For centuries, Pentecost men have been leaping head first from wooden scaffolds with only forest vines to break their fall a tradition that inspired modern bungee jumping. The jumps may look like acts of madness, but the festival's origins have a serious side. They celebrate the annual harvest of their staple crop. And with up to nine cyclones pounding the South Pacific a year, a successful harvest is worth celebrating. The close calls with Mother Earth are not miscalculations. The diver's hair is actually meant to brush the ground in a symbolic act of fertilisation. And it's believed the closer the jumper gets to the ground, the taller the crops will grow the next year.


数世纪来五旬节岛的男人系着能终止他们坠落的藤索从木制脚手架上头向前跳下——一个让现代蹦极跳受到启发的风俗，这种跳看起来像疯狂行为，但作为节庆起源有着庄重的方面。他们庆祝每年的主要作物的收获，由于每年多达9个龙卷风重击南太平洋，成功收获是值得庆祝的。对死里逃生的大地是不会误算的，跳跃者的头发像刷子样拂过地面，象征着施肥。他们相信跳跃者离地面越近，来年的收成就越好。