缪兰

The Date of Easter复活节的日期

In 325 AD， the Council of Nicaea （尼西亚大公会议） was convened by Emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon or after the vernal equinox （春分）. The ecclesiastical （基督教的） “vernal equinox” is always on March 21. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical （天文学的） full moon. Therefore， Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

公元前325年，康斯坦丁大帝组建了尼西亚大公会议，制定了复活节的标准：复活节应该在第一个满月后或是春分后的第一个星期天进行庆祝。基督教的“春分”通常是3月21日。由于天文上的满月，复活节的日期不会是每年的同一天。因而复活节通常是在3月22日到4月24日之间的其中一个星期天进行庆祝。

The Easter Bunny 复活节兔子

The symbol originated with the pagan （异教徒的） festival of Easter. The goddess， Eostre， was worshipped by （被…尊崇的） the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol， the rabbit. The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact， Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

复活节兔子起源于异教的复活节。当时，盎格鲁撒克逊人的春之女神的世俗象征是一个兔子，因此被人们所供奉。而德国人将复活兔带到了美国。直至美国南北战争结束后的短期内，复活兔才被其他基督教徒所关注。事实上，直到这次内战结束后的一段时间内，复活节才在美国被人们广泛地庆祝。

The Easter Egg 复活节彩蛋

As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself， the Easter Egg predates （先于） the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. From the earliest times， the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped （包裹） in gold leaf or， if you were a peasant， colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals （花瓣） of certain flowers. Today， children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs —— those made of plastic or chocolate candy.

与复活兔和复活节本身一样，复活蛋预示着基督教节日复活节即将到来。当基督教徒庆祝第一个复活节后，在春天互相交换复活蛋已经是延续了好几百年的习俗。在早期，复活蛋在许多文明中象征着“再生”。人们常常用金色的叶子包裹复活蛋，或者，假如你是农民的话，可以将复活蛋画得色彩斑斓，并把它和叶子或是几种花的花瓣一起煮沸。在今天，孩子们到处搜刮复活蛋，并将这些蛋和现代版本的复活蛋一起放到复活节篮子中。这些现代版本的复活蛋是由塑料或巧克力糖果做成的。