Salvatore D’Onofrio
萨尔瓦多•德奥诺夫里奥

In the belief systems of all the world’s peoples, as time completes its annual cycle, there is a great risk that humankind will perish. They believe that performing rituals will allow them to go beyond this cycle. The New Year festivals, often celebrated to usher in spring, herald the rebirth of nature.
在全世界所有民族的信仰体系中，人们普遍认为当一年结束之时，人类将面临灭亡的重大风险。他们相信举行一些仪式能使他们顺利度过这个周期。庆祝新年的节日通常是为了迎接春天的到来，它们预示着大自然的重生。

Nowruz, which literally means “new day”, is one of these. Its origins, which date back at least two thousand years, are unclear, but the tradition is alive and well and celebrated in all the countries that were once part of the Persian Empire.
诺鲁孜节（字面意思是“新的一天”）就是这样一个节日。它的起源不详（至少可以追溯到两千年前），但这一传统被完好地保留至今，曾经属于波斯帝国的所有国家都会庆祝这个节日。

In Iran, the centre of ancient Persia, preparations begin two or three weeks before Nowruz. Women begin to“shake” their houses – performing a massive spring cleaning. On the Tuesday before the festival, the men organize games which involve jumping over fires. Meanwhile, children put on masks and go from house to house in small groups, knocking on doors, hoping to receive cakes or coins. This tradition is reminiscent of Halloween, a holiday now associated with All Saints’ Day in the English-speaking and Celtic worlds; and Koliada, a Slavic winter solstice festival, which has, over the years, become part of Christmas celebrations.
在古波斯的中心——伊朗，人们在诺鲁孜节之前的两三个星期就开始作准备。妇女开始“震动”房屋——进行春季大扫除。诺鲁孜节之前的那个星期二，男人们会组织游戏，其中包括“跳火堆”。与此同时，孩子们会戴上面具，三五成群，挨家挨户敲门，讨要蛋糕或硬币。这项传统会让人想起万圣节前夜（如今它对英语国家和凯尔特人庆祝的万圣节来说已是一大惯例），还会让人想起科利亚达节（斯拉夫人庆祝冬至的节日，历经多年已成为圣诞节庆祝活动的一部分）。

Going back to Iran: when the day of the vernal equinox dawns, the beginning of the festivities is announced by the sounds of the drum of Haji Firouz, a kind of king’s jester with a blackened face. Every home – including Iranian households in the diaspora – sets up a table with haft sin, or seven items, all beginning with the letter ‘s’ (sin). They are the sabzeh (sprouts of wheat, oats, lentils and other seeds), sir (garlic), sib (apple), summak (sumac), senjed (the jujube fruit), serkeh (vinegar) and samanu (a wheat pudding made by slow-cooking ground wheat sprouts).
再回到伊朗：春分日破晓之时，哈吉•菲鲁兹（把脸涂黑的宫廷小丑）的鼓声会宣告节日的到来。每家每户，包括散居在外的伊朗家庭都会摆一张桌子，上面置有七种物品（haft sin），每种都以字母“s”（sin）开头。这七种物品是sabzeh（小麦苗、燕麦苗、扁豆苗和其他种子）、sir（大蒜）、sib（苹果）、summak（漆果）、senjed（青枣）、serkeh（醋）和samanu（文火慢煮小麦芽粉制成的一种小麦布丁）。

Sometimes a mirror (aine), cakes or coins are added. The Koran may also be placed on the table (having replaced the Avesta, the sacred book of the Zoroastrians), and even some poetry. For example, The Divan of Hafez, by the Persian mystic poet famous for memorizing the Koran, is often used for divination.
人们有时还会摆上一面镜子（aine）、蛋糕或硬币。此外也可以在桌上摆放《古兰经》（代替琐罗亚斯德教圣书《阿维斯塔》）和诗歌集，比如《哈菲兹诗颂集》（作者是以背诵《古兰经》而闻名的波斯神秘主义诗人）就经常用于神圣活动。

The family meal includes fish and rice, but the centrepiece of the table is always the sabzeh. The seeds have been sown by women, on plates inside the house at the beginning of the festivities, and constantly watered so the young green shoots are ready on Nowruz.
在这一天，一家人吃的是鱼和米饭，但餐桌中央始终摆放着种子（sabzeh）。妇女在节日准备伊始就将这些种子放入盘子摆在家中，并一直浇水，如此一来，在诺鲁孜节当天，种子便已长出嫩绿的青苗。

