloween customs that are followed in this country are quite different from the traditions of similar holidays in many other countries and, indeed, are a unique mixture of borrowing from many places over many centuries.

Halloween means "holy" or "hallowed evening." This holiday got its name because it was the day before All Hallows (or All Saints) Day, on November 1st. After Christianity has spread and had many saints and many followers in the 7th or 8th century, a chapel was dedicated in Rome to honor all Christian saints on All Saints Day. Because this holiday came in the fall, a traditional time for harvest festivals, many of the pagan(異教徒) customs were added to, and became confused with, this originally Christian holiday.

The Druids, a pagan sect(宗派) which long pre-dated Christianity, were nature worshippers(禮拜者、崇拜者). As is true of most early cultures, they held an autumn festival to give thanks for the food they had been able to collect during the summer growing season, For them, the supernatural was always a part of the autumn festival. Along with showing appreciation for the bounty of the warm months, the Druid priests tried to ward off(避開) the dangers of the cold winter months by pleasing the Lord of Death. They believed that the Lord of Death allowed this spirits of those who had died during the past twelve months to spend a few hours at their homes at this time. The spirits of the newly dead could return one last time to their earthly homes, warm themselves in front of the fire, and enjoy the smell of the food cooking in the huge fireplaces.

Another pagan tradition was to light great bonfires on the top of hills to honor the Sun God to frighten away evil spirits who had been released on the night of the autumn festival. People danced and sang around these huge fires pretending that they were being pursued by evil spirits. They wore fantastic and grotesque(怪異的) masks as they danced around and leaped over the flames. This was the time when, it was believed, witches rode through the skies on broomsticks, for many Druids thought that there were women who, in exchange for favors during their lifetimes, made a compact(合約) with the Devil, who would then own their souls after death. They believed that these witches would dance on the hilltops while the Devil played music and kept time with castanets(響板) made from dead men's bones.

Ghosts, too, were supposed to play tricks on human beings and to cause supernatural happenings, To protect themselves, farmers fastened on their cows' bells that had been blessed by the priests. They also placed crossed branches from special types of trees at the stable(馬廄) doors to keep witches from harming the animals.

In addition to early Christian and Druid customs, some of our modern Halloween began with the ancient Roman feast honoring the Goddess of Fruits. This, too, was a harvest festival featuring fall produce: apples, nuts, squash, and cider. Today when children wear ghost costumes, carry pumpkin lanterns, use black cats, witches, corn candies, etc., they are following some every ancient customs combining Druid practices, classic religions, and other beliefs.

Interestingly, when the early English settlers arrived in the New World, no one celebrated Halloween. It was only in the last half of the nineteenth century that Halloween became a popular holiday in the United States. From Irish immigrants we get the traditional Halloween Jack-o-lantern, or "Jack of the lantern," a pumpkin with a carved faced, lighted from inside with a candle. Tradition says that there was an Irishman named Jack who was very, very, wicked(邪惡的、淘氣的). He was so wicked that when he died, God would not let him into Heaven, so he had to go down to Hell. But even in Hell he was so evil and played so many tricks on the devil that the Devil threw him out. And so Jack was condemned(懲罰) to wander around the world forever, with no home, no resting place, and only a candle-lit lantern to light his way. That is why most of the jack-o-lanterns have evil, suffering expressions.

It was the Irish, also, who began the "trick or treat" tradition hundreds of years ago. Irish farmers would go from door to door asking for food for the village Halloween festivities. In England it was the custom for children to dress up in each other's clothes (boys wearing girls' clothes and vice versa) and wear masks and go begging from house to house for "soul cakes" on All Saints' Eve.

While in many countries November 1st, All Saints' Day, is celebrated as a primarily religious holiday in the Christian tradition, in United States we have kept much more of the supernatural pagan elements of the celebration.


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