下班一到家, 小女儿就兴奋而得意跑到我跟前给我看这篇今天在学校写的东西。应杨斑竹和流云的号召,小女‘替父从军”,呵呵。
By Jessie Song , 2nd grade, 10/30/06
We celebrate Halloween every year on October 31st. Where does the holiday come from? A people called the Celts lived in Europe more than 2000 years ago. On November 1st, they celebrated the end of summer. They thought ghosts visited the living on October 31st. They dressed up like ghosts so the spirits would not harm them.
Today many countries still remember the dead on November 1st. It is called All Saints Day. Another name for it is All Eve, or Halloween for short. Halloween is an old tradition in Ireland and Scotland. In those countries, people dressed up and carried lanterns made of turnips. When people moved from Ireland and Scotland to the United States, they started using pumpkins. This is where the jack-o-lanterns come from.
They also had a tradition of giving food to the spirites. Later, they gave the food to poor people. This is where trick-or-treating comes from. Halloween has changed a lot since its origins. New people have brought new traditions, and changed the old ones. What do you think Halloween will be like in another two thousand years ?