Jack o' Lanterns

Jack -o -Lanterns. Written by Marcy Aboff. Focus Question. How did the tradition of carving jack -o -lanterns begin, and how have jack -o -lanterns changed over time?

南瓜灯。 作者：玛西·阿博夫 思考问题： 雕刻南瓜灯的传统是如何起源的？这么多年来南瓜灯又发生了哪些变化呢？

What is a jack -o -lantern? Some of them look spooky. Some of them look funny. Some of them look like detailed works of art. Who would have guessed that so much could be done with pumpkins? Carved pumpkins are called jack -o -lanterns. A festive sight on doorsteps, porches, and in windows, jack -o -lanterns are popular decorations around Halloween. When a light is placed inside the pumpkin's hollow center, the jack -o -lantern glows in the autumn night.

什么是南瓜灯呀？ 有的南瓜灯看起来阴森森的 有的南瓜灯看起来十分有趣 还有的南瓜灯看起来就像精致的艺术品 谁能想到一颗南瓜能做出这么多花样呢？ 雕刻过的南瓜就叫做南瓜灯 万圣节前后，南瓜灯是很受欢迎的装饰，常被摆在家门口、门廊和窗边，满是节日氛围 把灯放进挖空的南瓜中心，南瓜灯就能在秋夜里发光啦

Children and adults alike enjoy turning pumpkins into jack -o -lanterns. Simple jack -o -lanterns may have triangle eyes and a toothy grin. Other jack -o -lanterns are carved with frightening faces. Some artists carve out detailed and festive designs. People started carving pumpkins more than a hundred years ago. Legends say the jack -o' -lantern tradition began even earlier, though, in Ireland. People in Ireland carved their jack -o' -lanterns out of turnips or potatoes.

不管是小朋友还是大人都喜欢把南瓜刻成南瓜灯 简单款南瓜灯一般刻着三角形眼睛和露齿大笑的表情 还有一些南瓜灯刻着吓人的鬼脸 有些巧手达人还会刻出精致又充满节日氛围的图案 人们雕刻南瓜做南瓜灯已经有一百多年历史了 不过传说南瓜灯的传统起源更早，发源自爱尔兰 最早爱尔兰人用萝卜或土豆雕刻南瓜灯

Why did the Irish start this tradition, and where did the name Jack -o -Lantern come from, anyway? Many fables exist about its origins. One of the more commonly known fables from the 19th century tells of a man named Stingy Jack. The legend says that Stingy Jack was cheap, which is how he earned his nickname. He also liked to play tricks on everyone. Stingy Jack was so mischievous that when he died, he was cursed to roam the land forever. He had to spend eternity alone in the darkness. He carved a turnip and put a light inside to guide him. The Irish called his ghost Jack of the Lantern, and then simply Jack -o' -lantern.

为什么爱尔兰人会开创这个传统？“杰克灯（南瓜灯）”这个名字到底是怎么来的呢？ 关于它的起源有很多寓言故事 19世纪一个流传最广的故事，讲的是一个叫“吝啬鬼杰克”的人 传说杰克为人十分吝啬，这也是他外号的由来 他还总喜欢捉弄所有人 杰克太淘气捣蛋了，他死后被诅咒永远在人间游荡 他只能永远独自待在黑暗之中 他把萝卜挖空，放了一盏灯在里面给自己引路 爱尔兰人把他的鬼魂叫做“灯里的杰克”，后来就简化成了杰克灯

modern jack -o' -lanterns. Eventually, the Stingy Jack tradition became part of a night called All Hallows' Eve. People throughout Europe lit bonfires and wore costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In Ireland, people hollowed out turnips and potatoes and carved scary faces on the vegetables. They placed a light inside to keep mischievous spirits like Stinchy Jack away from their homes. These were the original jack -o -lanterns. Soon, people in Scotland and England started to follow the custom of carving vegetables on this night. The English used hollowed -out beets for their jack -o -lanterns. All Hallow's Eve later became known as Halloween.

现代南瓜灯 后来，吝啬鬼杰克的这个传统变成了万圣夜的一部分 整个欧洲的人们都会点燃篝火、穿上 costumes，驱赶游荡的鬼魂 在爱尔兰，人们把萝卜和土豆挖空，在这些蔬菜上刻出吓人的脸 他们把灯放进里面，把杰克这样的淘气鬼魂挡在家门外 这就是最早的南瓜灯 很快，苏格兰和英格兰的人们也开始遵循这个在万圣夜雕刻蔬菜的习俗 英国人用挖空的甜菜做南瓜灯 万圣夜后来就逐渐演变成了现在的万圣节

When Irish, English, and Scottish people immigrated to the United States, they brought the jack -o' -lantern tradition with them. They soon found that pumpkins, grown in the United States, worked well as jack -o' -lanterns. By the 1920s, pumpkin carving became widespread across America. Today, carving jack -o' -lanterns is an important part of Halloween, just like trick -or -treating and wearing costumes. Every autumn, people visit pumpkin patches, farms, and vegetable stands to pick just the right pumpkin. About 1 .5 billion pounds, more than 680 million kilograms, of pumpkins are grown in the United States each year.

爱尔兰、英格兰和苏格兰人移民到美国时，把南瓜灯的传统也带了过去 他们很快发现，美国本地产的南瓜非常适合做南瓜灯 到20世纪20年代，雕刻南瓜灯的习俗已经传遍了美国 如今，雕刻南瓜灯是万圣节的重要组成部分，就像不给糖就 捣蛋和穿节日服装一样 每年秋天，人们都会去南瓜田、农场和菜摊挑选最合心意的南瓜 美国每年出产大约15亿磅，也就是超过6.8亿公斤的南瓜