The observance of Easter includes some elements adapted from pagan traditions celebrating cycles of new life in the springtime, and one of those is the rabbit, an animal known for its crazy-high fertility.

复活节的庆祝活动汲取了异教徒庆祝春天开始新生命轮回的一些传统元素，其中之一就是兔子，一种以超强繁殖能力著称的动物。

pagan /'pegən/：异教的；异教徒的

fertility /fɚ'tɪləti/：富饶；丰产；可繁殖性

Ostara, the Germanic pre-Christian fertility goddess, apparently kept a hare as a sidekick. The word for “Easter” (Ostern, in German) is derived from her name, and her namesake festival was held around April. Germans came to embrace the fictional character Oschter Haws (or osterhause), a rabbit who delivered eggs to children at Easter.

奥斯塔拉作为前基督教时代日耳曼民族的生育女神，养了一只野兔作为伙伴。复活节这个名词就是来源于她的名字（在德语里是Ostern），她的同名节日大概在四月份举行。后来德国人开始接纳虚构的角色“复活兔”，这是一只在复活节给孩子们送鸡蛋的兔子。

sidekick /'saɪdkɪk/：伙伴，副手

namesake：同名的人或物

The Easter Bunny Museum in the now-defunct Center for Unusual Museums in Munich showcased examples of 19th century Easter rabbits made of cardboard, wood, or fabric, and some had removable heads to allow for hiding candy inside (these would be the forerunners to chocolate bunnies).

位于慕尼黑的复活节兔子博物馆（该博物馆所属的特殊博物馆中心现已关闭）展示了一些19世纪复活节兔子的样例，这些兔子由纸板、木头或布制成，有些兔子的头部是可以拆卸的，可以把糖果藏在里面。这些兔子可能是巧克力兔的前身。

At the same time, the middle classes of the Western world began enjoying the chocolaty fruits of progress. The Industrial Revolution changed chocolate from a costly drink to a cheap solid food. The craft of making the smooth-textured solid chocolate we’re familiar with today requires many steps, and those were not possible without mechanization; the first eating (as opposed to drinking) chocolates appeared in Europe in the mid-1800s.

与此同时，西方中产阶级开始享受巧克力这一社会进步的果实。工业革命将巧克力从一种昂贵的饮品变为廉价的固体食品。制作我们今天所熟悉的质地丝滑的固体巧克力需要很多步骤，没有机械化是不可能实现的。第一批能吃（而不是喝）的巧克力于19世纪中期出现在欧洲。