Why doWe Eat Cakeon Our Birthdays? 为什么要在生日那天吃蛋糕

涂淑梅

我们是不是习惯了在生日当天点蜡烛吃蛋糕？这个风俗是怎么来的呢？

The birthday tradition dates back to the ancient Egyptians， who believed that when "pharaohs were crowned， they became gods. So their coronation day was their “birth" day. It was the Ancient Greeks who adopted this tradition and added cake.

Why cake？

Well， the Greeks needed something to offer up to Artemis， goddess of the moon， as 2）tribute on their birthdays.

The Greeks set to baking moon-shaped cakes and decorating them with lit candles so they shone like the moon. That was one bright idea！

The first actual birthday cake was for children's birthdays in Germany in the Middle Ages. This was called Kinderfest.

Each year， the children would receive a cake and one candle for every year of their life， and one extra to 3）symbolise the upcoming year.

But there weren't any gifts-just good wishes. Birthday cakes haven't always been as delicious as they are now.

Sugar was very expensive and difficult to come by so sweet cakes were only for the very wealthy.

To our relief， the Industrial Revolution brought easily-accessible sugar and other ingredients.

Today， we can bake cakes from scratch or even buy them pre-made. So go ahead， cake your day！

1） pharaoh 【'fearau】n.法老

2） tribute 【'trbju：t】 n.貢品;致敬

3） symbolise 【'simbalalz】 v.象征

词组加油站

date back to

追溯到

coronaion day 加冕日

to our relief让我们感到欣慰的是

生日这一传统可以追溯到古埃及人，他们相信当法老被加冕后，就成了神。所以，他们的加冕日就是他们的“出生”日。用这一传统的是古希腊人，他们还加上了蛋糕。为什么是蛋糕？

嗯，希腊人需要一些东西作为生日贡品来供奉月亮女神阿耳忒弥斯。

因此，希腊人开始烤月亮形状的饼，并点燃蜡烛用于装饰，所以饼像月亮一样闪闪发光。这真是一个好主意！

第一个真正的生日蛋糕出现在中世纪的德国，是给儿童的生日蛋糕，这个蛋糕被称为“Kinderfest”。

每年，孩子们都会收到一个蛋糕和一根蜡烛来庆祝他们生命中走过的每一年。他们还会收到额外的一根蜡烛，象征即将到来的下一年。

但是没有礼物，只有美好祝福。

以前的生日蛋糕并不像现在这样好吃。

糖很贵，很难买到，所以甜甜的蛋糕只有非常富有的人才能吃上令我们欣慰的是，工业革命让我们可以轻易获得糖和其他佐料。

今天，我们可以从头开始烘焙蛋糕，甚至可以购买预先制作好的蛋糕。所以，去吧，好好享受你的生日蛋糕吧！