Afternoon tea refers to a small meal that used to be eaten sometime between 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Britain and other Commonwealth countries. It consists of a delicious spread of tiny sandwiches, scones, rolls, meats, and of course tea. People don’t “eat” afternoon tea; they “take” it. However, it has been a long time since afternoon tea was widely popular. In modern society, it’s hard to take afternoon tea at 2:00 p.m. when you’re working a full-time job. Even though people have stopped taking afternoon tea every day, the custom survives in some parts of the world. Many people view afternoon tea as an elegant meal that only aristocrats and other very rich people used to enjoy. Therefore, it’s not rare for a group of friends to go to a fancy restaurant and take afternoon tea on a rainy Sunday afternoon as a special treat. Hundreds of years ago, it wasn’t just rich people who took afternoon tea. Poor people who worked all day took it as well. So why do we think of afternoon tea as such an elegant tradition? The answer may have to do with the origins of the custom. According to legend, afternoon tea was invented by the Duchess of Bedford, one of Queen Victoria’s ladiesin- waiting. It seems like the Duchess didn’t usually eat lunch, so she would always suffer from “a sinking feeling” of hunger around four o’clock. In the beginning, the Duchess would send for her servants and ask them to bring her tea and snacks. Later, she began sending out invitations to her friends so she wouldn’t have to eat her snacks alone. Some of the guests liked these informal gatherings so much that they started organizing their own afternoon tea parties. And just like that, the tradition of afternoon tea was born. 「下午茶」意指英國與其他共和國家，於下午兩點至五點間所食用的少量餐點。下午茶裡有可口的迷你三明治、司康、麵包捲、肉類，當然還有茶飲。人們不講「吃」下午茶，而講「享用」下午茶。長久以來，下午茶已是廣受歡迎的一種生活習慣。不過在現代社會裡，如果有全職工作在身，就很難在下午兩點的時候享用下午茶。 即使人們已不再天天享用下午茶，這樣的傳統仍留存於某些國家。許多人視下午茶為優雅餐點，一種過去僅有貴族與金字塔頂端的人得以享用的茶點。因此，一群三五好友在下著雨的週日午後，前往時尚餐廳享用下午茶的景象十分常見。 數百年前，並非只有權貴會享用下午茶，工作一整天的窮人也有此習慣。那麼為什麼我們會認為下午茶是一種優雅的傳統呢？答案或許與此習俗的起源有關。 根據傳言，下午茶是由維多莉亞女王（Queen Victoria）的侍女貝德福女爵（Duchess of Bedford）所發明的。女爵不喜歡豐盛的午餐，因為她到了下午約四點時，還是會有一種「無底洞」似的飢餓感。女爵剛開始會派僕人準備茶飲和點心。後來她開始邀請朋友共襄盛舉，就可以不用獨自一人享用點心。有些賓客很喜歡這樣的非正式聚會，於是也開始籌備他們自己的下午茶派對。就這樣，下午茶的傳統便誕生了。 | 
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