[al:新概念英语（二）] [ar:MP3 同步字幕版（英音）] [ti:The Dead Return] [by:更多学习内容，请到chazidian.com搜索“新概念”] [00:13.01]What happens to the lanterns at the end of the festival? [00:19.74]A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan. [00:25.17]This festival is a cheerful occasion, [00:28.06]for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. [00:36.03]As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. [00:43.33]Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. [00:50.61]All night long, people dance and sing. [00:55.15]In the early morning the food that had been laid out for the dead [00:59.00]is thrown into a river or into the sea as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it. [01:08.60]In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before, [01:16.38]are placed into the water when the festival is over. [01:20.87]Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. [01:30.55]This is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people [01:34.31]stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.