复活节彩蛋，本文主要内容关键词为：彩蛋论文,复活节论文，此文献不代表本站观点，内容供学术参考，文章仅供参考阅读下载。
When the first spring flowers blossom,Easter comes.It is theoldest Christian feast,commemorating the resurrection of JesusChrist.
Along with the traditional Easter walk or outing,the givingof Easter eggs and,more recently,of Easter presents is a mainfeature of the feast.Parents give their children"Easter eggs"-colored and boiled eggs,chocolate eggs,marzipan eggs-Easterbunnies,sweets,and other gifts.In some German regions,childrenvirtually"collect"Easter eggs from their relatives,especiallytheir godparents.
Usually,the Easter eggs are carefully hidden in the garden or inthe house and the children must search for them on the morningof Easter Sunday.They are.told that the Easter bunny has broughtthem.This anonymous,mysterious bunny is like Santa Claus atChristmas.But it is less of an "educational"figure than SantaClaus is,since the eggs are not given to children as rewards forbeing good.
Some Easter egg games have been preserved at certain places inGermany or have even been newly developed.Children try to outdoeach other in rolling colored eggs down grassy slopes,for instance,or they knock the eggs'pointed ends together and the child whoseegg does nut shatter gets the broken one,too.In some places,this custom was even used as the name of a local festival.
Easter presents furnish interesting stories of cultural andsocial change.The first historical mention of colored eggs goesback to the year 1230 A.D.In the 16th and 17th centuries coloredeggs were given as Easter presents.In the Baroque period itbecame customary for young people who wanted to become engagedto give each other colored and decorated eggs.This remained arural custom in some regions of central and eastern Europe fora long time.
The origin of the "Easter egg"custom is not fully known.Onereason for it is that around Easter time the rural householdhad plenty of eggs handy.The hens began to lay eggs again in thespring.Another explanation is that Easter marks the end of the time of fasting during which eggs and meat were forbidden.The decisivefactor,however,probabiy had to do with the taxes whichthe peasants had to pay to their lords,to the Church.or to theirparsons.Easter was one of the dates when they became due andmany eggs were among the payments delivered at this time.Thelords of the land,espcially the church and the monasteries,gave some eggs to the poor as a kind of charity.
Modern society claims that all men have the same rights andobligations.The customs relating to gifts have changed accordingly.Easter eggs have lost their original color of charity,and havebecome"surprise gifts"Presents are now exchanged between individualswno want to surprise their friends or relatives and make them happy.
当春天第一批花开的时候，复活节便来临了。它是纪念耶稣基督复活的节日，是基督教里最古老的节日。
除了传统的复活节出游以外，赠送复活节彩蛋和近年来新添的赠送复活节礼物是这一节日的主要特色。父母送给孩子们“复活节彩蛋”——煮熟了的彩色鸡蛋、巧克力蛋和杏仁蛋——复活节小兔、糖果以及别的礼物。在德国的一些地区。孩子们简直就是向他们的亲属，特别是他们的教父教母，“征集”彩蛋。
人们常常把复活节彩蛋藏在花园或屋内，孩子们必须在复活节的早晨去把它们找出来。大人们说是复活节小兔送来的彩蛋。这个匿名的神秘小兔如同圣诞节的圣诞老人一般，不过它却不像圣诞老人那样爱教育人，因为彩蛋并非作为对表现好的孩子们的奖赏而送给他们的。
在德国的一些地方，人们还保留或发展着某些复活节彩蛋的游戏。比如，孩子们在长满青草的坡地上滚动彩蛋，比赛看谁的跑得快；或者，他们拿鸡蛋的尖头相互碰撞，鸡蛋不破的孩子便可得到对方破了的鸡蛋。在有些地方，这一风俗甚至被用作当地一节日的名称。
复活节礼物的发展也非常有趣地反映出文化和社会的变迁。历史上有关彩蛋的最早记载可以追溯到公元1230年。16和17世纪，人们把彩蛋作为复活节礼物来赠送。在巴罗克时代，那些想缔结良缘的男女青年互送彩蛋成了一种习俗，这种乡村习俗在中欧和东欧的一些地区延续了很多年。
说到送复活节彩蛋习俗的起源，人们却不甚了解。一个原因是，随着春天的来临。母鸡又开始下蛋了。在复活节前后，农户家里有很多鸡蛋。另一个解释是，复活节的到来标志着斋戒期的结束，人们又可以吃斋戒期内禁食的鸡蛋和肉了。然而，此习俗形成的一个决定性因素也许和当时的税收有关，农民们要向领主、教堂或他们的教区牧师交税。复活节恰好是交税期，大量鸡蛋便成为一种抵作税收的物品被交了上去，而领主，尤其是教堂和寺院，就拿出其中的一分件施舍给了穷人。
现代社会主张，所有人都享受平等的权利和义务。这些有关赠品的习俗也随着发生了变化。复活节彩蛋已不再具有原来那种慈善的色彩，而变成了“给人带来惊喜的礼物”。人们互赠礼物，以便给朋友和亲人带来惊喜和祝福。