海外文化:英美民俗 不祥之舉:一根火柴三支菸
【英文原文】
摘要：有些人認爲一根火柴連點三支菸不吉利。
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.
【中文譯文】
有些人認爲一根火柴連點三支菸不吉利。據說這種迷信源於第一次世界大戰。在夜間，如果火柴燃燒的時間過長，就會暴露目標，使自己成爲敵人的靶子。
有人認爲從梯子下面走過不吉利。有這一迷信的起源有多種說法。其中一種說法是，在將耶穌的遺體從十字架上取下時，用過梯子。但《聖經》裏並沒有提到過這一點。也許最合理的解釋是當人從梯子下走過時，梯子會偶然倒下，或站在梯子上幹活的人會失手落下一把錘子或一桶油漆。
