復活節兔子 Easter Bunny1

楊璐

Easter is a festival celebrating the rebirth2 of the Jesus on the third day after his death.

Easter Bunny， a rabbit bringing Easter Eggs， is a symbol of Easter. During Easter， Easter Bunny is often busy sending or hiding Easter Eggs. According to some stories， it carries colored eggs and candy in his baskets to the homes of children. In some stories， it is also a judge who check whether childrens behavior was good or not during the Easter season. This is similar to the stories about Santa Claus.

It is also said that Easter Bunny keeps the baskets in a place or hide them in the house or garden so that children can find them when they wake up in the morning. It is this story that led to the tradition of Easter Egg hunt.

Today， children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version3 of real Easter Eggs—those made of plastic or chocolate candy.

However， the stories of the Easter Bunny or Easter Eggs are not in the Bible. There are several stories about the story of the Easter Bunny and how it came to be.

Because rabbits can give birth to many baby rabbits during their lifetime， people connected them with new life. In ancient times， people also thought rabbits were hermaphrodite4. That is to say， they were thought to have the ability to give birth alone. Thus， rabbits were connected with Virgin5 Mary.

Easter Bunny first came to be used as a symbol of Easter by German Protestants6. It is said that the story of the Easter Bunny was introduced to the United States by German settlers7 in the 1700s. Soon people began to make nests for the rabbit to lay its eggs. These nests were originally made from hats or paper boxes. At last， nests became baskets. Besides the colorful eggs， candy and other small treats were added to the baskets. Over the past centuries， Easter Bunny has become one of the most popular religious8 symbols.

復活節是為了慶祝耶穌在受難后第三天復活的節日。

帶來復活節彩蛋的復活節兔子，是復活節的象征。在復活節期間，復活節兔子經常忙著遞送或隱藏復活節彩蛋。根據有些傳說，它用籃子把彩蛋和糖果送到孩子們的家里。在有些故事中，它在復活節期間負責檢查孩子們的行為是否良好。這與圣誕老人的故事相似。

也有人說，復活節兔子把籃子放在某個地方，或者把它們藏在房子里或花園里，這樣孩子們早上醒來時就能找到它們。正是這個故事開啟了尋找復活節彩蛋的傳統。

在今天，孩子們到處搜刮彩色的蛋，并將這些蛋和現代版本的復活節彩蛋一起放到復活節籃子中。這些現代版本的復活節彩蛋是由塑料或巧克力做成的。

然而，復活節兔子或復活節彩蛋的故事并沒有出現在《圣經》中。關于復活節兔子的傳說和傳統是如何形成的，有好幾種故事。

因為兔子在一生中能生很多小兔子，所以人們把兔子和新生命聯系起來。在古代，兔子也被認為是雌雄同體的。也就是說，它們能獨自繁殖后代。因此，人們把兔子和圣母瑪利亞聯系在了一起。

復活節兔子最初被德國新教徒當作復活節的象征。據說復活節兔子的傳說是在18世紀由德國移民帶到美國的。不久人們就有了給兔子造窩下蛋的傳統。這些兔子窩最初是用帽子或紙盒做的。最后，兔子窩演變成了籃子。除了五顏六色的蛋以外，籃子里還加上了糖果和其他小點心。在過去的幾個世紀里，復活節兔子已經成為最流行的宗教象征之一。

【Notes】

1. bunny [?????] n. 兔子（特別是小兔子） 2. rebirth [?????] n. 再生;復興

3. version [?????] n. 版本 4. hermaphrodite [?????] adj. 雌雄同體的

5. Virgin [?????] n. 圣母瑪利亞;處女座 6. Protestant [?????] n. 新教徒

7. settler [?????] n. 移居者;殖民者 8. religious [?????] adj. 宗教的