涂淑梅

我們是不是習慣了在生日當天點蠟燭吃蛋糕？這個風俗是怎么來的呢？

The birthday tradition dates back to the ancient Egyptians， who believed that when "pharaohs were crowned， they became gods. So their coronation day was their “birth" day. It was the Ancient Greeks who adopted this tradition and added cake.

Why cake？

Well， the Greeks needed something to offer up to Artemis， goddess of the moon， as 2）tribute on their birthdays.

The Greeks set to baking moon-shaped cakes and decorating them with lit candles so they shone like the moon. That was one bright idea！

The first actual birthday cake was for children's birthdays in Germany in the Middle Ages. This was called Kinderfest.

Each year， the children would receive a cake and one candle for every year of their life， and one extra to 3）symbolise the upcoming year.

But there weren't any gifts-just good wishes. Birthday cakes haven't always been as delicious as they are now.

Sugar was very expensive and difficult to come by so sweet cakes were only for the very wealthy.

To our relief， the Industrial Revolution brought easily-accessible sugar and other ingredients.

Today， we can bake cakes from scratch or even buy them pre-made. So go ahead， cake your day！

1） pharaoh 【'fearau】n.法老

2） tribute 【'trbju：t】 n.貢品;致敬

3） symbolise 【'simbalalz】 v.象征

詞組加油站

date back to

追溯到

coronaion day 加冕日

to our relief讓我們感到欣慰的是

生日這一傳統(tǒng)可以追溯到古埃及人，他們相信當法老被加冕后，就成了神。所以，他們的加冕日就是他們的“出生”日。用這一傳統(tǒng)的是古希臘人，他們還加上了蛋糕。為什么是蛋糕？

嗯，希臘人需要一些東西作為生日貢品來供奉月亮女神阿耳忒彌斯。

因此，希臘人開始烤月亮形狀的餅，并點燃蠟燭用于裝飾，所以餅像月亮一樣閃閃發(fā)光。這真是一個好主意！

第一個真正的生日蛋糕出現(xiàn)在中世紀的德國，是給兒童的生日蛋糕，這個蛋糕被稱為“Kinderfest”。

每年，孩子們都會收到一個蛋糕和一根蠟燭來慶祝他們生命中走過的每一年。他們還會收到額外的一根蠟燭，象征即將到來的下一年。

但是沒有禮物，只有美好祝福。

以前的生日蛋糕并不像現(xiàn)在這樣好吃。

糖很貴，很難買到，所以甜甜的蛋糕只有非常富有的人才能吃上令我們欣慰的是，工業(yè)革命讓我們可以輕易獲得糖和其他佐料。

今天，我們可以從頭開始烘焙蛋糕，甚至可以購買預先制作好的蛋糕。所以，去吧，好好享受你的生日蛋糕吧！