November 5 · 11月5日
Bonfire Night: the only UK festival that celebrates a failed act of terrorism
篝火之夜：英国唯一一个庆祝“恐怖袭击失败”的节日
Guy Fawkes, 36 barrels of gunpowder, and 400 years of burning him in effigy for it.
盖伊·福克斯、36桶火药，以及四百年来焚烧他模型的传统。
On November 5th, 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the House of Lords, part of a plot by a group of Catholic conspirators to assassinate King James I during the state opening of Parliament. The plot failed, Fawkes was executed, and Londoners lit celebratory bonfires that same night — a tradition that never stopped.
1605年11月5日，盖伊·福克斯被发现正在上议院地下室看守着36桶火药——这是一群天主教密谋者策划的阴谋的一部分，企图在国会开幕大典时刺杀国王詹姆士一世。阴谋败露，福克斯被处死，当晚伦敦市民便点燃篝火以示庆祝——这一传统从此延续至今。
Four centuries later it's still marked with bonfires, fireworks, and the burning of Guy Fawkes effigies (traditionally made by children as 'penny for the guy'), alongside the older nursery rhyme 'Remember, remember, the fifth of November.' In a quirky nod to the original plot, the cellars of Parliament are still ceremonially searched by the Yeomen of the Guard before every State Opening — a ritual now purely symbolic, but never skipped.
四百年后，人们依然以篝火、烟花，以及焚烧盖伊·福克斯模型（传统上由孩子们制作，并沿街讨要“给盖伊的一便士”）来纪念这一天，还伴随着那句更古老的童谣——“记住，记住，十一月五日”。作为对这场未遂阴谋的一种别致致敬，如今议会大厦的地下室在每次国会开幕前，仍会由御林军仪式性地搜查一遍——纯属象征性的仪式，却从未被省略过。
Seen from the other side · 换个角度看
The fire-and-noise-to-banish-a-threat logic isn't unique to Britain. Chinese New Year's firecrackers trace to the legend of the Nian, a monster driven off by loud bangs and the colour red — different threat, same instinct that noise and flame can drive out danger.
用火焰与响声驱逐威胁的逻辑，并非英国独有。中国春节燃放鞭炮的习俗，同样源自“年兽”的传说——用巨响和红色将其吓退。虽然要驱逐的对象不同，但“声响与火光能驱散危险”的本能却是相通的。