高中英语必修5Module4课文视频及翻译

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　　The Magic of the Mask
　　Think of carnival, and you think of crowds, costumes, and confusion.The sounds and sights change from one country to another but the excitement isthe same everywhere.
　　＂ Carnival ＂  comes from two Latin words,meaning  ＂ no more meat ＂ . In Europe, where it began, carnival was followed by forty dayswithout meat, as people prepared for the Christian festival of Easter. Peoplesaw Carnival as a last chance to have fun at the end of the winter season.Having fun meant eating, drinking, and dressing up.
　　The most famous carnival in Europe was in Venice. At the beginning,it lasted for just one day. People ate, drank, and wore masks. As time passed,however, the carnival period was extended, so that it began just afterChristmas. For weeks on end people walked round the streets wearing masks,doing what they wanted without being recognised. Ordinary people could pretendto be rich and important, while famous people could have romantic adventures insecret. Many crimes went unpunished.
　　The government realised that wearing masks had become a problem.Their use was limited by laws, the first of which dates back to the fourteenthcentury. Men were not allowed to wear masks at night; and they were not allowedto dress up as women. In later times more laws were passed. People who woremasks could not carry firearms; and no one could enter a church wearing a mask.If they broke the laws, they were put into prison for up to two years. Finally,when Venice became part of the Austrian empire, at the end of the eighteenthcentury, masks were banned completely, and carnival became just a memory.
　　But in the late 1970s the tradition was revived by students. Theybegan making masks and organising parties, and threw bits of brightly colouredpaper (called coriandoli) at tourists. The town council realised that carnivalwas good for business, and the festival was developed for tourists.
　　Today, carnival in Venice is celebrated for five days in February.People arrive from all over Europe to enjoy the fun. Hotels are fully bookedand the narrow streets are crowded with wonderful costumes. German, French andEnglish seem to be the main languages. But the spirit of Venice carnival is notquite the same as the great American carnivals. If the key to Rio is music andmovement, then in Venice it is the mystery of the mask. As you wander throughthe streets, you see thousands of masks — elegant or frightening, sad or amusing, traditional or modern-- butyou have no idea what the faces behind them look like. Nobody takes them off.If the masks come off, the magic is lost.
　　面具的魔力
　　想到狂欢节，你就会想到人群、各色各样的服装和热闹非凡的场面。在不同的国家会有所不同，但人们的兴奋程度在各地都是相同的。
　　狂欢节这个词是由两个拉丁词演变而来的，意思是 ＂ 禁肉食 ＂ 。欧洲是狂欢节的起源地，在那里，狂欢节过后会有 40 天不食肉的日子。这期间，人们准备迎接基督教的节日复活节。他们把狂欢节作为冬天结束前最后一次玩乐的机会，尽情地吃、喝、乔装打扮一番。
　　欧洲最著名的狂欢节是在威尼斯。最初，节日持续一天。人们吃啊，喝啊，并戴上面具。渐渐地，庆祝狂欢节的时间长了，圣诞节一过狂欢节就开始。接连几个星期，人们戴着面具走街串巷，为所欲为而不会被认出来。普通人可以装成阔佬和要人，而名人也可以偷偷地体验浪漫奇遇。很多罪行都逃脱了惩处。
　　政府意识到戴面具成了一个社会问题。于是制定了限用面具的法律条文，这最早可以追溯到 14 世纪。男子不准在夜间戴面具，并且不能假扮女性。之后，更多法律条文出台 （被通过） 。戴面具者不得携带火器，不得进入教堂。违反面具法者将被判入狱，刑期可长达两年。最后，在 18 世纪末，当威尼斯成为奥地利帝国的一部分时，面具被完全禁止了，狂欢节成为记忆。
　　但在 20 世纪 70 年代后期，狂欢节这个传统又被学生们恢复了。他们开始制造面具，并组织聚会。他们向游人扔许多小块的彩色纸片。市镇议会觉得狂欢节创造了一定的商机，因此，狂欢节得以发展，以吸引更多的游客。
　　如今，威尼斯狂欢节的庆祝活动在二月进行，历时五天。来自欧洲各国的人们在此尽情娱乐。
　　旅店一订而空，狭窄的街道挤满了身着各种华美服饰的人们。德语、法语和英语似乎成了主要语言。但威尼斯狂欢节的本质与美洲狂欢节有所不同。在里约热内卢，狂欢节主要是音乐和游行了。而在威尼斯，则是神秘的面具。走在街上，你能看到成千上万的面具，高雅的、可怕的、忧伤的、有趣的、传统的、时尚的，但你并不知道面具后面的是哪张面孔。没人把面具摘下。如果面具摘掉了，其魔力也就消失了。