Egg fights and staying up all night in church? In Eastern Orthodox countries, Easter isn’t about the Easter bunny. In this interview, Aiya Kuchukova talks with DKU junior Tanya Torchylo about the special charms of Easter as it’s celebrated in Tanya’s hometown in Ukraine.
东正教复活节与传统意义上的西方复活节有什么异同吗？听说在乌克兰，人们不仅会去绿色的教堂敲钟做祷告，还会举行隆重的“鸡蛋大战”！跟随采访者Aiya Kuchukova （孔楚安），让我们和乌克兰学生Tanya Torchylo（谭雅）一起近距离欣赏东正教复活节的魅力。
Part I What is Orthodox Easter?
第一部分 东正教复活节是什么？
Aiya: Would you mind telling me a little bit of background information about Orthodox Easter, what it is about and what do you guys do?
孔楚安（以下简称“孔”）：你介意给我们介绍一下东正教复活节吗，比如它的背景，它是关于什么的，你们又会在这个节日里面做些什么？
Tanya: Well, Ukrainian Easter is different from how Easter is thought of in the West. We celebrate it according to a different, older calendar, therefore, we are lagging behind the rest of the world in a way.
谭雅（以下简称“谭”）：好的。和人们想象中的西方复活节不太一样，乌克兰的复活节是根据不同于现代年历的旧历来庆祝的，所以我们的复活节一般晚于世界其他国家的复活节。
Tanya: I am from a small village with old traditions and so we’re following it very precisely. And it’s very religious. Compared to the West with their chocolate eggs and rabbits, we don’t have any of that.
谭：我来自乌克兰一个有着古老传统的小村庄，在那里，人们一直都很严格地遵循和沿袭着这些传统。这些传统常常带有比较浓厚的宗教色彩。与西方相比，我们的复活节并没有他们复活节中常见的那些巧克力蛋和兔子。
西式复活节 Western Easter https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/17597617
Tanya: Well, Ukrainian Easter is different from how Easter is thought of in the West. We celebrate it according to a different, older calendar, therefore, we are lagging behind the rest of the world in a way.
谭：好的。和人们想象中的西方复活节不太一样，乌克兰的复活节是根据不同于现代年历的旧历来庆祝的，所以我们的复活节一般晚于世界其他国家的复活节。
Tanya: I am from a small village with old traditions and so we’re following it very precisely. And it’s very religious. Compared to the West with their chocolate eggs and rabbits, we don’t have any of that.
谭：我来自乌克兰一个有着古老传统的小村庄，在那里，人们一直都很严格地遵循和沿袭着这些传统。这些传统常常带有比较浓厚的宗教色彩。与西方相比，我们的复活节并没有他们复活节中常见的那些巧克力蛋和兔子。
Part II What do people do during Orthodox Easter?
第二部分 人们都在东正教复活节里做什么？
Aiya: I love it! So you say you’re from a small village where you follow traditions very vigorously. In big cities in Ukraine, where people are perhaps less religious, is Easter different?
孔：哇，爱了爱了。你说你来自一个带有强烈宗教色彩的小村子，所以人们非常严格地遵守着传统。但是在乌克兰那些宗教色彩比较弱的大城市里，复活节有什么不同吗?
Tanya: Yeah yeah, of course. In my village, we also have a tradition on Easter of going to church in the middle of the night. People, older generations especially, go to church in the evening and stay there the whole night, then come back at like 6-7am bringing food they had blessed at the church to eat for breakfast. Then there is a huge parade from the church to the graveyard.
谭：嗯嗯，确实。在我们的村子里，有个复活节的传统，那就是半夜的时候到教堂里去。人们，尤其是老一辈人，晚间早些时候就会去教堂，然后在那儿呆上一整晚。他们会在早上六七点的时候回来，还会从教堂带回一些食物当早餐吃掉。而这些食物正是前一天晚上受过祈福仪式的食物。紧接着，从教堂到墓园的路上会举行盛大的游行。
东正教复活节 Orthodox Easter https://ukrainianpeople.us/ukrainian-easter-traditions/
谭：我和我的父母作为作为年轻一代，大概会在三四点钟的时候起来，再到教堂那边。这样我们就不用一整晚都待在那儿了。但是在大城市里，他们早上八九点才去教堂那边。而且在这些大城市里，人们不把去墓园探望已故亲人当作一件正事。在我们村子里，这真的算得上是非常大的复活节活动了，所以所有村民都会聚集在墓园里。但在城市里他们不会做这个，至少他们不会大规模地做这件事。
Aiya: I am curious, what do you do for a whole night in the church?
