学文网圣诞节次日也是一个节日，名叫Boxing Day。不过，其中的Boxing可不是“拳击”的意思，而是由装礼物的box而来的。想了解这个节日的来龙去脉，就随本文一起探究一下吧！
If you're looking for something that explains the origins of Boxing Day, well, you're not going to find it here. The day-after-Christmas holiday is celebrated by most countries in the Commonwealth1), but in a what-were-we-doing-again? Bout2) of amnesia3), none of them are really sure what they're celebrating, when it started or why.
如果你想在这篇文章里寻找讲解节礼日起源的内容，那么你是找不到的。大多数英联邦国家都会庆祝这个圣诞节次日的节日，不过我们以前都在做什么来着？就像健忘症突然发作一样，这些国家没有哪个真正清楚他们在庆祝些什么、这个节日起源于何时以及为什么要庆祝。
The Origins 起源
The best clue to Boxing Day's origins can be found in the song "Good King Wenceslas4)". According to the Christmas carol5), Wenceslas was surveying his land on St. Stephen's Day―Dec. 26―when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. Moved, the king gathered up surplus6) food and wine and carried them through the blizzard7) to the peasant's door. The almsgiving8) tradition has always been closely associated with the Christmas season―hence the canned-food drives9) and Salvation Army10) Santas that pepper11) our neighborhoods during the winter―but King Wenceslas' good deed came the day after Christmas, when the English poor received most of their charity.
King Wenceslas didn't start Boxing Day, but the Church of England might have. During Advent12), Anglican parishes13) displayed a box into which churchgoers put their monetary donations. On the day after Christmas, the boxes were broken open and their contents distributed among the poor, thus giving rise to the term Boxing Day. Maybe.
But wait: there's another possible story about the holiday's origin. The day after Christmas was also the traditional day on which the aristocracy14) distributed presents (boxes) to servants and employees―a sort of institutionalized15) Christmas-bonus party. The servants returned home, opened their boxes and had a second Christmas on what became known as Boxing Day.
我们可以从《好国王文西斯劳斯》这首歌曲中找到节礼日起源的最佳线索。根据这首圣诞颂歌，文西斯劳斯国王在圣斯蒂芬节(也就是12月26日)考察国土民情时，看到一位在暴风雪中捡柴火的贫穷男子。国王被这一景象所打动，便将多余的食物和葡萄酒收集起来，冒着大风雪将它们送到这位农夫的门口。这种救济他人的传统原本就一直与圣诞假期密切相关――因此才有了在冬季布满各个街区的“捐罐头食品”活动和装扮成圣诞老人的“救世***”――不过文西斯劳斯国王的善行发生在圣诞节次日，在那一天，英国的穷人得到了大部分的救济品。
文西斯劳斯国王并没有设立节礼日，不过，这倒有可能是英国圣公会的功劳。在降临节期间，英国圣公会的牧区里会摆上一个盒子，那些常去教堂做礼拜的人可以把捐款放入盒子里。在圣诞节次日，这些盒子会被打开，里面的捐款都会被分给穷人，“节礼日”一词便应运而生。也许节礼日就是这样来的吧。
不过先别急：有关这个节日的起源还有一个尚可接受的版本。圣诞节次日也是贵族阶级依照传统向佣人及雇工分发礼品(礼盒)的日子――一种制度化的圣诞红包派发聚会。佣人们回到家，打开礼盒，再过一次圣诞节。于是，这一天开始以“节礼日”的名称为人所知。
The Practices习俗
So which version is correct? Well, both. Or neither. No one, it seems, is really sure. Both the church boxes and the servant presents definitely existed, although historians disagree on which practice inspired the holiday. But Boxing Day's origins aren't especially important to modern-day Brits―Britain isn't known for its religious fervor, and few people can afford to have servants anymore, anyway. Today's Boxing Day festivities have very little to do with charity. Instead, they revolve around16) food, football, visits from friends, food and drinking at the pub.
