dressed as fairies, goblins, characters from their favorite movie franchise, and everything in between, partying and making mischief.

穿著仙女、妖精、最喜歡電影系列中的人物，以及任何其它角色，開著派對和進行惡作劇。

But outside of a good time, how many know why they do it?

但除了享樂目的外，有多少人知道他們為什麼要這樣做？

Today, Halloween is a billion-dollar industry.

萬聖夜在今日是個價值 10 億美元的產業。

But exactly how did it get there?

但它究竟是如何達到這個程度的？

[Haunting History: Halloween]

[恐怖故事：萬聖夜]

While today Halloween is synonymous with commercialism, it wasn't always that way.

雖然今日的萬聖夜是商業主義的代名詞，它並不總是如此。

The word "Halloween" comes from the words "hallow", meaning holy person, and "een", deriving as a contraction of eve.

Halloween 這個字源自於表示「聖潔之人」的 hallow 以及由 eve 縮略而來的 een。

And All Hallows' Eve finds its origins all the way back in the time of the ancient Celtic pagans with the holiday of Samhain, a three-day fire festival that essentially celebrated death and rebirth.

而萬聖節前夜的起源則可以直接回溯到古凱爾特異教徒時代、伴隨薩溫節而來，而這個節日是為期三天的火祭，主要是慶祝死亡和重生。

The Celts, who lived in what is now Ireland, Scotland, the UK, and parts of Northern Europe, based their calendar on the wheel of a year,

凱爾特人生活在今日的愛爾蘭、蘇格蘭、英國和北歐部分地區，他們的日曆以年輪為基礎，

essentially divided into two halves: the light and the dark.

基本上分成兩半：光明和黑暗。

When one gave way to the other, this transition was marked by a fire festival.

當明暗交替時，這個過渡期便會以火祭作為象徵。

The word "Samhain" translates into modern Irish to "summer's end".

Samhain 這個詞翻譯成現代愛爾蘭語就是「夏天結束」。

Samhain celebrated the dead, and particularly, the celebratory feast paid homage to loved ones who had passed away recently.

薩溫節是慶祝死者，尤其是向近期逝世親人致意的慶祝宴席。

Essentially as an invitation for their spirits to rejoin the living.

基本上是讓亡靈重新加入活人之列的邀請。

Many of Samhain's original rituals have been lost,

薩溫節許多的原始儀式都已經失傳，

but what we do know of their holiday traditions from Celtic folklore and ancient Roman historians is that they were intended to connect them to spirits,

但就我們從凱爾特民間傳說和古羅馬歷史學家文件可知，他們的節日傳統旨在將他們與神靈聯繫起來，

including costumes⏤most likely animal art first to help them hide from the unfriendly ones⏤feasting, and making lanterns from hollowed-out gourds,

包括服裝（起初最有可能的是動物服裝，幫助他們躲避不友好的神靈）、宴請和用挖空的葫蘆科植物製作燈籠，

seemingly the birth of the modern pumpkin Jack-o'-lantern.

似乎是現代南瓜燈籠的誕生。

Sacrifices generally of crops or animals were made during this time as an offering to the spirits.

在這個期間通常會以作物或動物為祭品，獻給神靈。

It was popular for tricks or pranks to be played by humans and blamed on mischievous spirits.

當時也流行由人類捉弄他人或惡作劇，然後咎責於頑皮的神靈。

As a result of the Roman invasion, with most of the Celtic land being conquered by Rome in 43 CE,

羅馬人入侵後，隨著大部分凱爾特人土地在西元 43 年被佔據的結果，

the spread of Christianity and Catholicism would force pagan Celtic traditions to evolve or be completely repressed.

基督教和天主教的傳播將迫使異教的凱爾特人傳統演變或被完全壓制。

In part, many Celtic traditions and popular pagan practices were reframed to fit within a Christian narrative as a way of converting people with greater comfort and ease.

在某種程度上，許多凱爾特傳統和流行的異教習俗都被重新定義以適應基督教觀點，作為以更舒適且輕鬆讓人民轉換的方式。

Samhain would evolve into All Saints Day, which is also referred to as All Hallows Day, and was intended to be a day to celebrate the Christian saints and martyrs.

薩溫節將演變為萬聖節，這一天也被稱為諸聖節，目的在於將這天用來慶祝基督教聖人和殉道者。

Essentially, instead of honoring pagan gods and mischievous spirits, they now celebrated Christian figures.

基本上就是，原本對於異教神靈和頑皮神靈致意，現在改為頌揚基督教人物。

While the sacrifices were replaced by food offerings to the poor, the tricks and pranks continued.

