A sweet night 加拿大万圣节怎么过

 　　LAST autumn my parents were studying in Canada, and brought me over with them.

　　It was soon my birthday. Then came Halloween (万圣节前夕). Once I asked Mum why there was Halloween. She told me a lot about ghosts (鬼). I couldn't remember it all. I just remember that many children put on interesting clothes on that day. They go from door to door and ask for sweets (糖果).

　　Sheng An in Canada last winter

　　"Sweets are like good words for the dead (死去的)," Mum told me. "The more the better. They can help the dead go to a better place."

　　One day before Halloween, Mum bought me witches¹' (女巫的) clothes. They were black, with a hat.

　　Dressing² up

　　The next day, at about 6:30 pm, I went out with my parents.

　　It was dark. Many people got together around a house. They were asking for sweets. Lots of children were dressed in different clothes.

　　I pushed in and reached out my hand. I got some.

　　"Wow! There's nothing hard about this," I thought.

　　I was so happy when I looked at the colourful sweets. But there were so few.

　　Some kids had left the house and started to ask for sweets door to door.

　　I decided³ to go with them. I wanted more.

　　I was a little afraid at first. But the people at each house were very kind. They gave me lots of sweets.

　　After some time I had enough. I started to look around to see what Canadians do at Halloween.

　　The houses were so different! Some were made very scary⁴ (可怕的). There were life-like skeletons⁵ (骷髅) on the fences⁶. There were graves⁷ (坟墓) in the gardens. Bat-like (象蝙蝠的) clothes flew in the wind. But some weren't so scary.

　　When I went home that day, I found out my sweets could fill a whole big box!

　　"The sweets could last through the year!" I thought, and they did.

1 witches   

n.女巫，巫婆( witch的名词复数 )；讨人嫌的丑女人v.女巫，巫婆( witch的第三人称单数 )；讨人嫌的丑女人

参考例句：

• Witches used to be burned at the stake. 巫婆过去要被处以火刑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Witches ain't got no power in the daytime." 巫婆白天是没有法力的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 scary   

a.引起惊慌的；害怕的

参考例句：

• What animal do you think is the most scary?你认为什么动物最可怕？
• Are you afraid of scary movies?你害怕恐怖电影吗？

5 skeletons   

n.（建筑物等的）骨架( skeleton的名词复数 )；骨骼；梗概；骨瘦如柴的人（或动物）

参考例句：

• Only skeletons of buildings remained. 只剩下了建筑物的框架。 来自辞典例句
• It looks like six skeletons in front of that stone door! 在这石头门前看上去就象有六副骨骼！ 来自辞典例句

6 fences   

n.栅栏( fence的名词复数 )；（障碍赛马中的）障碍物；买卖赃物者；击剑（术）v.围以栅栏( fence的第三人称单数 )；搪塞；支吾；回避

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel. 可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He fences well, as she had noticed before. 正如她以前观察到的一样，他善于周旋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 graves   

n.（法国）格拉芙葡萄酒；坟墓( grave的名词复数 )；死亡；钝重音符；沉音符v.坟墓( grave的第三人称单数 )；死亡；钝重音符；沉音符

参考例句：

• He went to visit the graves of his forefathers. 他去拜谒他祖先的墓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were eating themselves into their graves. 他们吃喝过度，在自找死路。 来自《简明英汉词典》