孔：我比较好奇的是，你们一整晚都在教堂里面做些什么？
Tanya: You stand there, you listen to songs, and like sometimes you pray, sometimes you just stand there. I’m not the most religious person so I’ve definitely never stayed there for the whole night.
谭：我们站在那里，聆听歌曲，有的时候我们会祷告，但有的时候我们就只是站在那儿。但我不是最虔诚的教徒，所以我肯定不会一整晚都站在那儿。
Especially the Orthodox churches. My personal opinion is that they are so much tougher than Western churches because they make you stand for the whole time, you’re not allowed to sit. You’re supposed to suffer for the entire night, that’s like the basis of Orthodox Church.
特别是在东正教教堂里（那里有很多人）。我个人觉得他们比西方教堂更严格要求他们的教徒，所以他们让这些东正教教徒一整晚都站在教堂里，不能坐下。你应该自己熬过这种站立一整晚的痛苦，我感觉那就是东正教教堂的教义基础。
东正教祷告 People praying in an Orthodox church https://orthochristian.com/104149.html
“鸡蛋大战” | Egg Fights
Tanya: We also have a lot of fun traditions. Like, we have egg fights.
谭：我们其实也有很多有趣的传统，比如说，有个活动叫“鸡蛋大战”。
Tanya: It is a long tradition for Easter. You have to have an egg that is colored using wax. You put on the outlines, you put on colors and you boil it and you get a painted egg. Then you’re supposed to bring the eggs to the church and bless them. Then, when you bring them home, family members pick an egg and they fight to see whose egg is stronger. Basically, you knock one egg on another, and the one that cracks goes to the winner.
谭：“鸡蛋大战”是我们复活节的一个悠久传统。首先，你需要在一个用蜡上过色的鸡蛋上画出鸡蛋的轮廓，然后给他们涂上颜色，再煮熟，这样你就得到了一个画好的鸡蛋。然后你把蛋带到教堂里，为它们祈福。之后你把它们带回家，让你的家里人挑选一个蛋。他们会用自己选的蛋一一对撞，看谁的蛋更“硬气”。如果你把别人的蛋砸裂了，你就是赢家。
东正教祷告 People praying in an Orthodox church https://orthochristian.com/104149.html
Tanya: So therefore, the winner is collecting all the eggs and is supposed to eat them. This is one of the most brutal things during Easter, because if you want to win, you have to eat a lot of eggs!
谭：赢家会获得所有被砸开的鸡蛋，而且ta需要把这些蛋都吃掉。这是复活节最“残酷”的事情之一，因为你如果想赢的话，就得吃掉一堆鸡蛋。
Aiya: Do you have any strategies to share?
孔：那你可以给我们分享一下你“鸡蛋大战”的战略战术吗？
Tanya: Yeah, okay, so you have to pick the one which is the sharpest and at the same time is pretty full. You don’t want it to be a round one. Because they’re very easy to crack.
谭：当然！你在选蛋的时候就应该选那些看起来头比较尖的，里面的鸡蛋液也比较满的。不要选那些看起来很圆的蛋，因为他们很容易就被撞碎了。
Tanya: You pick sharp eggs, but a bit full in the middle. Ideally, it shouldn’t have a lot of pictures on it, because the more pictures, the thinner the shell. I was the winner of my house last year!
谭：多选一些尖头的，而且中间看起来比较饱满的蛋。理想情况下，这些蛋上不应该有很多图案，因为有越多的图案的话，壳儿越薄。我就是我家去年的最终赢家。
https://obyektiv.press/node/116029
Aiya: Oh, cool, so we’re learning from the winner! Do you color the eggs yourself?
孔：哦，好酷啊！我们正在向一个胜者学习呢！那你会自己给这些鸡蛋上色吗？
Tanya: Yeah, Isn’t that a thing for Russia as well, and also other places?
谭：会的。俄罗斯人好像也会做类似的事情，而且其他地方应该也会做这个吧？
Tanya: When I was a teenager it was such a common thing for me to sit down before Easter, light a candle, take an egg pen, which my granddad made for me, and color with wax around the egg, then boil it and color it with different plants. If you boil them, for example, with beetroot, it will turn red. Different plants give different colors. It was a whole process, and I really enjoyed it.