Boxing Day has been a national holiday in England, Wales, Ireland and Canada since 1871. For years in which the holiday falls on a weekend, the celebration is moved to make sure workers still get a day off, but since visits to Grandma and other family obligations are fulfilled on Christmas, there isn't anything left to do on Boxing Day except eat leftovers, drink and watch TV. Just as Americans watch football on Thanksgiving, the Brits have Boxing Day soccer matches and horse races. If they're particularly wealthy or live in the country, they might even participate in a fox hunt.
The annual Boxing Day fox hunts―which have been held all over the English countryside for hundreds of years―were imperiled17) in 2005 when Parliament banned the traditional method of using dogs to kill the prey. Despite the dogs' limited role (they can still chase the animal, but they can't harm it) hundreds of thousands of people turn out at Boxing Day fox hunts around Britain.
The Irish still refer to the holiday as St. Stephen's Day, and they have their own tradition called hunting the wren18), in which boys fasten a fake wren to a pole and parade it through town. Also known as Wren Day, the tradition supposedly dates to 1601, to the Battle of Kinsale, in which the Irish tried to sneak up on19) the English invaders but were betrayed by the song of an overly vocal wren―although this legend's veracity20) is also highly debated. Years ago, a live wren was hunted and killed for the parade, but modern sentiments21) deemed it too gruesome22).
The Bahamas celebrate Boxing Day with a street parade and festival called Junkanoo, in which traditional rhythmic dancers called gombeys fill the streets with their elaborate costumes and headdresses.
And of course, there's the shopping. England and Canada's Boxing Day evolved into a major shopping event in the 1980s―the equivalent of post-Thanksgiving Black Friday. But this year, many of the sales started earlier in an effort to boost the slumping23) economy.
Boxing Day has evolved from a charitable day to an extended Christmas afternoon. It's a holiday with presents that have already been opened and a dinner that has been eaten. It's a holiday best spent lounging24) around in brightly colored sweaters, wondering, lazily and lethargically25), what to do next. Come to think of it, it's a wonder Americans haven't adopted it yet.
