6-6 6月21日——仲夏节
时间：2018-12-30 作者：英语课 分类：英语沙龙2004全年合辑上
June 21 -- Midsummer
Midsummer was the festival throughout most of England, most of Scotland, Shetland1, and the Orkneys2. Fires, dancing, games, and various shenanigans3 involving fertility were the general rule on this “longest day of the year.” The passing centuries took their toll 14 on this once-majestic occasion. By the 1680s, British folklorist 2 John Aubrey5 reported that “still in many places... they make fires on the hills: but the Civil Warres6 have put all these rites 4 or customs quite out of fashion7.”
Millennia8 ago, Stonehenge’ s9 anonymous 5 builders no doubt celebrated 6 their own midsummer rites among the stones. More recently a British group called the Ancient Order of Druids10, founded in 1781 by a carpenter named Hurle, instituted an annual June 21 ceremony at the site. The latter-day11 Druid rite 3, which attracted huge crowds, entailed12 a bread-and-wine sacrament13, candles, bells, incense 8, and white-and-purple-surpliced14 priests who shared wine from a silver cup as the midsummer sunbeams crept portentously 915 across the old stones as in times of yore16. The Stonehenge rite was a local staple 10 for many decades. In the mid-1980s, vandalism17 and unruly spectators imperiled18 the ritual’s future.
注释：
1.Shetland [5FetlEnd] = Shetland Islands 设得兰群岛 [英国苏格兰北部]
2.Orkneys [5R:knis] = Orkney Islands 奥克尼群岛 [英国苏格兰北部]
3.shenanigan [FE5nAni^En] n.〈美口〉[常作～s]胡闹，淘气，恶作剧
4.take one's toll 造成损失（或危害、伤亡等）
5.John Aubrey 约翰·奥布里（1626～1697，英国文物（收藏）研究家、作家、皇家学会会员，以为同时代人撰写传记小品而闻名）
6.Civil Warres = Civil War英国内战（指1642～1646和1648～1652英国议会与保皇党人之间的内战）
7.out of (the) fashion 不合时尚
8.millennium 11 [mi5leniEm] （[复] millennia）n. 千年
9.Stonehenge [5stEunhendV] n. 巨石阵（英国南部索尔兹伯里附近的一处史前巨石建筑遗址）
10.Druid [5dru:id] n. 德鲁伊特（古代克尔特人中一批有学识的人，担任祭司、教师和法官或当巫师、占卜者等）
11.latter-day [5lAtE5dei] a. 近代的；后来的
12.entail 7 [in5teil] vt. 使成为必要，需要
13.sacrament [5sAkrEmEnt] n. [宗] 圣餐；圣餐面包和酒
14.surpliced [5s\:plist] a. 穿白法衣的，穿白袈裟的；white-and-purple-surpliced穿紫白相间法衣的
15.portentously [pC:5tentEsli] ad. 奇特地；令人惊讶地
16.yore [jC: (r)] n.〈书〉昔日，往昔
17.vandalism [5vAndEliz(E)m] n. 故意毁坏文物的行为
18.imperil [im5peril] vt. 使陷于危险，危及
6月21日——仲夏节
在英格兰和苏格兰的大部分地区，在设得兰群岛和奥克尼群岛，夏至都是一个节日。在这“一年中最长的一天”里，人们一般燃点篝火、跳舞、玩游戏，还有各种与生殖有关的胡闹。但过去的几个世纪已使这个曾经辉煌的节日大为失色。17世纪80年代，英国民俗学者约翰·奥布里曾经报道：“还是有许多地方……人们在山上燃点篝火：但是内战使所有这些仪式或习俗基本上不再流行了。”
数千年之前，巨石阵的无名建造者们肯定在这石林之中庆祝过自己的仲夏节。较近一些，英国一个名为“古代德鲁伊特人会社”的组织于每年的6月21日在巨石阵举行庆祝仪式。这个组织是由一位姓赫尔的木匠在1781年创立的。后来这个仪式吸引了很多参加者。仪式包括面包和葡萄酒的圣餐、烛光、钟声、焚香以及身穿紫白相间的法衣的神甫。在夏至的阳光像往昔那样奇妙地穿过那古老的石阵的时刻，神甫将盛在银杯里的葡萄酒与参加者一一分享。几十年来，巨石阵仪式都是当地的一项主要活动。在20世纪80年代中期，破坏文物的行为和不守规矩的观众给未来的仪式造成了很大的危害。
- The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
- The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
- This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
- Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。
- to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
- He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。
- Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
- The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。
- He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
- The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
- Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
- This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。
- This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
- In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。
- The lamps had a portentously elastic swing with them. 那儿路面的街灯正带着一种不祥的弹性摇晃着呢！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
- Louis surveyed me with his shrewd gray eyes and shook his head portentously. 鲁易用他狡猾的灰色眼睛打量着我，预示凶兆般地摇着头。 来自辞典例句
- Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
- Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。
- The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
- We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。