“Hallow”来源于中古英语halwen，与holy词源很接近，在苏格兰和加拿大的某些区域，万圣节仍然被称为“All Hallow Mas”。那一天，要举行的弥撒仪式(Mass)是庆祝在天的全体圣人(Hallow)。下面是万圣节的英语小故事：
作文一
After the stealing of fire,Zeus became increasingly unkind to men.One day he
ordered his son Hephaestus to build an image of a beautiful maiden out of clay.He then asked the gods and goddesses to award her with different kinds of gifts.A charming young lady,she was the first woman that ever lived.Zeus called her Pandora.Because she had received from each of the gods and goddesses a gift.The gift was harmful to men.
Zeus decided to send her down to men as a present. So Hermes them essenger brought her to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus. The greatness of her beauty touched the hearts of all who looked upon her, and Epimetheus happily received her into his house. He had quite forgotten Pometheus' warning: never to accept anything from Zeus.
When he was busy with teaching men the art of living, Prometheus had left a bigcask in the care of Epimetheus. He had warned his brother not to open the lid. Pandora was a curious woman. She had been feeling very disappointed that her husband did not allow her to take a look at the contents of the cask. One day, when Epimetheus was out, she lifted the lid and out it came unrest and war, Plague and sickness, theft and violence, grief, sorrow, and all the other evils. The human world was hence to experience these evils. Only hope stayed within the mouth of the jar and never flew out. So men always have hope within their hearts.
偷窃天火之后，宙斯对人类的敌意与日俱增。一天，他令儿子赫菲斯托斯用泥塑一美女像，并请众神赠予她不同的礼物。世上的第一个女人是位迷人女郎，因为她从每位神灵那里得到了一样对男人有害的礼物，因此宙斯称她为潘多拉。
宙斯决定把她作为礼物送给世间的男子。于是信使赫耳墨斯将她带给普罗米修斯的弟弟厄庇墨透斯。她姿容绝美，见者无不为之倾心。厄庇墨透斯兴高采烈地把她迎入屋内。普罗米修斯警告过他不得接受宙斯的任何馈赠，而他已将之忘于脑后。这一对夫妻有过一段幸福的生活，但不久灾难却降临人间。
当普罗米修斯忙于教授人们生存之道的时候，他把一个桶托付给厄庇墨透斯。他警告过他的弟
弟不要打开桶盖。潘多拉好奇心强。她的丈夫不允许她看桶中之物，这使她感到十分懊恼。一天乘厄庇墨透斯出门在外，她打开桶盖，从桶里跑出的是不和与战争，瘟疫与疾病，偷窃与暴力，悲哀与忧虑，以及其他一些人类从此要遭受的不幸。只有希望被关在桶口，永远飞不出来，因此人们常常把希望藏于心中。
作文二
One story about Jack， an Irishman， who was not allowed into Heaven because he was stingy with his money. So he was sent to hell. But down there he played tricks on the Devil (Satan)， so he was kicked out of Hell and made to walk the earth forever carrying a lantern.
Well， Irish children made Jack's lanterns on October 31st from a large potato or turnip， hollowed out with the sides having holes and lit by little candles inside. And Irish children would carry them as they went from house to house begging for food for the village Halloween festival that honored the Druid god Muck Olla. The Irish name for these lanterns was "Jack with the lantern" or "Jack of the lantern，" abbreviated as " Jack-o'-lantern" and now spelled "jack-o-lantern." The traditional Halloween you can read about in most books was just children's fun night. Halloween celebrations would start in October in every elementary school.
关于万圣节有这样一个故事。是说有一个叫杰克的爱尔兰人，因为他对钱特别的吝啬，就不允许他进入天堂，而被打入地狱。但是在那里他老是捉弄魔鬼撒旦，所以被踢出地狱，罚他提着灯笼永远在人世里行走。 在十月三十一日爱尔兰的孩子们用土豆和萝卜制作“杰克的灯笼”，他们把中间挖掉、表面上打洞并在里边点上蜡烛。为村里庆祝督伊德神的万圣节，孩子们提着这种灯笼挨家挨户乞讨食物。这种灯笼的爱尔兰名字是“拿灯笼的杰克”或者“杰克的灯笼”，缩写为Jack-o'-lantern 。
现在你在大多数书里读到的万圣节只是孩子们开心的夜晚。在小学校里，万圣节是每年十月份开始庆祝的。孩子们会制作万圣节的装饰品：各种各样桔红色的南瓜灯。