常春藤生活英語：The Happy Honeymoon 蜜月的由來

Surprisingly, the honeymoon has been around a lot longer than the ceremony of marriage. In some ancient societies, if a man wanted a woman to be his only love, he would secretly take her from her family's house. The couple would then hide until the family of the woman ceased searching for her. Usually, this took about a month, or one moon cycle. This is where the "moon" part of honeymoon comes from.

The "honey" part refers to mead, a drink that the couple would have while they were hiding. This water and honey mixture was left out in the sun for some time and had a wine-like taste. It was said that if the couple drank mead every day, they were guaranteed to have plenty of children.

In modern times, the honeymoon is right after a wedding. Its purpose is to let a couple spend time alone and relax after the chaotic process of getting married. These vacations usually involve romantic beaches or remote islands. Honeymoons are no longer about hiding out from families. Instead, a wonderful honeymoon is one of the best wedding gifts a family can give a newly married couple.

出乎意料的是，蜜月存在的歷史竟比婚禮還要久。在某些古代社會中，假如一名男子想要一位女子成為他的唯一摯愛，他會偷偷把她從家中帶走。這對小兩口會躲起來，直到女子家人停止找她為止。通常這會花上一個月的時間，或是稱為一個月亮周期。這就是Honeymoon中moon的由來。

Honey指的是蜂蜜酒，也就是小兩口躲起來時會喝的飲料。這種水加蜂蜜的飲品會放在陽光下一段時間，嘗起來帶有酒味。據說小兩口如果每天喝蜂蜜酒，就保證會生很多小孩。

時到現今，蜜月就緊接在婚禮之后。其目的是為了讓夫妻有時間單獨相處，并且在忙亂的結婚過程后好好放松一下。這些假期通常與浪漫的海灘或遙遠的島嶼有關。蜜月不再需要躲避家人。一趟美妙的蜜月反倒是家人能送給新人最好的結婚禮物之一。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.surprisingly　adv. 出人意料地

Surprisingly, Dad came home early tonight.

爸爸今晚出乎意料的很早就回家。

2. ancient　a. 古老的;古代的

Ancient people used rocks to make tools.

古代人用石頭做成工具。

3. cease　vt. 停止，結束

When will the two countries cease fire?

這兩個國家何時會休兵?

4. guarantee　vt. 保證

I guarantee that you will like this magazine.

我包準你會喜歡這本雜志。

5. remote　a. 遙遠的

My grandmother lives in a remote town.

我外婆住在一個遙遠的城鎮(zhèn)里。

Phrases for Learning

plenty of...　　許多……

I have plenty of time to chat this afternoon.

我今天下午有很多時間可以聊天。

參考字詞

1. honeymoon　n. 蜜月

2. cycle　n. 周期;循環(huán)

3. mead　n. 蜂蜜酒

4. mixture　n. 混合液，混合料

5. chaotic　a. 混亂的

Enjoy Box

熱門蜜月地點

蜜月旅行對您之后的婚姻生活絕對可以加分，在籌辦完繁復的婚禮過后，跟心愛的另一半到處走走看看、放松心情，是一種絕佳的享受。否則等到夫妻倆開始面臨經濟壓力，再加上日后有了孩子，兩個人真的鮮少有機會可以放長假。

根據一項網絡最新的調查，最適合蜜月的前八大地點排名如下：法國蔚藍海岸、意大利威尼斯、夏威夷、日本北海道、紐西蘭皇后鎮(zhèn)、澳洲黃金海岸、希臘、峇里島。許多夫妻選擇到海島度假，是為了享受慵懶的步調及浪漫的氣氛。

擁有多個離島的夏威夷的確是個不錯的選擇，新婚夫妻只須短短的航程就可體驗不同的島嶼風情。此外，也有很多人選擇到全日本名湯最多的溫泉鄉(xiāng)北海道度蜜月，您可以浸身山巒、河川、和湖泊等自然景觀中享受泡湯之樂。無論您選擇的是哪一個地點，蜜月旅行還要視個人假期長短及預算多寡來規(guī)劃，如此才能讓自己跟另一半有個難忘的回憶。