It’s Easter in the UK and the shops are full of Easter eggs, hot-cross buns and Easter bunnies.

　　這是復(fù)活節(jié)的在英國和在商店里有許多復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋，十字面包和復(fù)活節(jié)兔子。

　　Although Easter is widely seen as a Christian festival which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, its origins pre-date Christianity and many of its symbols come from the earliest civilisations.

　　雖然復(fù)活節(jié)是基督教的節(jié)日，慶祝耶穌復(fù)活，它的起源追溯基督教和它的許多符號來自早期文明。

　　Our modern festival’s roots lie in ancient seasonal rituals which marked the transition from the "death" of winter to the new life and rebirth of spring.

　　我們的現(xiàn)代節(jié)日的起源于古代季節(jié)性儀式，標(biāo)志著從“死亡”的冬季的生命和新生的春天。

　　These days we give chocolate eggs as gifts at Easter but eggs have been symbols of fertility for thousands of years.

　　這些天我們在復(fù)活節(jié)巧克力蛋，但雞蛋作為禮物被幾千年生育的象征。

　　The ancient Persians gave each other painted eggs for the festival of Nowrooz, a celebration held at the spring equinox which marked the start of Persian New Year. The tradition continues to this day.

　　古波斯人互贈彩蛋為nowrooz節(jié)日，慶祝春分這標(biāo)志著波斯新年開始舉行。這個傳統(tǒng)一直延續(xù)到了今天。

　　Centuries ago the early Saxon people marked buns with a cross to honour their goddess Eostre, whose name some people believe to be the origin of the word Easter. It is believed that early Christians incorporated such pagan festivals into their religion.

　　世紀(jì)以前，早期的撒克遜人用十字標(biāo)來紀(jì)念他們的女神Eostre包子，誰的名字有些人認(rèn)為這個詞就是復(fù)活節(jié)的起源。據(jù)認(rèn)為，早期的基督徒把這些異教徒的節(jié)日為他們的宗教信仰。

　　Some experts say the Easter bunny was originally a hare as this animal represented fertility and growth in pagan mythology due to its capacity for reproduction. Moreover, in some ancient cultures the hare was also a symbol of the moon, which is significant as the date of Easter changes each year depending on the lunar cycle.

　　一些專家說，復(fù)活節(jié)兔子是兔子這種動物代表生育和異教神話由于其容量為生殖生長。此外，在一些古老的文化兔子也是一個月亮的符號，這是重要的是復(fù)活節(jié)的日期每年改變?nèi)Q于月球周期。

　　The Easter bunny has become an important symbol of Easter all over the world. But nowadays not everybody treats such symbols with respect.

　　復(fù)活節(jié)兔子成為復(fù)活節(jié)的世界各地的重要標(biāo)志。但是并不是每個人都認(rèn)真對待它們。

　　Pranksters in the Austrian town of Villach have stolen a giant Easter Bunny from the town square. Local police say it should not be too difficult to spot as it is two metres tall and weighs 60kg.

　　在菲拉赫的奧地利小鎮(zhèn)的玩笑從鎮(zhèn)上的廣場上偷了一個巨大的復(fù)活節(jié)兔子。當(dāng)?shù)鼐秸f，這應(yīng)該不會太困難的地方是兩米的身高和體重60kg。