Residents of a southern English village will have to make do with a fake bonfire on Guy Fawkes night* because a real one would cost too much to insure. Organizers of November 5 celebrations in Sherston, Wiltshire, say the cost of insurance has soared to 2,500 pounds ($3,898) from 237 pounds a year ago. They say they can't afford it and have made an artificial bonfire instead. "All we've got are some beanpoles, 12 foot high," said Eric Thacker, one of the organizers of the event. "We've got colored lights in it, we've got a smoke machine in it, and colored tin foil which will give us some idea of a bonfire. But it's not the real thing." Millions of Britons will huddle around public bonfires on Guy Fawkes night to mark the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his associates were thwarted in their bid to blow up parliament. Local councils usually take out insurance in case the fires get out of hand.

* Guy Fawkes night：即Bonfire Night。1605年，Guy Fawkes 等人为反抗英国政府对天主教徒的不利政策，计划在11月5日以火药炸毁国会大厦并炸死当时的国王詹姆斯一世，此为“黑火药阴谋”。事未济而泄，Guy Fawkes 被处死。每年此夜，英国人都会生篝火、放烟花来纪念此事。11月5日夜因此被称为“盖伊·福克斯之夜”，亦称“篝火节”或“烟火节”。

在盖伊·福克斯之夜，英格兰南部一个村庄的居民只能拿假的篝火来凑合了，因为他们付不起真的篝火所需的保险费。威尔特郡舍斯顿村组织11月5日庆典的人说，保险费已经从一年前的237镑猛增到了2500镑（3898美元）。他们出不起这笔钱，因此做了个假的篝火来代替。“我们有的就是一些12英尺高的竿子，”庆典组织者之一埃里克·萨克尔说。“我们在上面装了彩灯和发烟器，还有彩色的锡纸。这会给我们一点篝火的感觉，可它并不是真东西。”在盖伊·福克斯之夜，数百万英国人会聚集在公共的篝火周围进行 “黑火药阴谋”的周年纪念活动。1605年的这一天，盖伊·福克斯和他的同党炸毁议会的计划遭到了挫败。地方议会通常会就此进行投保以防失火。

Remarks：烟花和焰火是不属于工业社会的事物，我们已经没有足够的空间来容纳这样的奢侈了，还是到五色霓虹中去寻找安慰吧。