雖然祭品改以提供食物給窮困人民，捉弄和惡作劇的行為繼續進行。

But instead, they were now attributed to the spirits of the saints.

但它們現在被歸咎於聖人的靈魂。

Halloween evolved as a more secular version of All Hallows' Eve,

萬聖夜是演變過後，萬聖節前夜的世俗版本，

and eventually, it would become more popular and common practice than All Saints Day.

最終會變得比萬聖節更加流行且普遍。

While Halloween has its origins in the British Isles, there's a great disparity in its popularity in former British colonies.

雖然萬聖夜起源於不列顛群島，其受歡迎程度英國前殖民地有很大差異性。

The Puritans who came to colonize America were Protestant and did not celebrate holidays of the Catholic church, as they were believed to lead to idolatry.

來到美國殖民的清教徒是新教徒，並不會慶祝天主教節日，因為這些節日被認為會導致偶像崇拜。

In the early days of the American colonies, celebrations of Halloweens were mostly forbidden as they were deemed "too pagan" or "too Catholic" by the Protestant colonizers.

在美國殖民地早期，慶祝萬聖夜的活動大多是被禁止的，因為它們被新教殖民者視為「太有異教色彩」或「太有天主教氣息」。

Though elements of it began to incorporate into secular harvest-related events in the 1800s.

不過其中的元素在 19 世紀時開始融入與世俗收穫有關的活動。

The mid 19th century saw a large influx of immigrants entering the country, especially Irish immigrants who were greatly impacted by the potato famine.

19 世紀中期有大量移民湧入該國，尤其是嚴重受到馬鈴薯饑荒影響的愛爾蘭移民。

With these people came Halloween customs out of which one of America's favorite holidays was formed.

隨著這些人的到來，美國人最愛節日的萬聖夜習俗也因此形成。

In keeping with the mischief, children would dress in costumes and be given money or fruit for artistic offerings like poetry, songs, or even jokes instead of prayers.

為了符合頑皮的傳統，孩子們會穿上服裝並獲贈金錢或水果，作為詩、歌等藝術產品甚至是笑話取代祈禱的交換。

By the late 19th century, children were playing seemingly innocuous pranks on their small local communities.

到了 19 世紀末，孩子們會在他們的小型地方社區做出一些看似無害的惡作劇。

Adults would soon find incentive to dissuade children from playing pranks.

成年人很快就會找到勸阻兒童惡作劇的動機。

Enter trick-or-treating.

「不給糖就搗蛋」的活動應運而生。

The 20th century would finally see the commercialization of Halloween.

20 世紀終將見證萬聖夜的商業化。

By the 1920s and '30s, Halloween merchandise evolved to pre-made costumes for both children and adults.

到了 1920 和 30 年代，萬聖夜商品演變為兒童和成人的預製服裝。

After World War Two in the 1950s, the economic boom had candy manufacturers getting on the Halloween bandwagon.

二次世界大戰後的 1950 年代，經濟繁榮使的糖果製造商加入萬聖夜的行列。

Movies and TV are also largely responsible for the proliferation of Halloween as a mass-market holiday.

電影和電視也大幅度地將萬聖夜作為一個大眾市場節日進行擴散。

Cinemas in the '50s offered scary movie festivals.

50 年代的電影院提供可怕的電影節。

And in the '60s, the new television industry began running Halloween specials during Halloween season.

而在 60 年代，新興電視產業開始在萬聖節期間播送萬聖節特別節目。

By 2015, the National Retail Federation predicted spending on Halloween could reach $6.9 billion.

到了 2015 年，全國零售聯合會預測萬聖節的支出可能達到 69 億美元。

Whether you believe that we've lost the meaning or not, Halloween has since evolved far beyond the days of pagan fire festivals.

無論你是否相信我們已經不了解其意義，萬聖節的發展已經遠遠超出了以前異教火祭的時代。

For more than a month out of the year, costume stores show up out of nowhere,

在一年中超過一個月的時間裡，服裝店會突然出現，

candy corn and Halloween-themed candies dominate whole aisles of grocery stores, and spooky shows and movies build out entire TV station schedules.

玉米糖和萬聖節主題的糖果主宰了雜貨店的整個走道，而恐怖的節目和電影會壟斷電視臺的時間表。

Whether you like it or not, whether you want to dress up as a gruesome goblin or a sexy cat, or ignore the holiday altogether,

無論你喜歡與否、是否想打扮成一個可怕的小妖精或一隻性感的貓，或者完全不想理會這個節日，

Halloween has stood the test of time and proven itself as a holiday that's here to stay.

萬聖節承受了時間的考驗，並證明它是一個會持續存在的節日。