谭：当我十三四岁的时候，我总是会在复活节前在家里坐着，然后点上一根蜡烛，拿上我爷爷给我做的鸡蛋画笔给我的鸡蛋上蜡。接着我会把鸡蛋煮熟，再用不同的植物给鸡蛋上色。如果把鸡蛋和甜菜根一起煮了，它就会变红。不同的植物会让鸡蛋变成不一样的颜色，而我真的很享受这一整个给鸡蛋上色的过程。
Anika: So what is the chemistry? Which colors correspond to which food?
孔：这是什么化学反应吗？什么颜色应该对应什么食材呢？
Tanya: Okay, so we have beetroot which is bright red, onion which is somewhat brownish, then for green you have to use sorrel, and so on. My mom knows precisely how to get each color. Of course we can use supermarket paints and it will be fine too, but there will be color left in the egg itself. If you do it with plants, it will color only the shell and not touch the inside.
谭：嗯，甜菜根是浅红色的，洋葱是带点棕色的。如果想要绿色的话，应该用酸叶草。等等诸如此类。我妈妈知道怎样准确地得到每一种颜色。当然我们也可以用超市买的颜料，但是这种颜料会渗到鸡蛋里面去。而植物只会让颜料停留在鸡蛋壳的表面。
“礼物与老式烤炉”
Aiya: Oh yeah, I also wanted to ask: I read some posts online, mostly by Russians, saying they take alcohol, eggs, and candies to the church, bless them, and then they go and give them to other people as gifts. Do you do that?
孔：哦这样啊。我看了网上的一些帖子，很多都是俄罗斯人写的，就说他们会把酒，鸡蛋，还有蜡烛都一并带到教堂里去，然后敬奉、祷告，最后他们会把这些东西带走作为礼物送给别人，那你们也会这样做吗？
Tanya: Not really. Probably some people do, but my family, we do give Easter bread, eggs, meat, and sausage. Also horseradish, which I don’t like, but everybody in my family loves.
谭：不太会。可能有的人会这样做，但在我家，我们只会送复活节面包，鸡蛋，肉和香肠。啊，我们也会送辣根（一种带有辣椒味道的白色根状蔬菜），一种我不太喜欢，但其他人都很喜欢吃的蔬菜。
辣根 horseradish credit: Good Housekeeping
Aiya: Oh yeah, I love it. Especially with bread. Do you bake Easter bread?
孔：哦哦，我确实很喜欢，尤其是跟面包一起吃。你们会自己做复活节面包吗？
Tanya: Yeah, we do. My grandma is baking that in an old-fashioned Russian woodstove.
谭：会的。我的奶奶会用一种老式的俄罗斯木质烤炉做复活节面包。
Aiya: Wow, you have one in your house?
孔：哇，你家有一个这种烤炉吗？
Tanya: We do. It’s not at all common in Ukraine now. But my grandma managed to save one.
谭：是的是的。现在这种烤炉可能在乌克兰不太常见，但我奶奶还是“抢救”了一个放在我家。
老式烤炉 Old-fashioned Russian Woodstove
Aiya: That’s really cool. I never actually saw one in my life. I know that they exist, I saw them in cartoons, but I never ever saw them in real life.
孔：那真的很酷啊！我从来都没见过那种烤炉。我知道他们是因为我在动画上看过，但是，我从没有在现实生活中见过他们。
Tanya: I’ve seen at least five of them. We had two in our house before we renovated it, another one in my grandma’s house, and another one in another grandma’s house. There are a bunch of them. I am from a small village, so it’s pretty much like traveling back in time.
谭：我至少见过5个，在我家更换烤炉之前我家有两个这种烤炉。另一个是在我奶奶的家里，还有一个是在我外婆的家里。真的还挺多的。因为我来自一个小村子，所以看到他们就像穿越回了过去。
“小村庄，全国大扫除，和家庭趣事”
Spring cleaning and other fun stuff
Aiya: I see. When you say “small,” what do you mean by that?
孔：我明白了。你每次都说小村子，那你究竟想用“小”来表达什么呢？
Tanya: Three hundred people.
谭：我们村子里只有三百个人。
Aiya: Oh wow. So you must know basically everyone.
孔：哇，那你肯定认识所有人了吧？
Tanya: Yeah. I have friends from villages with only fifty people.
