非同寻常的十大情人节习俗

2012-10-16 00:00:00来源：新东方大愚图书

每个人将自己的真名或者编造的名字单独写在小纸条上，接着将小纸条卷起来放在一起，然后大家开始抓阄：女方抽男方的纸条，男方抽女方的纸条……就这样，命运将这一群人分成了一双一对。情郎们要请自己的姑娘跳舞，热情款待她们，而且要将写有姑娘芳名的纸条一连几天地戴在自己的胸前或袖子上。

From the festivals of ancient Rome to modern public awareness campaigns, the holiday hasn’t always been about roses and candy. Now let’s look at the following ten out-of-the-ordinary customs.

1. Ballot1) Box: In ancient Rome, when Valentine’s Day was still a pagan2) festival, young women would put their names in a box, to be randomly chosen by men—who, according to one account, “paid particular attention to the young women whose name they drew.” Early Christian leaders tried to discourage the practice by substituting saints’ names for women’s, but the tradition persisted.

A traveler’s diary from the early 18th century notes: “On the eve of St Valentine’s Day… An equal number of maids and bachelors get together; each writes his or her true or some feigned name upon separate billets3), which they roll up, and draw by way of lots4), the maids taking the men’s billets, and the men the maids’ … Fortune having thus divided the company into so many couples, the valentines give balls and treats to their mistresses and wear their billets several days upon their bosoms5) or sleeves.”

2. Gloves & Love: Prior to the Elizabethan era6), gloves were worn almost exclusively by men. But, by the late 16th century, gloves became a traditional Valentine’s Day gift for women. In fact, it became custom for a young woman to approach her man of choice7) and utter the verse: “Good-morrow Valentine, I go today/To wear for you, what you must pay/A pair of gloves next Easter Day.” Having thus been ambushed, the man was expected to send the woman a gift of gloves to wear on Easter Sunday8). Sometimes men sent women gloves without an invitation. If the lady wore the gloves on Easter, it was a sign that she favored the gentleman’s romantic overtures.

3. Sweet Dreams: In the 1700s, rural Englishwomen would pin five bay9) leaves to their pillows—four on the corners, one in the middle—on the evening before Valentine’s Day. By doing so, it was said, they would see their future husbands in their dreams. A variation of this tradition called for women to sprinkle10) bay leaves with rosewater and lay them across their pillows. “When you go to bed put on a clean nightgown turned wrong side outwards,” reads one folkloric account, “and, lying down, say these words softly to yourself: ‘Good Valentine, be kind to me. In dreams let me my true love see.’ ”

4. Sing Out Loud: In the 18th and 19th centuries, British children celebrated Valentine’s Day by going door to door, singing songs and sometimes begging for treats, such as fruit, pennies and cakes. Folklorists and historians have preserved the lyrics of some of these tunes: “Morrow, morrow, Valentine/I’ll be yourn11) if you’ll be mine/Please to us a Valentine”; and “Good morning, Valentine/Curl your locks12) as I do mine/Two before and three behind/So good morning, Valentine.”

5. Leaps of Love: In the 19th century, Valentine’s Day cards in the United States and Britain began capitalizing on13) the tradition of “Leap Day”—the one day, every four years, when proper14) society permitted women to propose marriage. As the British magazine Punch15) observed in 1872: “This being Leap Year, if a single gentleman receives a Valentine from a single lady, and can trace the sender through the Post-office, he will be entitled to consider her missive16) as equivalent to a proposal of marriage, and to accept it, if the lady can give satisfactory references as to property, connections, temper, accomplishments, and ability to manage a modern mansion.”

Satirists had a field day17) writing about the terror of single men. An 1880 leap-year poem mused: “Maidens’ dissembling day; Bachelors’ trembling day; Men walk in trouble and fear; Girls run and skip about, daintily18) trip about; Knowing St. Valentine’s here.”

