■情人节缘何而来
Why We Have the Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day, 14 February, is dedicated to people in love!
On 14 February sweethearts celebrate Valentine’s Day with cards and presents. Cards can be funny, romantic or poetic[17].
Presents can be a box of chocolates,flowers or jewellery.
When and where did this festivity start?
The custom of celebrating Valentine’s Day probably began with the Roman festival of Lupercalia on 15 February. During Lupercalia there were games and dancing. Every young man took the name of a young lady from an urn. The lady was the young man’s sweetheart for one year.
With the beginning of Christianity pagan customs were not permitted, but the festival continued. In the 7th century this festival was called St. Valentine’s Day.
The origin of the name is still a mystery. Some historians say that the
文化小课堂
2月14日情人节，一个献给恋人们的节日。
在那天，恋人们用卡片和礼物来庆祝情人节。卡片可以做得有趣、浪漫，而且富有诗意。
至于礼物，可以是一盒巧克力，一束鲜花，或者一件饰物。
那么，这个节日起源于何时何地呢？
庆祝情人节的风俗大概是从罗马的2月15日牧神节开始的。牧神节期间有各种游戏和舞蹈，其中有一项活动是，每一位男子都会从瓮中抽取一名女子的名字，而被抽到名字的女子就要当男子的女朋友，期限为一年。
基督教刚开始盛行时，异教习俗是不被允许的，但这个节日并没有终止。在7世纪时，这个节日名叫圣情人节。
不过，这个名字的起源仍是未解之谜。一些历史学家说，该节日的
festival took its name from a Christian martyr[18] named Valentine. He died on 14 February in the year 270. Others say Valentine was put in prison by Emperor Claudius because he secretly married young couples. The Emperor did not like these secret marriages.
Some say that Valentine comes from the French word “galantine”（agallant or beau）.
A legend says that birds begin to mate on 14 February!
The Roman conquerors brought the celebration to England. In England the pagan and Christian customs combined to form the Valentine festivity.
The Valentine tradition was popular in Shakespeare’s time. Shakespeare’s characters Romeo and Juliet are the eternal[19] symbol of love. In the play Hamlet Ophelia sang this song:
In 17th century London, sweethearts exchanged presents on 14 February. The English settlers took this romantic tradition to the New World.
Some settlers made beautiful Valentine’s cards by hand. They painted butterflies, flowers, cupids and hearts on the cards, and then wrote original verses.
In the 1800’s few people had time to make Valentine’s cards. American manufacturers[20] printed millions of romantic cards. The most popular cards
名称取自一位名叫瓦伦丁的基督教殉道者。他死于270年2月14日。还有人说，因为瓦伦丁秘密帮助年轻男女主持婚礼，而被克劳狄斯大帝关进了监狱。因为大帝不喜欢他们的秘密婚姻。
还有一些人说，“Valentine”源自法语词“galantine”（情人、情郎）。
另外有传说称，鸟儿在2月14日开始交配！
罗马征服者们将这项庆典带到了英格兰。而异教风俗与基督风俗相结合，就形成了情人节。
此外，情人节风俗在莎士比亚时期非常盛行。莎士比亚剧中的角色罗密欧和朱丽叶，就是爱情的永恒象征。另外，在《哈姆雷特》中，奥菲莉娅还唱道：
17世纪的伦敦，恋人们会在2月14日这一天交换礼物。英国殖民者将这个浪漫的传统带到了新世界。
一些殖民者还亲手制作漂亮的情人节卡片。他们将蝴蝶、鲜花、丘比特和爱心画在卡片上，然后写上独创的诗歌。
到了19世纪，大部分人都没时间制作情人节卡片。于是，美国制造商们就印制了上百万张浪漫的贺卡。其中，最流行的卡片上有可以移
had moving parts: windows that opened and showed a romantic poem, and little birds that seemed to fly.
After the romantic Valentine, the comic Valentine became popular. It had funny cartoons or grotesque[21] pictures with comic messages.
Today there are all types of Valentine’s cards: romantic, poetic, comic, grotesque, artistic and handmade!
In 1947 the town of Loveland in Colorado, USA, became Cupid’s residence! In Loveland something very unusual happens about two weeks before Valentine’s Day. The Loveland Post Office receives more than 300，000 Valentine’s cards from all over the world.
The Loveland Post Office cancels these cards with the Loveland, Colorado cancellation. A picture of Cupid and romantic verses are stamped on the envelope. Then the Valentine’s cards are sent to the addressee.
These are two examples of the Loveland verses:
In Great Britain it is customary to send an anonymous Valentine’s card
动的画面：敞开的窗户里写着一首浪漫的诗，几只鸟儿在窗间展翅欲飞。
继浪漫的情人节贺卡之后，幽默的情人节贺卡又开始盛行。卡片上印着有趣的卡通图案和怪诞的图画，还写着滑稽的词句。
如今已有了各种各样的情人节卡片：浪漫的、诗意的、滑稽的、怪诞的、艺术的，还有手工的。
1947年，美国科罗拉多州的拉夫兰镇成了丘比特的驻扎地！情人节前大约两周，拉夫兰发生了一件非常奇怪的事：拉夫兰邮局收到了来自世界各地的30多万张情人节贺卡。
拉夫兰邮局用科罗拉多拉夫兰镇的邮票盖销章注销了这些贺卡，然后将丘比特的图案和浪漫的诗句印在信封上，再送到收件人的手里。
这里有两个版本的拉夫兰诗句：
英国有一种习俗，就是给你喜欢或深爱的人匿名送情人节贺卡或礼
or present to the person you like or love. The person must guess who wrote it.
Today in the United States Valentine’s Day has a bigger meaning. On this day you can send a card or a present to a parent, grandparent, relative or a friend. Valentine’s Day is an occasion to express love or affection to anyone.
In elementary school American boys and girls write cards to their favourite classmates. Then they put them into a big box in the school hall. In the afternoon there is a Valentine’s Day party. The teacher takes the cards out of the box and gives them to the children. This is always an exciting moment!
Children like counting their cards. Most children sign their Valentine’s card, but some remain anonymous or write “From a Secret Admirer”.
In American high schools and universities, there is a “Sweethearts’ Ball” on the evening of 14 February. For the “Sweethearts’ Ball” the hall is decorated with red hearts and cupids! Some people have parties at home to celebrate this day dedicated to love.
In the USA, the top of the Empire State Building in New York City is illuminated[22] with red lights to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
物，而收到贺卡或礼物的人必须猜出是谁送的。
如今，在美国，情人节有着更为广泛的意义。情人节这天，你还可以送贺卡或礼物给父母、祖父母、亲戚或朋友。情人节就是对他人表达爱意和倾慕的时刻。
在小学，男孩女孩们写卡片送给他们最喜欢的同学，他们把写好的卡片放进学校大厅的一个大盒子里。当天下午，还会举行情人节派对。在派对上，老师会拿出盒子里的卡片分给孩子们。这是一个多么激动人心的时刻！
孩子们喜欢数他们的卡片。大部分孩子在他们的卡片上做了标记，可还有一些卡片仍是不具名的，或是写着“来自一个神秘的爱慕者”。
在美国的高中和大学，每逢2月14日的晚上就会举行一场“恋人舞会”。舞会上装扮有红色的爱心和丘比特！而有些人则在家里举行派对来庆祝这个献给爱情的节日。
在美国，为了庆祝情人节，纽约帝国大厦的顶部还会装饰着闪闪红灯。