您現在的位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> Normal Speed News  
       
     





     
    Donkey beauty contest draws Easter crowd
    [ 2009-04-15 11:39 ]

    Download

    The residents of a town on Colombia′s Caribbean coast celebrated Easter again this year the way they often do, by holding a beauty pageant. But this special contest does not crown the prettiest woman or the most handsome man. It awards the best dressed donkey.

    Donkey beauty contest draws Easter crowd

    Peter Vitola has been dressing up donkeys for more than a decade. On Easter Sunday, his donkey Juancho was decked out with what looked like a wooden coffin on his back. On his sides, a smiling grim reaper and 3 plastic jugs that look like bottles of rum. After making drunk man′s faces for the cameras, Vitola explains the message behind his donkey′s costume.

    "Rum is bad for health" he says, "people get drunk and lose control."

    Vitola knows that the jury here is not really judging the donkey′s beauty, what counts is how the costume conveys a sense of sarcasm, its message and its creativity.

    Over 30 donkeys were entered in the contest, hoping to be crowned the king or queen of the festival. They′re dressed as dodgy businessmen and popstars bearing peace banners. There′s even an entry that alludes to the economic crisis, it′s owners hold a placard that says "we′ve been run over by poverty"

    It's all very carnival like. And like many carnivals around the world, the donkey festival has Christian roots.

    Julio Díaz teaches at a local highschool. He's one of the festival's organizers and knows the history of the donkey pagent.

    Diaz says that in the 1920s people began to parade an effigy of Judas around San Antero′s streets. They wanted to punish him for betraying Jesus. So, every Easter Saturday, they took him on a donkey around the town and burned his effigy at night.

    As the years passed many donkeys riders joined in. They began to adorn their animals with makeup, wigs, and talcum powder.

    What began as a somber procession became a lively week-long festival that came to include a baseball tournament, a literary meeting and several street parades.

    Donkey beauty contest draws Easter crowd

    The local bishop wants all of this to be done on a different day. He says festivals like this one are turning Easter into a big party, and driving men away from god.

    But the donkey festival's supporters are not willing to budge. Sitting on his front porch, San Antero Mayor Norbely Martinez spoke about his town′s appreciation for the hard working animal.

    "We are a rural district", he said,"The donkey's a vital part of our economy. Farmers use it to bring their yucca from the fields. There used to be no aqueduct here, so donkeys also fetched our water for us"

    San Antero has some 30,000 people and over 2,500 donkeys that local residents say are being well cared for.

    And it seems most locals are quite happy to honor the donkey. They say it's a biblical animal. A donkey helped Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt, said one bystander. And another donkey carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

    Writer Alberto Salcedo Ramos recently gave some workshops at the Donkey Festival's literary meeting. He's got his own reasons to back the festival.

    "It's a beautiful and loyal animal, that is often mistreated" says Salcedo. "An animal that men have unfairly turned into a symbol of ignorance."

    deck out with: 裝飾

    allude to:to refer casually or indirectly; make an allusion(暗指)

    carnival:any merrymaking, revelry, or festival, as a program of sports or entertainment(狂歡,嘉年華)

    Related stories:

    Obama welcomes children to White House Easter Egg Roll

    奧巴馬主持白宮滾彩蛋活動 慶復活節

    Easter 復活節

    (Source: VOA 英語點津編輯)

     
    英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創作品,除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外,其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883631聯系;凡本網注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯系,如產生任何問題與本網無關;本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請提供版權證明,以便盡快刪除。
    相關文章 Related Story
     
     
     
    本頻道最新推薦
     
    Walking in the US first lady's shoes
    “準確無誤”如何表達
    英國新晉超女蘇珊大媽改頭換面
    豬流感 swine flu
    你有lottery mentality嗎
    翻吧推薦
     
    論壇熱貼
     
    別亂扔垃圾。怎么譯這個亂字呀?
    橘子,橙子用英文怎么區分?
    看Gossip Girl學英語
    端午節怎么翻譯?
    母親,您在天堂還好嗎?

     

    一级中文字幕免费乱码专区| 中文无码人妻有码人妻中文字幕| 中文字幕在线观看有码| 一本无码中文字幕在线观| 亚洲AV无码乱码在线观看| 无码人妻视频一区二区三区| 日韩亚洲欧美中文高清在线 | 日日日日做夜夜夜夜无码| 久久超乳爆乳中文字幕| 精品无码久久久久久国产| 日韩人妻精品无码一区二区三区| 中文字幕国产视频| 色多多国产中文字幕在线| 人妻少妇精品视中文字幕国语 | 亚洲中文字幕无码专区| 国产精品无码AV一区二区三区| 亚洲精品午夜无码专区| 中文字幕日韩精品在线| 日本一区二区三区中文字幕| 乱人伦人妻中文字幕无码| 在线中文字幕播放| 日韩精品无码中文字幕一区二区| 亚洲区日韩区无码区| 日韩久久无码免费毛片软件| 91无码人妻精品一区二区三区L | 无码精品人妻一区二区三区免费| 精品无码日韩一区二区三区不卡| 国产成人亚洲综合无码| 内射人妻少妇无码一本一道 | 无码国产69精品久久久久网站| 最近中文字幕免费大全| 中文字幕亚洲无线码| 中文精品人人永久免费| 自拍中文精品无码| 亚洲VA成无码人在线观看天堂| 性无码免费一区二区三区在线| 性无码一区二区三区在线观看| 国产精品无码av在线播放| 国产亚洲?V无码?V男人的天堂 | 无码人妻久久一区二区三区蜜桃 | 中文字幕精品无码一区二区|