Why Are Yews 0ften Found in Churchyards?
Yews have long been associated with religious worship. So it is likely that churches were originally built near the sacred trees rather than the other way round.
These trees live longer than any other species in Europe and can grow to an enormous size. Many are thought to be well over l,000 years old. Yews were revered by the druids of ancient Britain, France and Ireland and no doubt early Christian missionaries preached in the shelter of the trees before their first churches were built. Hywel Dda-Howell the Good-a Welsh king who reigned in the 10th Century, set a special value on "consecrated yews".
Some yews are even older than the ancient churches beside them, suggesting that the church was built on a spot already devoted to worship. The association continued, and it became traditional for yews to be planted in churchyards.
Also the great age to which yews live caused them to be regarded as a symbol of immortality and, therefore, associated with death, as man only becomes immortal after he dies.
为什么教堂墓地常见浆果紫杉？
长期以来人们一直把浆果紫杉与宗教礼拜联系在一起。因此，最初的教堂很可能是建立在这种圣树附近，而并非先有教堂，然后在其附近种下了这种圣树。
这种树的寿命比欧洲其他任何树种的寿命都长，它可以长成参天大树。据人们猜测许多浆果紫杉的寿命远远超过1,000年。古代不列颠、法国和爱尔兰的祭司们都对浆果紫杉充满敬仰之心。无疑，在最早的教堂建成之前，早期基督教传教士就是在这种树下传教的。10世纪的威尔士酋长海威尔·豪厄尔达，对这种“圣杉”尤怀敬意。
有些浆果紫杉甚至比其侧旁的教堂还要古老，这说明教堂是建造在早已为宗教礼拜效劳的地方。浆果紫杉与宗教的联系没有间断，把它种植在教堂墓地已成为一种传统。
另外，由于浆果紫杉寿命很长，便被视为不朽的象征，因而人们也把它同死亡联系起来，因为人只有在死后方能永垂不朽。
摘自 1000 Questions and Answers
整理：鲁蒙海
编辑：董 董
审核：海 新
终审：张 扬
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