Shrovetide for russians, shrovetide is the equivalent of carnival for italians. both celebrations have the same original meaning: translated from the italian, carnival (carne-vale) means ‘farewell to beef’. shrovetide comes before lent. it is forbidden to eat meat during lent. shrovetide is the last week when you are still allowed to stuff yourself with large amounts of rich food, and have whole-hearted fun. each day of shrovetide week has its own name, which refers to what you are meant to do on that day. monday is "the meeting”. on this day you are meant to set up ice slides: the further the toboggan skates and the louder the noise and laughter over the ice slide, the better the harvest will be. tuesday is "gaming day”, when games begin and people offer pancakes to accompany the merriment. wednesday is ‘the lover of good food’. hostesses say: "offer your guests everything you have and then some”. of course pancakes are offered above all else. thursday is "the day for going wild”. to help the sun chase away the winter, people ride horses around the village. the main male activity on this day involves playing at defending and capturing a village in the snow. friday is "mother-in-law’s evening”. on this day sons-in-law go to see their mothers-in-law, and the mother-in-law offers him pancakes. on saturday is “daughter-in-law parties” and people go round to see their relatives, and once again they are offered an endless number of pancakes. the last day of shrovetide is shrove sunday or sunday of forgiveness. everyone says sorry to one another, gaining forgiveness for their sins before lent. and in reply people say: "god will forgive you.” 20: 29: 0
