双语阅读｜为什么我们在圣诞节用冬青树装饰？(2)

在这篇文章中，你将了解冬青生长在哪里，它的用途(除了节日décor)，它是如何得到那些红色浆果的，以及为什么如果你吃了它们会让你的季节最不快乐。您还将了解到这种著名植物的基督教和前基督教的象征意义，以及围绕其存在的传说。
Despite its association with the Christmas season, holly did not get its name from "holy." It is translated in Old English as holegn, with variations in Old Norse as hulfr, German as hulst, French as houx, and Welsh as celyn. The literal translation for all of these terms is "holly," but the origin is probably the Proto-Indo-European (the ancient root language of the Indo-European languages) base, qel, which appropriately means "prickly" or "to prick." Even in ancient times, people took advantage of the sharp ends of holly"s leaves. The Druids hung it on windows and doorways to fend off evil witches and spirits [source: National Trust UK].
尽管冬青与圣诞节有关，但它的名字并不是来自“神圣的”。它在古英语中被翻译为holegn，在古斯堪的纳维亚语中被翻译为hulfr，德语被翻译为hulst，法语被翻译为houx，威尔士语被翻译为celyn。所有这些术语的直译都是“holly”，但其起源可能是原始印欧语系(印欧语系的古老词根语言)的词根qel，它的意思是“刺痛的”或“刺痛的”。甚至在古代，人们就利用冬青叶子锋利的末端。德鲁伊教把它挂在窗户和门口，以抵御邪恶的女巫和幽灵[来源:英国国民信托]。