谭： 嗯嗯，我还有一些朋友是来自只有五十个人的村子的呢。
Aiya: So you were telling me how this holiday was very important for you when you were a teenager. Can you say more about that?
孔：所以你是想说这个节日对少女时期的你很重要吗？你能再说说为什么吗？
Tanya: When I was teenager it was very cool, because I enjoyed all the family coming together, and guests coming from other cities to our house. I enjoyed the preparations: coloring eggs, sneakily tasting the meat my dad was preparing. We weren’t supposed to eat meat, we were fasting for Great Lent. I enjoyed decorating Easter bread as well with the sprinkles and powders. Of course, there is also an element where you have to clean all the house very thoroughly. I never liked that part to be honest, but I guess that’s the price.
谭：当我还是个少女的时候，我感觉这很酷，因为我很享受家人聚在一起的时光，也很喜欢客人从不同城市过来带来的欢快氛围。我享受准备复活节的过程：我乐于给鸡蛋上色，喜欢鬼鬼祟祟地品尝我爸爸做的肉。我们其实不应该吃肉，因为那时正值大斋节的斋戒时期。我还喜欢用不同的糖粉装点复活节面包。当然，还有一点就是我们需要彻底清扫我们的房子。说实话，我一点也不喜欢那个，但我猜这就是复活节欢乐的代价吧。
复活节面包 Easter Bread (Paska) https://obyektiv.press/node/116029
Aiya: I see. My mother does the same thing before the New Year, because she believes that we have to start the New Year in a new clean house. Is it the same kind of logic?
孔：这样啊。
我母亲会在新年之前大扫除，因为她觉得我们应该在干净的屋子里开启新的一年。你们是不是也有同样的想法呢？
Tanya: Yeah, except here it’s nationwide. We have a phrase here, “I will do that after Easter,” so if anyone offers you anything, you just say “I will do it after Easter.” It is a very typical thing to hear here. About the cleaning, it is very important for Ukrainians, we clean everything, like everything. Streets, trees, houses, gardens, it’s a nationwide desire to clean.
谭：是的，但是在我们这里，这种想法是全国性的。我们这有句老话“我会在复活节之后做的”，如果有人让你做什么事，你可以直接说，“我会在复活节之后做的”。这种用法在我们这非常常见。说到打扫清洁，这对乌克兰人来说非常重要，我们会打扫各种东西：街道，树，房屋，花园，打扫清洁是全国共同的想法。
Aiya: How do you clean a tree?
孔：你们怎么打扫一颗树呢？
Tanya: Have уou ever seen trees with white paint? It is against insects. And also you trim the branches. Fixing, cleaning, polishing, that’s what you do before Easter. You’re supposed to be, like, very pure and clean, because it is a big holiday. That’s the religious logic.
谭：你有没有见过刷着白色涂料的树？这是为了防虫。同时你要修剪枝桠，固定，清洗，抛光这些树，这些都是复活节之前要做的事。一切事物都需要纯洁、干净，因为复活节是个盛大的节日。这是东正教的想法。
Aiya: So, coming back to the religious side, do you consider yourself religious?
孔：说回到宗教，你认为你是一个教徒吗？
Tanya: I’m not a very religious person. I enjoy religious holidays, but mostly because it’s fun when the whole family comes together. I feel like this traditional aspect is most important to me.
谭：我不是一个非常虔诚的信教者。我庆祝宗教节日，但更多是享受家人团聚的时刻。我觉得这些传统的元素对我来说更重要。
Aiya: Would a family that is not religious also celebrate Easter?
孔：信教的家庭也会庆祝复活节吗？
Tanya: Yeah. Everybody wants Easter and Easter bread. There are a lot of memes on the Internet: “On a normal day you’re an atheist, but on Easter, you suddenly become a believer to get some Easter bread.”
谭：对呀，每个人都想要庆祝复活节，吃复活节面包。网络上有很多关于这个的表情包：“平时你是个无神论者，但在复活节你为了复活节面包就变成了一个忠实信徒。”
https://www.pinterest.com/patheism/easter-atheist-memes/
Aiya: Ha, I love it! So are there any other interesting or funny things that people say or do on Easter?
