Halloween--南瓜灯-Jack-o-lantern-原始资料初整理-自用.ppt

What is halloween ? Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. By tradition, Halloween begins after sunset. Long ago, people believed that witches gathered together and ghosts wandered around the world on Halloween. Today, most people no longer believe in ghosts and witches. But these supernatural beings are still a part of Halloween. The origin of Jack o Lantern carving is uncertain. The story of the Jack-O-lantern retold in different forms across Western Europe. An old Irish folk tale tells of Jack, a lazy yet shrewd blacksmith who uses a cross to trap Satan. One story says that Jack tricked Satan into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that Satan couldnt get down. Another version of the story says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met Satan, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, Jack told Satan to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods; later, when the coin (Satan) disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jacks wallet, only to find himself next to a cross which Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his power; and so he was trapped. In both folktales, Jack only lets Satan go when Saten agrees never to take his soul. After a while the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, Satan had promised not to take his soul, and so he couldnt go to hell as well. Jack had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and Satan mockingly left him an ember (灰烬) from the flames of hell, that would never burn out. Jack put the ember inside a turnip (which were his favorite food), and began endlessly