Pancake Day 煎餅節(jié)

華中師范大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院 張紫軒? 編譯

English people are really pancake fans. According to statistics1 from BBC， the online recipe about pancake with sugar and lemon can easily win the highest click-through rates2. They cook it， eat it and even celebrate “Pancake Day” every year. That special event falls on the Tuesday before Lent3， varying from year to year between February 3 and March 9. On that day， its traditional to eat pancakes， toss4 pancakes and take part in pancake races.

This interesting origin of eating pancakes had something to do with the customs of Lent. During that period of 40 days， eggs， sugar and butter were not allowed. So Tuesday， the final day before the beginning of Lent， will be peoples last chance to use up all the foods forbidden by Lent. Smart English people began to make a thin， flat cake by using the above ingredients5 like eggs and butter. And thats what we call “pancake” today， which is different from the salty Chinese one. Its usually sweet with a little fresh lemon juice added over the top.

English people make pancakes to eat， and more interestingly， to exercise their arms and legs. Taking part in an exciting pancake race is a must on that day. The goal of the race is to run to the finishing line first while flipping6 a pancake in a frying pan for a certain number of times. If the runner wants to get the first place， he or she should pay more attention in flipping and catching the pancake rather than running， because the pancake must remain complete when the finishing line is reached.

This game is held all over England， but the most famous race takes place in Olney. In Olney， runners have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron7 and a hat or scarf. Each of them has a frying pan with a hot， cooking pancake. She must toss it three times during the race. The first woman to reach the finishing line is the winner.

Over time， eating pancakes and holding pancake races on “Pancake Day” is now a happy festival when people enjoy fine pancakes and share joyful moments together.

英國(guó)人很愛(ài)吃煎餅。據(jù)英國(guó)廣播公司（BBC）的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，網(wǎng)上關(guān)于加糖和檸檬的煎餅菜譜很輕易就能贏得最高點(diǎn)擊率。他們做煎餅，吃煎餅，甚至每年還會(huì)慶祝“煎餅節(jié)”。“煎餅節(jié)”在大齋節(jié)前的星期二舉行，日期不定，在每年2月3日至3月9日之間。在那天，吃煎餅，翻動(dòng)煎餅和參加煎餅賽跑比賽是傳統(tǒng)節(jié)目。

吃煎餅的有趣起源與大齋節(jié)的習(xí)俗有關(guān)。在大齋節(jié)的40天時(shí)間里，人們不能食用雞蛋、糖和黃油。所以在大齋節(jié)開(kāi)始前的最后一天（周二），人們還有最后一次機(jī)會(huì)用完大齋節(jié)期間禁止的食物。聰明的英國(guó)人開(kāi)始用雞蛋和黃油等原料做扁平的薄餅——這就是我們今天所說(shuō)的“煎餅”。不同于中國(guó)咸味的煎餅，英國(guó)的煎餅通常是甜的，還會(huì)在上面加上少許新鮮檸檬汁。

英國(guó)人做的薄煎餅可以填飽肚子，更有趣的是，也可以鍛煉他們的胳膊和腿。在“煎餅節(jié)”，怎么能不參加煎餅賽跑？比賽中，參賽者需一邊跑向終點(diǎn)一邊在煎鍋里翻一定次數(shù)的煎餅。如果他或她想要獲得第一名，則更應(yīng)該注意翻動(dòng)煎餅且不使煎餅掉下來(lái)，而不僅僅只是奔跑，因?yàn)榧屣灡仨氃诘竭_(dá)終點(diǎn)線時(shí)保持完整。

在英格蘭各地都會(huì)舉行這種比賽，但最著名還是要屬在奧爾尼的賽跑比賽。在奧爾尼，參賽者必須是當(dāng)?shù)氐募彝ブ鲖D，她們必須戴圍裙、帽子或圍巾。她們每個(gè)人都有一個(gè)煎鍋，煎鍋里有一個(gè)熱乎乎的煎餅。她們必須在比賽中把煎餅翻面三次。……