孔：哈，我喜欢这个表情包！所以人们会讨论或是做哪些有关复活节的有趣的事情呢？
Tanya: Well, another interesting thing is a week before Easter, there’s a day called Willow Sunday. You take willow branches with catkins on them to the Church to get them blessed by sprinkling them with holy water. Then you bring them home and you are supposed to hit your family members with them so that they will be strong and healthy for the year. People say, “It’s not me hitting you, it’s the willow” to justify the brutality. You’re just minding your own business and then somebody comes in and starts hitting you and is like, “Oh, it’s not me beating you!”
谭：另外一件有趣的事是在复活节的前一周，有一天被称作“柳树星期天（Willow Sunday）”。你可以拿着带柳絮的柳树枝去教堂，为他们举行祈福仪式。然后把它们带回家，你应该用它们抽打你的家庭成员，这样他们在这一年就能身体健康、强壮。人们说，“不是我在打你，是柳条”去为自己的“残忍行为”辩解。想象一下，当你在做自己的事情时，有人过来用柳条打你，还说“哦，不是我在打你！”。
柳树星期天 “Willow Sunday” http://ishmaelite.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-bless-pussy-willows.html
Tanya: Another thing I just recalled: For one day during Easter anybody can go and ring the church bells. During Easter you can hear them all day long. Mostly kids are going to do that, because, you know, the Church is huge and the noise is loud, and this is so cool.
谭：我又想起来另一件事：在复活节期间的任意一天，任何人都可以走进教堂去敲钟。在复活节期间你可以终日听到钟声。大部分小孩都会去敲钟，你知道的，教堂很大，钟声又那么响，非常酷。
Aiya: Have you ever rung the bell?
孔：你去敲过钟吗？
Tanya: Not really, no. I didn’t know about that tradition until a couple years ago. If I’d known, I definitely would have gone. But yeah. Also we have a very old church in our hometown, it’s around three hundred years old. The first thing you get when you Google my village is basically this church:
谭：其实并没有。直到几年前我才知道这个传统。如果我知道，我肯定会去的。我家乡有一个非常古老的教堂，大概有三百年历史。如果你在网上搜索我居住的村子的名字，你看到的第一条信息可能就是关于这个教堂的。
Aiya: Wait, your church is green?
孔：等等，你们的教堂是绿色的？
Tanya: Yeah.
谭：是的。
Aiya: Wow, this looks really cute. I think it looks more approachable in a way. Like, the Orthodox churches we have in my city, they are very big and white with shiny gold roofs, they look very pompous.
孔：哇，这也太可爱了。我觉得它在某种程度上看起来更平易近人了。在我居住的城市的东正教教堂都很大，有白色的外墙和闪闪发光的金色的屋顶，开起来非常浮夸。
Tanya: This one is wooden, completely made of wood. Orthodox, they don’t have much need to be huge and pompous. So they’re humble in a way. During Easter all the people are going out together on the church yard, and then the priest is going around and splashing holy water on everybody. It looks really nice because it’s at night and everybody has a basket with candles inside.
谭：我家乡的这座教堂是完全木制的。东正教的教堂不用建得很大、很浮夸，所以它们在某种意义上很简朴。在复活节期间，所有人都要走到教堂外的庭院里，然后神父会四处走动，向每个人身上洒圣水。这幅场景看起来非常美，因为是在晚上，每个人都提着一个装着蜡烛的小篮子。
Aiya: One last thing: have you seen any of these traditions change? Or has it always been the same?
最后一个问题：你有没有见过这些传统改变过？还是一直都是一样？
Tanya: I mean, they’re fading away. Like on Easter we’re supposed to go to the graveyards, but this year we didn’t go. It was difficult to manage and we had guests we didn’t expect and other relatives who didn’t come back. I kind of feel bad about that. Because some of my relatives who died, I knew them when I was a kid, and I feel a bit guilty that I didn’t visit them this year.
我觉得它们在不断消逝。本来在复活节我们应该去墓地，但今年我们没有去。这有点难做到，因为我们有意料之外的客人，也有一些没回来的亲戚。我有些亲戚去世了，我觉得很难过。让我很内疚的是我从小就认识他们，但是今年却不能去看望他们。
中文翻译和编辑 Translators and Chinese editors | 王诗薇 刘海一 何思樾 Austin Woerner
排版 Layout | 何思樾
Tanya Torchylo is a rising junior at Duke Kunshan University, majoring in Political Economy with a track in Public Policy. Originally she comes from the small village of Stara Lishnya in western Ukraine.
Aiya Kuchukova (Anika) is an editor for Intersections. She likes to sing, play the ukulele, and interview people about their cultures.
