You may think birthdays mean only cake, presents, and a joyful sing- along of "happy Birthday." However, there are many varieties of birthday celebrations. In the West, many birthday traditions come from an ancient belief that evil1 spirits showed up on a person's birthday. To drive troublemaking spirits away, friends would visit each other on their birthdays. Today, people still get together for birthday parties. But around the world, birthdays are celebrated in many different ways.

In eastern Canada, children get their noses greased2 with butter on their birthdays. The butter is supposed to make children too slippery3 for bad luck to stick to them. Irish people lift birthday children upside down and bump4 them on the floor for every year of their age. Mexico also has a unique birthday tradition. A papiermache animal is filled5 with candy and toys and hung from the ceiling. The blindfolded birthday child then tries to hit the animal with a stick until it bursts6 open. 

　　你可能以为生日就只是生日蛋糕、生日礼物以及大家一起唱“生日快乐歌”。然而，庆祝生日有很多种不同的方式。在西方，许多生日传统都与古人相信邪灵会在人们生日当天出现有关。为了把招致麻烦的恶灵赶走，朋友们会在生日时互相拜访。到现在，人们仍聚在一起开庆祝生日会，但世界各地的庆祝生日的方式都不尽相同。

　　在加拿大东部，儿童过生日时会在鼻子上抹上奶油，奶油可以让孩子滑滑溜溜的，如此一来，厄运就不会沾上他们。爱尔兰人会把过生日的小孩倒过来举起，他们过几岁生日，就把他们往地上轻撞几下。墨西哥也有独特的生日传统。他们在混凝纸制成的动物造型里装满糖果与玩具，挂在天花板上，接着再由蒙住眼睛的小寿星拿着棒子，使劲把那只纸制动物敲破开来。