捷克的復活節傳統

因著迷於Lupus影片，而愛屋及烏的(?)對捷克這個國家充滿興趣，透過幾個關於Lupus的報導翻譯，一點一點的挖掘出捷克的打屁股歷史。

今天要介紹的是，捷克的復活節傳統！

復活節是基督教信仰中的大節日，在每年春分月圓之後第一個星期日，紀念耶穌基督被釘死在十字架之後第三天復活的日子。復活節有很多民間風俗，我們比較熟悉第一時間會聯想到的就是復活節兔和復活節彩蛋。不過，在捷克，有一個非常獨特的慶祝復活節方式。


我們來看看這篇報導：
April 12, 2009 Czech Easter: we spank women because we love them. No violence involved.

Czechs and Slovaks have a very unique way to celebrate Easter. One one hand, women decorate eggs, just like women of many other nations (the Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Romania). But we also, well, beat up women…
捷克和斯洛伐克有一個非常獨特的慶祝復活節方式，一方面許多其他國家一樣，女性會準備彩蛋（像是烏克蘭，匈牙利，克羅地亞，斯洛伐克，波蘭，白俄羅斯，塞爾維亞，馬其頓，斯洛文尼亞，立陶宛和羅馬尼亞...等）；另一方面，我們鞭打女性。

Let’s explain…
讓我來解釋一下...

It is a tradition in the former Czechoslovakia that women are spanked (or whipped) on Easter Monday. Men go door to door visiting their relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbors etc. They carry special hand-made whips that are made out of several (4-10) willow rods with ribbons on the end that touches the woman’s butt when she is spanked. Some really elaborate whips can be up to two meters long, they are used especially in villages where boys wear traditional national costumes.
這是從前捷克斯洛伐克一直保留下來的傳統，在復活節的星期一女性要被打屁股，男人要帶著特殊手工製作的鞭子，挨家挨戶訪問他們的親戚、朋友、同事、鄰居等，去打女性的屁股。鞭子是使用柳樹枝做成(約4-10隻)，末端會用彩色絲帶綁起來，打屁股的時候要讓絲帶接觸到屁股，有一些特別精心編織的鞭子可達2米長，特別是在鄉村裡，男性還會穿上傳統民族服裝。

The spanking is rather “symbolical”. It means it is not violent and it should not hurt. However, some men use rods that do hurt a bit. The symbolism of the spanking is to show that the men care about the woman who is being spanked. In return, the woman should give eggs to the men. Alternatively, chocolate rabbits and eggs are given (especially to young boys who would not appreciate a large number of hard boiled eggs), and adult men are often given a shot of alcohol beveage, especially home-made slivovitz (plum brandy).
在復活節打屁股比較像是一種「象徵性的儀式」，它不是暴力也不會造成傷害。然而有些男人會故意用棍子製造一點疼痛。打屁股的象徵意義是要表達男人對女人的關心，女人挨完打會回送彩蛋給男人作為回報。現在也會用巧克力兔子取代，特別是年輕的男孩可能並不期待大量的白煮蛋，而若是成年男子，可能會用一小杯烈酒回禮，特別會拿出家裡私釀slivovitz（李子白蘭地）。

Probably the only awkward element of this tradition is that the men shall recite a special Easter saying which “explains why they came and what they want the woman to do”. Adult men usually avoid it and they just yell like animals, while young boys who are taught to “recite slash sing” it still do it, especially when spanking aunts and grandmothers. Loosely translated, one of the sayings means “give me a colored egg, or at least an ordinary white egg, your chicken will lay some more” blah blah blah.
多半讓男人有些彆扭的地方是，依據傳統，男性在執行打屁股的時候要說一些復活節的名言(類似吉祥話的感覺)，大意是表達他們為什麼要來，要對女人做什麼。成年男人通常會忽略這部份，他們僅僅像是個動物一樣叫幾聲，而小男孩會被教導背誦，像類似民謠般唸唱出來，特別是要打家裡長輩姑姑或奶奶的時候。民謠內容大意是「給我彩蛋，不給彩蛋給白雞蛋和妳的母雞...」

今年的復活節很湊熱鬧的擠在4月4號，復活節的星期一是4月5號。同好們，掃墓完，考慮計畫一下體驗看看捷克的復活節慶祝方式呀！ＸＤＤＤ

延伸閱讀
◎ Veselé Velikonoce 復活節快樂 Mar 30 Mon 2009
◎ 筆話我的布拉格生活 - 復活節預告─捷克有趣習俗 April 10, 2006