Guy Fawkes Day (November, 5)

IV. Read and translate the text.

"A penny for the Guy! A penny for the Guy!"

The merry shouts of children asking for money echo up and down the streets. And with them they have "the Guy," a straw dummy dressed in old clothes. Many of the children are wearing costumes and masks.

It is November, 5 and people in England are celebrating a holiday called Guy Fawkes Day.

Nearly four hundred years ago, in 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up a government building. He wanted to kill King James I and the king's leaders. Fawkes was one of a group of men who felt that the government was treating Roman Catholics unfairly.

The king and his leaders were to meet on November, 5. So, the group placed barrels of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the building where the king and others were to meet. Guy Fawkes was to light the fuse that would set off the explosion. But the plot was discovered before he had a chance to do this. The king was saved, and Guy Fawkes was hanged.

Ever since, Guy Fawkes Day has been a time for merrymaking. It is a holiday that both children and grown-ups enjoy. The best part comes as darkness falls. Then, straw dummies of Guy Fawkes are tossed onto huge bonfires. Amid cries of glee, firecrackers pop and "the Guy" goes up in a blaze of fire.

***

Bonfire Night is the most important event in Lewes. But it isn't just about the Gunpowder Plot. It also remembers the Martyrs, seventeen Protestants who were burned in Lewes in the middle of the 16th century, during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary. So as you might imagine the people of Lewes take their fifth-of-November celebrations rather more seriously than most other people.

In other British towns and cities the effigies of the Catholic Guy Fawkes are burned at Bonfire Night celebrations. But here in Lewes Guy Fawkes is only one of several victims! Pope Paul V, who became head of the Roman Catholic Church in 1605, is a regular victim too. In addition, the seven bonfire societies in Lewes prepare new effigies of 'Enemies of Bonfire'. Over the years, these have included Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden.

The main event usually starts at about 5.30 pm. The bonfire societies parade through the town dressed in colourful costumes, ranging from Tudor and Victorian dress to Native Americans and Vikings. They drag their effigies which they will later burn on one of five bonfires. Many people carry fire-lit torches. They march to the beat of drums and brass bands. Fireworks explode as they go, filling the air with pink smoke.

To mark the burning of the Martyrs, seventeen burning crosses are carried through the town and a wreath is laid on the War Memorial in the centre of the town.

The event is loud, colourful and impressive. It attracts thousands of people from all over the country... And then it's November, 6 and everyone goes back to their quiet daily lives.

V. Give the English equivalents for these Russian words and word combinations:

несправедливо, раскрывать заговор, бросать, шествовать по городу, жертва, кроме того, одежда эпохи королевы Виктории, коренные американцы, тащить, маршировать.

Дата добавления: 2014-10-15