英文介绍,200字左右可以参考这个◆仲夏夜虽然每年夏至,即每年日最长夜最短的日子是阳历6月21日,但是,英国庆祝仲夏夜（Midsummer’sEve）都是在6月22日晚上.6月23日就是仲夏日（Midsummer’sDay

Question

英文介绍,200字左右
可以参考这个◆仲夏夜
虽然每年夏至,即每年日最长夜最短的日子是阳历6月21日,但是,英国庆祝仲夏夜（Midsummer’s Eve）都是在6月22日晚上.6月23日就是仲夏日（Midsummer’s Day）.根据英国的传说,人们会在这个晚上有奇异的经历,可能进入魔幻世界.可能就是因为这个原因,所以英国大文豪莎士比亚就写作了名剧《仲夏夜之梦》（A Midsummer Night’s Dream）.里面就有这样的一句：
Why,this is very midsummer madness.
人类学家说,在远古时代生活在英国的人会在夏至当日由巫师（Druids）举行仪式,迎接这个特别的日子.英国一些石器时代遗留下来的巨石建筑据信与这种庆祝活动有关.位于伦敦西南面的著名的巨石阵（Stonehenge）,以及附近的比较巨石阵更大的埃夫伯利（Avebury Stone Circle）据称就是例子.不少所谓的“新时代信仰”人士每年会长途跋涉,赶在夏至日破晓前齐集在巨石阵,举行庆祝活动.由于人数太多,英国警方需要出动,甚或实施限制进场措施,以维持秩序.虽然现场情况可能看似混乱,但是,不少人说,亲眼看到夏至日的太阳从巨石之间升起的景象,是毕生难忘的经验.

Answer 1

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Midsummer is a magical time,and there are many superstitions connected with it.Almost all magic is more powerful at Midsummer.
Midsummer dew has special healing powers.Young girls wash their faces in it to make themselves beautiful,older people do the same to make themselves look younger.If you walk barefoot in the dew on Midsummer Day's morning,it will stop the skin from getting chapped.If you can brave the sometimes chilly June night and bring yourself to skip naked through the dew,then it will ensure fertility for the coming year厖..I expect skipping around naked at any time can have that effect!
Herbs,especially St.John's Wort,gathered on Midsummer's Day and burnt on bonfires will keep livestock healthy and banish bad luck.
If on Midsummer抯 Eve,you approach a fern leaf backwards,without looking,and - without touching the leaf - collect the seed (spores),they have to power to make you invisible.
Handfasting was a custom of "trial marriage" where,at midsummer,couples who had announced their intention to marry at the earlier May Day (Beltane) festival would pledge themselves for a year and a day,and marry at the end of that period if all went well (divorce was virtually impossible once married in church.)
Stonehenge is the one thing above all others which springs to mind when "summer solstice" is mentioned in Britain.Stonehenge instantly captures the imagination.It still holds great mysteries - although much research has been done,no-one knows for certain why it was built,who built it or even how they built it.
It seems as old as time itself,and over the centuries ideas have come and gone - in the 12th century it was believed to mark the grave of King Arthur; by the 17th century,the Druids had been given credit for its construction,and nowadays there are people who believe it was constructed,for whatever purpose,by visitors from outer space.On a more plausible level in the "outside influence" theories,the Romans,the Phoenicians and even the ancient Egyptians have also been implicated.
It is now fairly certain that Stonehenge was constructed in stages between around 3000 BC and 1800 BC :since the Druids did not arrive in Britain until a few hundred years BC,that would appear to rule them out as the builders.It was most probably constructed by Neolithic man for religious or astronomical purposes,or more likely a combination of both as the two were closely intertwined.Stonehenge is built along an east-west alignment,presumably in order to study the sun,and at dawn on on Midsummer's Day the the rising sun appears behind the Hele Stone and creates a shadow that reaches deep into the heart of five pairs of sarsen stone trilithons (two upright stones with one laid across the top) arranged in a horseshoe open towards the rising sun.
It is a sad fact of life that not all visitors to Stonehenge are as careful of this ancient monument as they could be,and in recent years it has suffered a lot of damage,so much that since 1976 access has had to be restricted in order to preserve the remaining structure :we would all like to think that Stonehenge will survive for another 5000 years.
This attempt to preserve the stones for posterity has not met with universal approval and there is a campaign for open access to the stones.Although Stonehenge was undoubtedly not built by Druids,they probably made use of it for their religious ceremonies and there is support for this connection to be continued.Unfortunately,recent concessions to allow modern-day Druids to celebrate in the circle at midsummer have not been entirely successful due to the irresponsible behaviour of a small minority.
There are some nice photographs of Stonehenge on this page,there is a comprehensive but readable account of the latest theories about Stonehenge here,and the Discovery Channel's Stonehenge pages are well worth a visit - you can come back to this site with your browser's "back" button.