By+Ryn+Gargulinski

Flinging raw rice and breaking a glass underfoot may seem like strange ways to celebrate a marriage， at least if you're not used to American customs. Bizarre as some U.S. wedding traditions may be， they certainly cannot take the （wedding） cake1） for overall wedding weirdness. Those honors go to these five strange wedding traditions from around the globe.

拋灑生大米，用腳踩碎一個(gè)玻璃杯，這些慶祝婚禮的方式看起來可能有點(diǎn)奇怪，至少對(duì)尚不習(xí)慣美國婚俗的人是這樣。盡管有些美國婚俗可能令人匪夷所思，但是在所有的奇怪婚俗中，它們也肯定不能拔得頭籌。這些榮譽(yù)應(yīng)該屬于下面的全球五大奇怪婚俗。

Blackening of the Bride and Groom， Scottish

Tar and feathers2）， anyone？ For Scotland's tradition of blackening of the bride， which has expanded to now include the groom， absolutely anything goes. This includes tar， feathers， pillow stuffing， molasses3）， dirt， rotting food， sour milk， flour， sushi—you name it and you got it； you can certainly pile it on. The blackening takes place prior to the wedding， which at least spares the tux4） and wedding dress， but any time or location is fair game. Once blackened， the lucky newlywed-to-be is paraded through the streets or tied to a tree as said "friends" announce the wedding. Blackening supposedly prepares the person for any humiliation that life has yet to bring， as nothing could be as humiliating as being blackened.

Breaking Dishes， German

Hurling5） plates is typically something you do after you've been married a few years， unless you're from Germany. The wonderful tradition of breaking dishes actually takes place prior to the wedding at the rehearsal dinner. Tradition says the more dishes you break， the more good luck the new bride will receive. After this part， the bride and groom join forces to sweep up the mess， a gesture that ensures nothing will ever get broken in their home again ... unless the groom is one to tinker6） with electronics.

Keep Your Feet on the Floor， Irish

Irish legend has it that the bride must keep her feet on the floor while she's dancing with the groom to ensure little fairies charmed by her beauty won't kidnap her. The quick and clever fairies are always eager to get their hands on beautiful things， and legend says the bride has long been a prime target. Irish legends throughout the ages abound with tales of fairies stealing brides， although it's not clear where the brides end up and if the destination is better than where she planned to spend her honeymoon.

Passing a Rolling Pin， Polish

How many Polish people does it take to pass a rolling pin？ It depends on how many people are at the Polish wedding！ The tradition is pretty much what it sounds like， as people stand in a circle and pass a rolling pin from one person to the next， but there's a rule—no hands are allowed， and each person must grab and then pass the pin along using only their legs. While it is not immediately evident what the tradition means or why people do it， it is evident it would be great video to capture and retain for future generations to enjoy.endprint

No Bathroom Breaks for Three Days， Tidong Tribe， Northern Borneo

Can your bladder7） really explode？ Folks who follow a strange marriage tradition in Northern Borneo put this question to the test. Newlyweds in the Tidong tribe must stay in their home for three days—without a single bathroom break. That means no No. 1， no No. 2. The background of this tradition is extremely hazy ... as is the feeling people probably get after not relieving themselves for half a week.

蘇格蘭：新人雙雙被涂黑

渾身涂滿柏油再粘上羽毛，誰愿意接受這樣的懲罰呢？對(duì)蘇格蘭的婚俗——涂黑新娘，并且如今已經(jīng)發(fā)展到連新郎都一塊兒涂黑——來說，絕對(duì)是任何東西都能用。用在新人身上的東西包括柏油、羽毛、枕頭填充物、糖漿、泥土、腐爛的食物、酸腐的牛奶、面粉、壽司——反正只要你能想到的、能找到的東西都可以往新人身上堆。涂黑活動(dòng)在婚禮之前進(jìn)行，這樣至少不會(huì)弄壞新郎的禮服和新娘的婚紗，但是時(shí)間和地點(diǎn)就無所謂了。幸運(yùn)的新婚夫婦一被涂黑，就要被人擁著沿街游行或者被綁到樹上，所謂的“朋友們”則在此時(shí)宣布婚禮開始。涂黑活動(dòng)可能是為了讓新人為未來生活中可能遭受到的任何恥辱做好準(zhǔn)備，因?yàn)闆]有什么能像被人涂黑一樣讓人感到丟臉了。

德國：大家一起摔盤子

摔盤子通常是你結(jié)婚幾年之后才會(huì)做的事，除非你是德國人。摔盤子這個(gè)令人驚嘆的傳統(tǒng)實(shí)際上發(fā)生在婚禮之前的彩排晚宴上。按照這一傳統(tǒng)，你摔碎的盤子越多，新娘就會(huì)得到越多的好運(yùn)。摔完盤子后，新娘和新郎會(huì)一起把碎片清掃干凈，以此來保證以后他們家里什么東西都不會(huì)再摔壞……除非新郎是個(gè)愛擺弄電子產(chǎn)品的人。

愛爾蘭：新娘跳舞腳不能離地

愛爾蘭有這樣一個(gè)傳說，新娘在和新郎跳舞的時(shí)候腳不能離地，以此來確保她不會(huì)被那些迷戀其美麗的小精靈們綁架。動(dòng)作敏捷、頭腦聰明的精靈們總是渴望得到美麗的東西，傳說新娘子是他們長久以來的一個(gè)主要目標(biāo)。愛爾蘭流傳已久的古老傳說中充斥著精靈們偷新娘的故事，不過傳說中并沒說新娘最終被偷到哪里，也沒說新娘去的地方是否比她本來計(jì)劃度蜜月的地方要好。

波蘭：大家一起傳搟面杖

波蘭人傳遞一個(gè)搟面杖需要多少人呢？這取決于這個(gè)波蘭婚禮有多少人參加。這一傳統(tǒng)完全名副其實(shí)，就是人們站成一個(gè)圓圈，把一個(gè)搟面杖從一個(gè)人傳給下一個(gè)人，但是有一條規(guī)則——不可以用手傳，每個(gè)人只能用雙腿接過搟面杖，然后順次傳遞下去。盡管并不清楚這一傳統(tǒng)的意義何在，或者人們?yōu)槭裁匆@么做，但顯而易見，這將是一個(gè)值得拍下來并留給后代欣賞的精彩影像。

北婆羅洲蒂棟部落：新人三天不得上廁所

膀胱真會(huì)爆炸嗎？遵從一種奇怪婚俗的北婆羅洲居民要對(duì)這個(gè)問題進(jìn)行驗(yàn)證。蒂棟部落的新婚夫婦必須在家里待上三天，一次廁所都不能去。這意味著大小便都是不允許的。這一傳統(tǒng)的背景極其模糊不清，就如同人們半個(gè)星期沒小便可能會(huì)感覺到的那樣。

1. take the cake： <口>得頭獎(jiǎng)；獲勝

2. tar and feathers： 把（人）渾身涂滿柏油再粘上羽毛的（一種懲罰）

3. molasses [m??l?s?z] n. <美>糖蜜

4. tux [t?ks] n. （男子的）無尾禮服

5. hurl [h??l] vt. 猛投，用力擲

6. tinker [?t??k?（r）] vi. 很不熟練地修補(bǔ)

7. bladder [?bl?d?（r）] n.【解】膀胱

譯 / 靜水流深endprint