6. Poisoned Pens: Not all Valentine’s Day cards celebrated love. During the 1840s and 1850s—as caricatures19) emerged as a popular art form—so too did demand for satirical cards. Even by today’s standards, the imagery was bawdy20), and, at their worst, these “mock Valentines” were a petty excuse for cruelty. “They lampooned21) people of all trades and professions; they stereotyped racial and ethnic groups, especially African-Americans and the Irish,” writes Leigh Eric Schmidt, currently a professor of American religious history at Princeton University. “Women were a particular target of attack valentines. Widows, old maids, loud or assertive22) women, flirts and coquettes were standard subjects of misogynistic23) derision24)…. Intractable, willful, or publicly active women were portrayed as devils, snakes, tigers, or hissing cats.”

The “mock Valentine” craze eventually waned—but not before an 1860 column in the New York Times bemoaned that, in recent years, “St. Valentine’s votaries ceased to be poets and became buffoons25) and his pleasant missives were degraded into vulgar vehicles of silly caricature and indecent impertinence26).”

7. Eat Your Heart Out: French women traditionally have relied on subtle culinary27) cues to signal their amorous28) intentions. The July 1956 issue of the journal Western Folklore reported: “a young maid lets her swain29) know whether the answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by what she feeds him on St. Valentine’s Day. It’s a custom that goes back for centuries. Any egg dish, for example, definitely means No! On the other hand, an apple or pear means Yes!”

8. Role Reversal: After an executive at the Mary Chocolate Company introduced Valentine’s Day to Japan in 1957, an error in translation led Japanese marketers to believe that tradition called for women to send chocolate candies to men. Now, “Many Japanese consider Valentine’s Day the one occasion in which women are allowed the greatest amount of personal expression,” writes Millie Creighton, an associate professor in the department of anthropology and sociology at the University of British Columbia. “A high-ranking official at one department store asserts, ‘This is the only day girls can express their feelings very openly.’ ”

9. On the March: Every year since 2003, the human rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) has held peaceful demonstrations on Valentine’s Day, demanding access to education, health care and an end to government oppression of activists. Dressing in red and white outfits, they distribute paper roses and cards with messages such as, “Defend your right to love and let love overcome hate. Defend all your rights and stand up for the truth.”

10. To Your Health: In recent years, Valentine’s Day has emerged as an occasion for public health education. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control seek to raise awareness about heart disease, with e-cards that read: “Valentine, dear Valentine, My heart beats just for you. To keep our hearts beating, Let’s walk a mile or two.” (Hey, they’re doctors, not poets.)

无论是从古罗马的庆祝活动，还是从现代的公众意识普及运动来看，情人节都并非与玫瑰和糖果相伴。现在就让我们来看看这非同寻常的十大情人节习俗。

1. 抽签选情人：在古罗马时期，情人节还是个异教徒的节日。在这一天，年轻姑娘们会把她们的名字放进一个箱子里，由小伙子们随机抽取。有一种说法讲道，小伙子“会对自己抽到的那位姑娘格外关注”。早期的基督教领袖将姑娘们的名字换成了圣徒的名字，试图以此阻止这种习俗。但这一“抽签选情人”的传统还是保留了下来。

18世纪初的一位旅行者在日记中曾这样写道：“在情人节前夜……，人数相等的单身男女聚在一块儿。每个人将自己的真名或者编造的名字单独写在小纸条上，接着将小纸条卷起来放在一起，然后大家开始抓阄：女方抽男方的纸条，男方抽女方的纸条……就这样，命运将这一群人分成了一双一对。情郎们要请自己的姑娘跳舞，热情款待她们，而且要将写有姑娘芳名的纸条一连几天地戴在自己的胸前或袖子上。”

2.手套探真心：在伊丽莎白时代之前，基本上只有男士才戴手套。但到了16世纪末，手套成为情人节时送给女士的传统礼物。事实上，按照当时的习俗，年轻姑娘要走近她的意中人，并对他说：“早安情郎，今日我走/请君送我，手套一副/复活节日，我将为君，戴上此物。”受到这样的攻势，男方理应送给女方一双手套作为礼物，让她在星期日复活节的时候戴。有时候，在女方没有提出请求的情况下，男方也同样会给送手套给女方。如果女方在复活节戴了这双手套，就表示她答应了男方的爱慕追求。

