海外文化:英美民俗 算命

【英文原文】

摘要：算命是占卜的一种形式，在欧洲历史上曾十分流行。古希腊罗马人就相信神谕能通过先知之口传达，所以凡遇大事，总要征求神谕，以预知未来。

Fortunetelling is the practice of trying to guess or predict what will happen in the future. Persons who claim to foretell the future are called fortunetellers.

Fortunetelling has been especially popular during certain periods of history. For example, the ancient Greeks and Romans believed the gods spoke to them through prophets called oracles. Many people went to oracles for advice about the future. During the Renaissance, the period from about 1300 to about 1600, a type of fortunetelling called astrology became extremely popular in Europe. Some form of fortunetelling remain popular today as ways of amusement, but many believe in them sincerely. Some methods of telling fortunes are complicated, and fortunetellers often say they are scientific. But scientists consider them to be pseudosciences.

There are four popular ways to tell fortunes. Some fortunetellers tell what one’s future will be by studying the lines, markings, shape, and the size of the person’s hand. This is called palmistry. Fortunetelling by cards is also popular. The person whose fortune is being told may select cards from a deck of playing cards that is lying face down on the table. The cards have meanings for the fortuneteller. The fortuneteller lays down the cards in a pattern on a table and tells the fortune by the order in which the cards appear. One of the most famous methods involves gazing into a crystal ball. A crystal ball is actually a glass ball, in which the fortuneteller is supposed to be able to see a picture of some future event. Another way to tell fortunes is astrology. This way is based on the belief that positions and movements of the sun, the moon, planets, and stars are related to people’s lives.

【中文译文】

算命是占卜的一种形式，在欧洲历史上曾十分流行。古希腊罗马人就相信神谕能通过先知之口传达，所以凡遇大事，总要征求神谕，以预知未来。文艺复兴时代，占星术在欧洲十分流行。某些算命方法现在依然流行，大多数人视之为娱乐而逢场作戏，但也有人真信。有的算命方法异常复杂，算命人称之为科学，但科学家斥之为伪科学。

西方常见的算命方法有四种。一种是看手相，即通过观看手掌的形状和纹路预卜未来。一种是纸牌算命，问卜的人从画面朝下扣在桌上的一组牌里随机抽取数张牌，然后算卦人将纸牌按顺序摊开，加以解释。最著名的算卦方式是看水晶球。水晶球实际上是玻璃球，据说能从中看到未知事件的画面。还有一种是占星术，主张日月星辰的位置与人的命运有关，故通过观测星象能预测未来。