Why these shoots?
为何是青苗？

The origins of the sprout ritual are difficult to determine. The oldest references go back to the Germinating Beds of Osiris of Ptolemaic Egypt – a tradition in which soil was moulded into the shape of figurines, representing the god of the dead and resurrection to eternal life. The pottery bricks, made of earth kneaded with water and barley grains, were placed in tombs in a reclining position.
青苗习俗的起源很难确定。最早提到这种习俗的是埃及托勒密王朝奥里西斯的发芽床——一种将土塑成人形雕像（象征着冥神和复活以至永生）并将其平放于陵墓中的传统。由用水和大麦粒揉捏而成的土制作的陶砖也被平放于陵墓中。

In Ancient Greece, in the fifth century B.C., seeds of spices, corn and grains were planted in terracotta or basketwork containers. Called Gardens of Adonis, they were germinated to honour the mortal lover of the goddess of love, Aphrodite during the festival of Adonis, held in mid- July every year.
在公元前五世纪的古希腊，人们将香料、玉米和谷物的种子放在陶瓦罐或枝条编织的容器中。它们被称为“阿多尼斯花园”，在沐浴了夏季炽热的阳光后长出青苗。每年七月中旬的阿多尼斯节期间，人们就以这种方式纪念爱神阿弗洛狄忒的凡间情人。

In contrast, there is no mention of ritual sprouts in the Avesta, or in Persian writings on Nowruz. Nor are sprouts a part of the rituals observed by the Parsis, the followers of the Zoroastrian religion who fled from Persia in successive waves to India between the seventh and tenth centuries, following the Arab conquests of their country.
相比之下，《阿维斯塔》或者波斯有关诺鲁孜节的文献都没有提及青苗习俗。信奉波斯琐罗亚斯德教的帕西人也不举行青苗仪式。七世纪至十世纪，在阿拉伯人征服了他们的国家之后，帕西人陆续逃亡到印度。

Yet the custom of sprouted seeds endures, as the centrepiece of the haft sin table, around which some 300 million people across the world gather each spring to celebrate Nowruz.
不过，让种子发芽这一习俗延续至今，成为了“七鲜桌”上的重头戏，每年春季全世界约有三亿人都会围着“七鲜桌”庆祝诺鲁孜节。

The sprouts tradition might have spread from South India, where they are still used in ceremonies. According to the French ethnologist Louis Dumont, women belonging to the Piramalai Kallar community in Tamil Nadu, who want to fulfil their vows, balance pots on their heads – filled with various items, including sprouts obtained by “germinating seven or nine seeds in a container in the dark for a week.”
青苗传统可能已经传播到印度南部地区，那里的人们在仪式上仍会使用发芽的种子。法国种族学家路易斯•杜蒙提到，在泰米尔纳德邦帕拉玛莱卡拉尔族群中，想要履行誓言的妇女会头顶一个罐子——里面装有多个物件，包括“在容器中放七粒或九粒种子并置于黑暗处一周后萌生出的”青苗。

In the Judeo-Christian tradition
犹太教和基督教传统

In Europe too, the new shoots are central to various festivals. In Provence, France, on 4 December, Saint Barbara’s Day, it is the custom to germinate wheat grains from the previous harvest in three cups and to place them on the table of the “grand supper” on the twenty-fourth. They are then placed in the crib of the Nativity scene. The same tradition exists in Lebanon among the Maronite Christians of Arab ethnicity, and in Sicily, Italy, among the inhabitants of Castelbuono in Palermo.
在欧洲，青苗同样是多个节日的重中之重。在法国的普罗旺斯，12月4日圣芭芭拉节的一个习俗便是盛三杯之前收获的小麦粒让其发芽，并在12月24日将它们摆放在“盛大晚宴”的餐桌上。之后人们会将它们放在耶稣诞生场景的模型中。黎巴嫩阿拉伯民族的马龙派基督徒及意大利西西里巴勒莫的卡斯泰尔博诺居民也有这种传统。

On 19 March, Sicilians also decorate Saint Joseph’s Table with shoots, along with up to 101 delicacies. This is to celebrate both the virtues of poverty, represented by the saint, and those of wealth, represented by the wheat – in particular by the bread, baked for the occasion using elaborate recipes.
3月19日，西西里人还会用青苗及101道佳肴装饰“圣约瑟夫的桌子”。这是为了歌颂圣人所代表的贫穷的美德，以及小麦（特别是为了庆祝这次活动，参照复杂配方烘焙而成的面包）所代表的财富的美德。

