[双语]今年的万圣节你狂欢了吗？

kobe

Halloween used to be a time for kids. In the past, the festival meant houses decorated with jack-o-lanterns, cool costumes handmade by moms, and going door to door asking for candy, saying “trick or treat”. 万圣节曾是孩子们的狂欢时刻。在过去，万圣节意味着挂满了南瓜灯的屋子，妈妈亲手缝制的超酷戏服，还有挨家挨户敲门要糖果，说着“不给糖，就捣蛋”。 However, you wouldn’t have seen any of these if you were at this year’s Halloween events in Shibuya, Tokyo, from Oct 27 to 30. Halloween in Japan has become a big party for adults, who dress up in costumes and hang around having fun taking pictures. This year’s events were so popular that Tokyo police had to stop cars from entering two streets so pedestrians could pass safely. In other words, this festival is no longer just a time for kids. 然而，在今年10月27-30日期间于东京涩谷举行的万圣节活动中，以上的这一切你都看不到。在日本，万圣节已经成为了成年人的盛大派对。大人们会乔装打扮在街上闲逛，各种拍照凹造型。由于今年的活动太受欢迎，东京警方不得不限行两条街道的车辆，以保证行人的安全。换言之，这个节日不再仅仅是孩子们的狂欢。 As USA Today editor Bruce Horovitz wrote, “Adults have slowly been stealing Halloween from kids.” 正如《今日美国》编辑Bruce Horovitz 所写的那样，“大人们正慢慢地从孩子们手中偷走万圣节。” But “steal” is not quite the word, since the adults of today all used to be kids themselves. These grown-ups still manage to keep the tradition of dressing up alive, however, even if they’re too old to knock on strangers’ doors for candy now. 但“偷”这个词并不贴切，因为如今的大人曾经也是孩子。然而，就算这些大人们现在已经过了敲陌生人家门要糖果的年纪，他们依然想保留这一变装的传统。 Some companies even encourage their employees to wear costumes to work so they can relax and enjoy their share of the festival fun. 一些公司甚至鼓励自己的员工穿着戏服来上班，让员工们也能放松一下，共享万圣节的乐趣。 “You can wear whatever you want and not be judged,” Denise Delahorne of DDB Worldwide, an advertising company, told Forbes when asked why adults are so into Halloween compared to other holidays. “There’s no stress to it. You don’t have to travel or deal with relatives. There’s not the holiday pressure to find a date if you are single.” “人们可以想穿什么就穿什么，不会被指指点点，”恒美广告公司的Denise Delahorne 在接受《福布斯》杂志采访时，被问及比起其他节日，成年人为何更喜欢万圣节的原因。他表示，“过万圣节很轻松。人们不必外出旅行或是应付各路亲戚。单身男女也没有找个伴来过节的压力。” But here comes the ironic and interesting part: As the “adult Halloween” industry gets bigger and bigger, movie theaters, drink sellers and haunted houses are starting to target adult customers only. There’s even an annual Halloween trade show in the US that you can’t even enter if you’re under 16. 但这其中也存在着讽刺又有趣的情况：随着“成年人万圣节”产业的日益壮大，电影院、饮品店还有鬼屋都开始做起了只针对成年顾客的活动。美国甚至还有个一年一度的万圣节展销会，未满16岁的不得入内。 That isn’t good news for kids, but on the bright side, at least young people can still get free candy. And what could be better than that? 对孩子们来说，这并不是个好消息，但往好的方面想，至少年轻人还能得到免费糖果。还有什么比这更好的呢？