[00:01.080] |
--- Lesson 96 The dead return |
[00:06.600] |
--- First listen and then answer the question. |
[00:12.600] |
--- What happens to the lanterns at the end of the festival? |
[00:19.280] |
A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan. |
[00:24.680] |
This festival is a cheerful occasion, |
[00:27.760] |
for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. |
[00:35.600] |
As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. |
[00:42.840] |
Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. |
[00:50.160] |
All night long, people dance and sing. |
[00:54.680] |
In the early morning, the food that had been laid out for the dead is thrown into a river or into the sea |
[01:02.680] |
as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it. |
[01:07.840] |
In towns that are near the sea, |
[01:10.640] |
the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before,are placed into the water when the festival is over. |
[01:20.400] |
Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. |
[01:30.040] |
This is a moving spectacle, |
[01:32.360] |
for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more. |
[01:42.560] |
--- end |