In southern Italy, on the Holy Thursday before Easter, shoots are placed on the altar in the oratory where, according to Catholic liturgy, the Eucharist is kept. Meanwhile, the Jewish community in Rome maintains a ritual custom of shoots that dates back to the Middle Ages, during the festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
在意大利南部，复活节前的耶稣升天节上，青苗会被摆放在礼拜堂的圣坛上，根据天主教的礼拜仪式，那里是举行圣餐仪式的地方。另外，在哈桑纳节和犹太人赎罪日期间，罗马的犹太人社区保留了可追溯到中世纪的青苗习俗仪式。

Our European tour ends on 21 June, the summer solstice, in the small town of Bari Sardo in Sardinia, Italy. Here we can witness a procession of women carrying nenniri, or shoots, on their heads in containers – topped by an impressive cane structure, decorated with delicately- shaped breads and seasonal fruit. The women walk through the streets to the sea, into which they throw their nenniri.
我们的欧洲之行于6月21日夏至日结束，旅行的终点是意大利撒丁区巴里萨尔多的一个小镇。在这里，我们亲眼看到一排妇女头顶着装有青苗的容器，容器顶部有一个精美的藤条器具，上面摆放了造型精致的面包和应季水果。这些妇女穿过街道走向大海，把青苗扔进了海里。

The thirteenth day
第十三日

In South India, too, the Kallar women form a procession, carrying shoots on their heads. They end their ceremonial journey by dancing around the shoots before flinging them into the water.
在印度南部，卡拉尔妇女头顶着青苗排成一排。她们先是围着青苗跳舞，然后再将它们扔进水中，结束这一仪式。

In Ancient Greece, the Gardens of Adonis were also consigned to the water, in fountains or the sea, after being carried over roof terraces – just as Mazdaean Iranians still do today in Yazd, and elsewhere in Iran.
在古埃及，“阿多尼斯花园”的最终归宿也是水，在被搬离屋顶平台后，它们会被扔进喷泉或海中，亚兹德和伊朗其他一些地方信奉拜火教的伊朗人如今依然这样做。

In Iran, on the thirteenth day after Nowruz, everyone spends the day outdoors – eating, playing, singing and performing the final ritual: throwing the shoots into running water. But not before the girls have braided a few strands of the shoots, making a wish to find a husband in the coming year.
在伊朗，诺鲁孜节后的第13日，每个人都会在户外待上一整天——聚餐、嬉戏、唱歌和举行最后的仪式：将青苗扔进流动的水中。不过在此之前，女孩们会将几缕青苗打成绳结，祈求明年找到一位如意郎君。

Nowruz is one of those celebrations that bring together societies that are distant from each other, both in space and time – the periodic return of vegetation is seen as a symbol of a new beginning of life. But while their germination symbolizes a renewal, the seeds also carry within them, all the troubles of the year that is ending. This ambivalent nature of the shoots makes it necessary to get rid of them, letting the waters carry our ills far away from us.
诺鲁孜节是把空间和时间上相距甚远的各个群体聚集到一起的节日之一——植物的周期性复苏被视为重生的象征。不过，尽管种子的萌芽象征着新生，但它们自身也带着即将结束的这一年中的所有烦恼。所以我们必须甩掉这些烦恼，让流水带走我们的晦气，越远越好。

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Nawrouz、Novruz、Nowrouz、Nauryz、Nooruz、Nowruz、Navruz、Nevruz！（诺鲁孜节）在阿富汗、阿塞拜疆、印度、伊朗、伊拉克、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、巴基斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、土耳其、土库曼斯坦和乌兹别克斯
坦某些地区，人们共同庆祝这个古老的新年和春节节日。用于指代这个节日的单词只有一个，但它的写法之多样令人惊叹。2009年，该节日被列入联合国教科文组织《人类非物质文化遗产代表名录》。自2010年以来，每年的3月21日，人们都会庆祝国际诺鲁孜节。

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Italian anthropologist Salvatore D’Onofrio is a professor at the University of Palermo and a member of the Laboratory of Social Anthropology at the Collège de France, where he coordinates the Cahiers d’anthropologie sociale collection and is part of the “New Year Archives in Paris” working group. He is the author of Le matin des dieux. Du Norouz persan aux Pâques chrétiennes (The Morning of the Gods. From Persian Nowruz to Christian Easter, 2018).