Halloween

　　When the harvest moon rises on October 31, little hobgoblins, spooky ghosts, ghoulish witches and gremlins — their young faces hidden behind grotesque masks — will go forth to frighten friends and neighbors and to threaten them with "Trick or Treat ".

　　Halloween (AII Hallows Eve) as the name implies, is a nighttime holiday, the one night in the year when the child's world turns to pure fantasy. Children take all the lead parts while parents and other adults play the supporting roles. Encouraged by teachers and merchants and the remembrance of the good time they had the earlier year, children (from 3 to 11 years old) start preparing their costumes and Halloween decorations weeks ahead. Although parents help the children very much prepare the costumes, on Halloween they must pretend to be frightened by the masked visions that suddenly appear. There will be little witches in long black dresses with tall-pointed hats and magic broomsticks to carry them over the rooftops — to a neighbor's house in the next block. Ghosts in sheets run with tell-tale sneakers and half socks showing; and terrible pirates with skull and cross-bones painted on their three-cornered hats. Some carry jack-o'-lanterns but all carry bags or UNICEF boxes marked "Trick or Treat", which fill up very fast.

　　Teenagers have their fun playing tricks that sometimes get rather rough. They throw eggs or tomatoes at passing motorists , mark up windows and windshields with hard-to-erase candle wax, roll pumpkins down long hills, carry away porch furniture and garbage can covers, engrave graffiti on fences, or do whatever bad things occur to them as they go around looking for ways to "let off steam". Police officers are alert but they only arrest those caught doing real damage. In most communities there are school dances or block parties to help redirect the energies of the youthful pranksters. Business firms offer prizes for the best costumes and recreation directors help plan the party, but the young people themselves take charge of the entertainment and the decorations — a necessary part of Halloween. Dried corn stalks, pumpkin faces, and piles of apples create the harvest atmosphere; and cutouts of witches on their brooms, goblins, ghosts and black cats symbolize the witchcraft aspect of the holiday. The freshments — apple cider, popcorn and pumpkin pie, and witches made of spicy ginger cookies — also carry out both themes.

　　There is an occasional adult Halloween Dance in a bright orange and black setting, with paper-made black cats, witches and grinning skeletons floating above the dance floor. But Halloween has become mainly a young people's holiday — and the younger the child the more exciting he finds it.

　　萬圣節(jié)前夜

　　10月31日，當(dāng)一輪滿月從空中升起的時(shí)候，小妖精、妖魔鬼怪、恐怖的巫婆、小搗蛋鬼——孩子們把小臉蛋藏在奇形怪狀的面具后——會突然出現(xiàn)在朋友及鄰居面前，并威嚇著說：“不給糖，要倒霉。”

　　萬圣節(jié)前夜，顧名思義，就是僅一個(gè)晚上的節(jié)日。在一年中的這一夜，孩子們的心靈充滿了單純的夢幻奇境。他們是節(jié)日的主人，而父母或其他大人只能起陪襯作用。在老師和商人的鼓勵(lì)下，在前一年歡度萬圣節(jié)前夜的美好回憶的誘惑下，孩子們(3至11歲)幾星期前便開始準(zhǔn)備服裝和節(jié)日裝飾了。雖然家長往往都要幫助孩子們準(zhǔn)備服裝，但在節(jié)日那晚，他們一定要裝出一副被突然出現(xiàn)的帶面具的鬼怪嚇著了的樣子。那時(shí)，會有穿著黑色長袍、戴著尖尖高帽子的小巫婆出現(xiàn)，她們乘著神掃帚飛過屋頂，飛到臨街鄰居的屋頂上;還會有披著床單的鬼怪出現(xiàn)，他們邊跑邊露著帆布鞋和短襪子;還有那可怕的海盜，他們戴著繪有骸髏及交叉的大腿骨的三角帽。有的孩子手提用南瓜刻成的人面形燈籠，但每個(gè)孩子都手拿著袋子或聯(lián)合國兒童基金會發(fā)的盒子，上面寫著：“不給糖，要倒霉。”很快，這些袋子、盒子里便都裝滿了糖果。

　　十幾歲的孩子玩那些惡作劇的游戲，有時(shí)使大人們相當(dāng)為難。他們向過往的車輛扔雞蛋或西紅柿;往玻璃窗、汽車擋風(fēng)玻璃上涂抹難以擦掉的蠟;把南瓜滾下長長的山路;搬走門廊里的家具;偷走垃圾箱蓋;在籬笆上亂涂亂寫，到處惹是生非;這樣來消耗掉他們多余的精力。警察雖然警惕性很高，但也只能逮捕那些真正的犯罪者。在許多社區(qū)人們舉辦交際舞會或街區(qū)晚會，以分散那些搞惡作劇的年輕人的精力。會后由商業(yè)界為最佳服裝頒發(fā)獎(jiǎng)品。雖然文藝指導(dǎo)幫助策劃晚會，但是年輕人都親自負(fù)責(zé)組織活動和動手裝飾，這些是萬圣節(jié)前夜的必可不少的一部分。曬干的玉米稈、用南瓜雕刻成的人臉以及一堆堆的蘋果，使晚會增加了豐收的氣氛;用各種東西雕刻成的乘掃帚的巫婆、妖魔鬼怪和黑貓標(biāo)志了節(jié)日的魔力。晚會上供應(yīng)的新鮮食品——蘋果酒、爆米花、南瓜餡餅以及制成巫婆形的辣姜餅——既增加了豐收的氣氛，又標(biāo)志了節(jié)日的魔力。

　　萬圣節(jié)前夜偶爾也有成年人的舞會，舞臺背景為鮮艷的橙色和黑色，舞場上還舞動著用紙做成的黑貓、巫婆及齜牙咧嘴的骷髏。盡管如此，萬圣節(jié)前夜主要是孩子們的節(jié)日—一孩子越小，就越興奮。