英语沙龙：世界各地婚俗（八）

Wedding custom around the world (8)

Finland：Brides wear golden crowns. After the wedding, unmarried women dance in a circle around the blindfolded² bride, waiting for her to place her crown on someone’s head. It is thought that whoever she crowns will be the next to wed¹.

The bride and groom³ have seats of honor at the reception. The bride holds a sieve⁴ covered with a silk shawl；when the guests slip money into the sieve, their names and the amounts given are announced to those assembled by a groomsman.

Greece：The koumbaros, traditionally the groom’s godfather, is an honored guest who participates in the wedding ceremony. Today, the koumbaros is very often the best man, who assists in the crowning of the couple（with white or gold crowns, or with crowns made of everlasting⁵ flowers, or of twigs⁶ of love and vine wrapped in silver and gold paper）, and in the circling of the altar three times. Other attendants may read Scripture⁷, hold candles, pack the crowns in a special box after the ceremony. To be sure of a “sweet life”, a Greek bride may carry a lump of sugar in her glove on wedding day.

世界各地婚俗（八）

芬兰：新娘头戴金色的花冠。婚礼后, 未婚妇女围着被蒙住眼睛的新娘跳舞, 等着新娘将她头上的花冠戴到某个人的头上。被新娘戴上花冠的人被认为是下一个要结婚的人。

新娘和新郎坐在婚宴的贵宾席上, 新娘手持一个筛子, 筛子上盖有一块丝绸披巾。当来宾们将钱塞进筛子时, 一个伴郎会向在场的来宾宣布放钱的来宾姓名以及礼金的数额。

希腊：koumbaros, 通常是新郎的教父, 担任婚礼上的嘉宾, 现在嘉宾常常由伴郎担任, 其职责是协助新郎新娘戴上花冠（花冠有白色和金色的, 花冠由四季开放的鲜花, 或由用金色或银色的纸包起来的象征爱情的树枝和藤编织而成）。戴上花冠后, 新人们围着圣坛绕三圈。别的出席婚礼的人则朗读《圣经》, 手持蜡烛, 并在婚礼后将花冠放置在一个特殊的盒子里。为了确保婚后生活的甜蜜, 希腊新娘在结婚那一天, 可在手套里塞一块糖。

1 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

2 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

4 sieve   

n.筛，滤器，漏勺

参考例句：

• We often shake flour through a sieve.我们经常用筛子筛面粉。
• Finally,it is like drawing water with a sieve.到头来，竹篮打水一场空。

5 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

6 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

7 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。