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July 27 Sleepyhead1） Day
A septet of Rip Van Winkles，the men who came to be known as the Seven Sleepers，had the misfortune of being devout2) Christians in third－century Turkey in the midst of Emperor Decian's anti－Christian persecutions3)．The seven fled their homes with the emperor' s henchmen4) in hot pursuit．They ducked into a cave and launched into prayer，preparing for what seemed their imminent martyrdom4)．They shared what they believed would be their last meal．Then they all lay down to sleep，believing that Decian's men would discover them at any moment．But as miracles5) will have it，they slept undisturbed for 208 years．By the time they awoke and emerged from t he cave，Decian had not only stopped looking for them，he was long since deceased．The current emperor，a Christian，hailed the Seven Sleepers as saints and kissed them，at which point they all lay down and died．
Sleepyhead Day marks the Seven Sleepers' collective feast day in Naantali，southwestern Finland．Soon after dawn，howling revelers fill the streets，headed for the home of the current year' s“sleepyhead”：some unsuspecting local celebrity．A waking－up party is let into the house；the Sleepyhead is roused rudely，hauled out of bed，marched down to the town's harbor，and tossed6) into the drink．