3. 梦中见情郎：18世纪时，在情人节前夜，英国农村的妇女们会在枕头上别五片月桂树叶：四片别在枕头的四个角上，一片别在枕头中间。据说，这样做就能让她们在梦里见到自己未来的丈夫。这一传统的一种衍生做法是，妇女们将玫瑰香水洒在月桂叶上，然后将叶子铺在枕头上。民俗记载中有这样一种说法：“上床睡觉的时候，你穿上干净的睡衣，要里外反穿，然后躺下，在心中轻轻默念，‘好人瓦伦丁，对我发善心，保我在梦里，得见有情人。’”这种说法在一项民间记载中有提到。

4. 情歌放声唱：在18和19世纪，英国孩子们庆祝情人节的方式是挨家挨户地敲门、唱歌，有时还会讨要水果、几便士零钱和蛋糕等礼物。民俗学家和历史学家保存了一些这样的歌曲的歌词，比如，“早安，早安，有情人/你若愿意属于我，我便愿意属于你/请赐予我们信物吧”；又如，“早上好，有情人/像我一样，卷卷头发/两绺在前，三绺在后/道声早安，有情人”。

5.四年等一回：美国和英国的情人节贺卡开始利用“闰日”这一传统大做文章。闰日每逢四年才有一次，也只有闰日这一天，保守的社会才允许女性向男士求婚，。正如1872年的英国《笨拙》杂志所述：“今年是闰年，如果单身男士收到单身女性寄来的情人节卡片，并能够通过邮局找到发件人，他便有权将该女性的信件看作是求婚之举。如果这位女性在财产、家世、品性、才艺以及操持现代居所的能力等方面令该男士满意的话，该男士便可以点头应允。”

讽刺作家们可算找到了一个尽情嘲讽的机会，纷纷撰文描写单身汉的恐惧。一首写于1880年这一闰年的诗中写道：“这一天，姑娘们虚掩真情的；这一天，单身汉战战兢兢；男士们缓步慢行，又慌又怕；姑娘们连跑带跳，轻捷优雅；凭此就知道，情人节来到。”

6. 毒笔伤情人：并非所有的情人节贺卡都在歌颂爱情。在19世纪40和50年代，讽刺画开始成为一种流行的艺术形式，对讽刺性贺卡的需求也随之增多。即使以今天的标准来看，那时贺卡上的意象也算得上粗俗下流，而最糟糕的一种情况就是将这些“恶搞情人节”贺卡当作恶意攻击的卑鄙借口。“它们挖苦的对象遍布各行各业；它们带有成见地刻板描绘不同种族及民族的人，尤其是非洲裔美国人和爱尔兰人，”目前执教于普林斯顿大学的美国宗教史教授利·艾瑞克·施密特写道，“妇女也是这种恶意情人节贺卡的主要攻击对象。寡妇、老姑娘、大嗓门或者有冲劲的女性、轻浮以及卖弄风情的女人——这些都是厌恶女性者嘲讽的常见对象……难以驯服、性格固执或者在公开场合表现活跃的女性都被刻画成魔鬼、毒蛇、老虎或者嘶嘶叫喊的猫。”

1860年，《纽约时报》的专栏文章还在感叹说，近些年来，“圣瓦伦丁的追随者已经不再是诗人，而是粗鄙小人，而圣瓦伦丁愉悦人心的信件也被他们篡改，堕落成了愚蠢讽刺和粗鲁无礼的恶俗表达。” 不过，“恶搞情人节”的热潮最终还是逐渐消退了。

7.以食示真心：法国女性传统上会借烹饪食物来委婉地暗示与传达自己的爱慕之情。1956年7月的《西方民俗学》杂志中写道：“年轻姑娘会在情人节当天给自己的追求者烹调食物，以此告诉他自己到底是“愿意”还是“不愿意”接受这份爱。比如，鸡蛋肯定代表“不愿意”！而苹果或梨则表示“愿意”！

8. 女向男示爱：1957年，玛莉巧克力公司的一位管理人员将情人节引入日本时，由于翻译出现错误，日本的营销人员误以为情人节的传统做法是女方要给男方送巧克力糖果。如今，“许多日本人认为，情人节是女性能够最充分地表达个人感情的时候，”加拿大英属哥伦比亚大学人类学与社会学系副教授米丽·克里顿写道，“百货商场的高层主管认为，‘只有在这一天，女孩子们才能非常公开地表达她们的情感。’”