西方常见十大迷信(英语)

【西方十大常见迷信】

要是你认为西方人不迷信，那你就大错特错了。不同国家迷信内容或许不同，但几乎所有国家都存在迷信。下面就是中国日报整理的西方共有迷信清单，希望可以帮助大家深入了解西方文化与风俗。

1. Friday the 13th is a bad day. 13号星期五不吉利（黑色星期五）

The standard nineteenth-century explanation for the supposed unluckiness of the number 13 was that there were thirteen at Jesus’ Last Supper--- Judas was generally thought of as the thirteenth. The supposed misfortune (灾祸；灾难) of Friday also originated (originate from, 起源于) from Christian beliefs, for the Crucifixion took place on that day.

十九世纪人们对数字13不吉利这一笃定的迷信来源于耶稣最后的晚餐---传说耶稣受害前和弟子们共进了一次晚餐，出卖耶稣的犹大就是参加晚餐的第13个人。而星期五不吉利这一说法也来源于基督教的宗教信仰，因为这一天就是耶稣的受难日。（所以，不管哪个月的十三日又恰逢星期五就叫“黑色星期五”。）

2. Bird pooing on you is good luck. 鸟粪掉身上是走运的象征

One theory of this is the sort of karma (名词，因果报应) logic that assumes, if something bad happens to you, then something good must happen to balance out (词组，平衡；相抵) the karma. 这个理论是源于对因果报应的假设，如果你碰到一件糟心事，那么之后必要有好运来抵掉这件坏事以形成因果报应。

3. A black cat crossing your path is considered bad luck. 路遇黑猫意味不详

In the old, superstitious (迷信的) days, witches could transform themselves into black cats. If one crossed your path, it meant a witch was watching you.

古时候人们迷信女巫们会化身为黑猫。所以如果你在路上碰见了黑猫，这意味着有女巫盯上你了。

4. Atchoo (bless you) 有人打喷嚏（要对他说上帝保佑你）

This comes from a plague (名词，瘟疫) that was spreading in 590 A.D. Italy where most people who sneezed would die. The pope urged others to bless such people and pray for them that they might become better.

这源于公元590年意大利的一场瘟疫。当时，很多打喷嚏的人都会死亡。教皇就提议大家为那些打喷嚏的人祈祷祝福希望他们可以恢复健康。

5. Crossing your fingers to wish for good luck 交叉手指期盼好运

One theory of this is that during the Hundred Years War between France and England, archers would cross their fingers before pulling the bow string in order to grant (动词，授予) them good luck. Before that, it was also a secret sign between members of Christianity (when it was illegal). 一种说法是：在法英百年战争时，弓箭手在拉弓前会交叉手指以示好运。在此之前，这也是基督教徒之间的暗号（当时这样做是违法的）。

6. Never take the third light from a match, it's bad luck. 不能用同一根火柴点3次火

In World War I, snipers (sniper, 狙击手) sometimes operated at night. Their technique involved waiting for someone to strike a match to light a cigarette; on spotting the light they'd train a scope on them. On the second light, the sniper would focus his shot, zooming in (zoom in, 拉近) ready

for the kill, on the third light, he would fire, killing the person who lit the match.

在一战期间，狙击手通常在夜晚作案。他们的作案技巧就是等有人点烟。第一次点烟时狙击手可以确定方位；点第二根时狙击手瞄准准备射杀；点第三根烟时，他就开火将点火之人打死。

7. Walking underneath a ladder is widely held to be bad luck. 从梯子下走不吉利

'Walking under a ladder' came about in England a few centuries ago when people drank more ale at lunch than ate food. Drunken sign painters were likely to dump (动词，倾倒) a bucket of paint if you walked by or under their ladder and handymen would drop tools.

“从梯子下走不吉利”来源于英国几个世纪前发生的事。在晚餐喝了过多的麦芽酒而没吃多少食物之后，当有人路过梯子或是从梯子下走，喝醉了的画家们可能会将他们的油漆桶倒下去，杂务工要是喝醉了可能会将自己的工具丢下去。

8. Broken mirror will result in seven years bad luck. 破碎的镜子意味着之后7年的厄运Breaking a mirror is bad luck because at one time mirrors were very expensive. If a palace maid broke a mirror she was sentenced (sentence, 判处) to 7 years in prison.

打破镜子被人为十分不吉利，因为镜子曾经是很昂贵的。如果皇宫里的一名女佣打破了镜子，她将被判处7年牢狱。

9. Carrots help you see in the dark. 胡萝卜有助于提高夜视能力

This was part of World War II propaganda. The British had invented radar and we began bombing the Germans at night. The Germans, confused as to how we bombed them at night, started researching how we were doing it. The British government began to spread the rumor that it was the carrots in our ration (名词，口粮) packs that helped us see in the dark to put the Germans off our trail (off the trail, 偏离正轨). They figured it out eventually, but by that time, the rumor had already stuck.

这是二战期间的一个宣传。英国人发明了雷达并开始在夜晚轰炸德国。德国人就对英国人是如何在夜晚进行轰炸作业感到很好奇，并开始研究英国人是如何做到夜间瞄准的。英国政府就散布谣言说他们食用一定数量的胡萝卜来提高夜视能力，以此迷惑德国人。德国人最后发现了这只是个谣言，但到那时是这一说法已经被广泛接受了。

10. Spilling salt is a bad omen (名词，预兆). 盐洒出来是不吉利的。

Spilling salt is bad luck because in Roman times, salt was so valuable that soldiers were paid in salt rather than money. Spilling it was equal to burning money. I'm not sure where throwing a pinch of salt over your left shoulder negates (negate, 否定；使无效) the action of spilling, but I can tell you that it is where the word 'salary' came from.

盐洒出来是不吉利的象征。因为在古罗马时代盐是很珍贵的，士兵们的薪酬领的是盐而不是钱。洒出盐意味着烧钱。我不确定是否可以通过在左肩上撒点盐来消除背运或盐洒出的影响，但是我可以告诉你“薪水”（salary）一词来源于盐(salt)。