海外文化:英美民俗 不祥之举:一根火柴三支烟

【英文原文】

摘要：有些人认为一根火柴连点三支烟不吉利。

Many people believe that lighting cigarettes for three persons from one match will bring bad luck. This superstition may have come from among soldiers during World War I. At night, a match that stayed lit long enough to light three cigarettes provided a target for the enemy.

Some people believe that it is unlucky to walk under a ladder. Different reasons have been given for this superstition. One of them is that a ladder was used to take down Jesus from the cross. But this is not mentioned in the Bible. Maybe the most sensible reason is, when a person walks under a ladder, it may fall on him or her, or a hammer or a bucket of paint may fall on his or her head.

【中文译文】

有些人认为一根火柴连点三支烟不吉利。据说这种迷信源于第一次世界大战。在夜间，如果火柴燃烧的时间过长，就会暴露目标，使自己成为敌人的靶子。

有人认为从梯子下面走过不吉利。有这一迷信的起源有多种说法。其中一种说法是，在将耶稣的遗体从十字架上取下时，用过梯子。但《圣经》里并没有提到过这一点。也许最合理的解释是当人从梯子下走过时，梯子会偶然倒下，或站在梯子上干活的人会失手落下一把锤子或一桶油漆。