那么到底哪一个版本才是真的呢？嗯，都算，也都不算。似乎没人能真正确定。尽管历史学家对于究竟是以上哪种习俗促成了节礼日的产生意见不同，但教堂捐款箱以及佣人礼物盒这两者都确有其事。不过，对于当代英国人来说，节礼日的起源并不是特别重要，因为不管怎么说，英国并不是一个以宗教狂热而著称的国家，而且现在也基本没人能再请得起佣人了。现在的节礼日庆祝活动与慈善基本没什么关系，相反都是以美食、足球、朋友造访以及在酒吧吃吃喝喝为主。
自1871年起，节礼日就已成为英格兰、威尔士、爱尔兰以及加拿大的全国性假日。多年以来，如果该节日恰好赶上周末，那么庆祝活动就会顺延一天，以确保劳动者们仍能享受这一天的假期。不过，由于人们在圣诞期间就已经拜访了长辈，也已完成了其他家庭义务，所以在节礼日这天除了吃掉剩余的食物、喝喝酒、看看电视便没什么事可做了。就像美国人在感恩节看足球比赛一样，英国人在节礼日会看足球比赛和赛马。那些特别富裕或住在乡间的英国人甚至可能参加猎狐活动。
一年一度的节礼日猎狐活动数百年来一直在英国乡间各地举行，但它却曾因2005年英国议会对“使用猎狗捕杀猎物”这一传统方法的禁止而一度处于被取消的危险之中。虽然猎狗所发挥的作用受到了限制(它们仍可追捕猎物，却不允许伤害猎物)，在英国各地仍有成百上千的人在节礼日这天参加猎狐活动。
爱尔兰人仍将该节日称为“圣斯蒂芬节”，并且有自己的过法：猎捕鹪鹩。男孩子们会在竿子上拴一只假的鹪鹩，在城里走来走去炫耀。这一天因而也被称作“鹪鹩日”。据说这一传统可以追溯到1601年的金塞尔战役。在这场战役中，爱尔兰人试***偷袭英国侵略者，却被一只声音极其洪亮的鹪鹩的鸣唱出卖了――尽管这个传说的真实性也饱受争议。数年前，人们会捕杀一只活鹪鹩，为游行活动献祭，不过依照现代人的观点来看，这种做法也未免太过血腥了。
巴哈马人会举行一种名为“詹卡努”的街头游行狂欢节来庆祝节礼日。在狂欢节中，街上到处都是律动十足的传统舞者“贡贝”，他们穿着精美的服装，佩戴着精致的头饰。
当然，节礼日还少不了购物。在20世纪80年代，英国和加拿大的节礼日演变成了一个重要的购物节――就像感恩节过后的“黑色星期五”一样(译者注：美国感恩节次日通常被称为“黑色星期五”，标志着圣诞购物季的开始)。不过今年，为刺激疲软的经济，许多商家提早开始了大减价活动。
节礼日已由一个慈善性的节日演变成了 “圣诞午后”的延续。节日开始时，礼物就已拆过了，大餐也已吃过了。过这个节日最好的方式是：穿着颜色鲜艳的毛衣四处闲荡以消磨时间，懒洋洋地、昏昏欲睡地思索接下来要做什么。想想吧，美国人竟至今都没采纳这一节日，这还真是件怪事！
1. the Commonwealth: (= theCommonwealth of Nations)英联邦，一个以英国为主导的国家联合体，由54个国家所组成，成员大多为前大英帝国的殖民地或附属国。
2. bout [baʊt] n. (疾病等的)发作
3. amnesia [æmˈniːziə] n. 【医】记忆缺失，健忘症
4. Good King Wenceslas: 《好国王文西斯劳斯》，一首著名的圣诞颂歌。文西斯劳斯是公元10世纪波西米亚公爵，是基督教殉教者和圣人。
5. carol [ˈkærəl] n. (圣诞)颂歌
6. surplus [ˈsɜː(r)pləs] adj. 过剩的，剩余的
7. blizzard [ˈblɪzə(r)d] n. 大风雪；暴风雨
8. almsgiving [ˈːmzˌɪvɪŋ] n. 施舍，救济。alms [ːmz] n. 施舍(物)，救济(物)
9. canned-food drive: 捐赠罐头食品活动，捐来的罐头食品会派发给挨饿的人们。
10. Salvation Army: 救世***，以基督教为信仰的国际性宗教及慈善公益组织，建立于1865年，以街头布道、慈善活动和社会服务著称。
11. pepper [ˈpepə(r)] v. (撒胡椒粉般地)在……上撒；使布满
12. Advent [ˈædvent] n. 降临节，从圣诞节前第四个星期日开始，至圣诞节止，许多基督教徒在此期间祈祷、斋戒及忏悔，以迎接耶稣的诞生。
13. parish [ˈpærɪʃ] n. (主教管区下有自己教堂和牧师的) (本)堂区，牧区
14. aristocracy [ˌærɪˈstɒkrəsi] n. [the~] [总称] 贵族
15. institutionalize
[ˌɪnstɪˈt(j)uːʃənəlaɪz] vt. 使制度化
16. revolve around: 以……为中心
17. imperil [ɪmˈperəl] vt. 使陷于危险，危及
18. wren [ren] n. 【鸟】鹪鹩
19. sneak up on: 偷偷接近
20. veracity [vəˈræsəti] n. 真实(性)，正确(性)
21. sentiment [ˈsentɪmənt] n. [常作~s] 意见，观点
22. gruesome [ˈruːsəm] adj. 可怕的，令人厌恶的
23. slump [slʌmp] vi. (经济等)衰落
24. lounge [laʊndʒ] vi. 闲逛；百无聊赖地消磨时间
25. lethargically: 参见P51注释12