西方文化不喜欢"13"的13点原因

 　　This is going to be a very trying year for people with Triskaidekaphobia, also known as the fear of the number 13.

　　对于那些患有数字13恐惧症的人们来说，今年可真是难熬的一年。

　　While the superstitious¹ folks afflicted² with this problem can easily stay home on Friday the 13th, it’s going to be a lot harder to stay inside for another 362 days.

　　以往迷信的人可以在家躲过每个13号的周五，但剩下362天难道也在家宅过去吗？

　　Why is 13 considered unlucky, anyway?

　　那么为什么13会被认为是不吉利的数字呢？

　　原因1：

　　There were 13 people at the Last Supper.

　　最后的晚餐有13个人

　　It's said that Judas Iscariot and the one who betrayed Jesus - was the 13th man to take his place at the table.

　　据说背叛耶稣的信徒犹大就坐在饭桌的第十三个位子上。

　　原因2：

　　Similarly, there’s a Norse legend that has 12 gods sitting down to a banquet when the 13th (uninvited) god, Loki, shows up.

　　同样，在北欧神话中有12个神的宴会，结果第十三个到来的就是不请自来的洛基（最会惹麻烦的神）。

　　Loki killed one of the other gods, which led to events that eventually resulted in Ragnarok - the death of a bunch of gods, a slew³ of natural disasters, and the eradication⁴ of everything on earth save for two human survivors⁵. There's a lot more to the story than that, but you get the general idea.

　　洛基杀了其中一个神引发了一系列事件，最终导致世界毁灭：众神的死亡、自然灾害和地球上一切的消亡（仅幸存2名人类）。这个故事远没有这么简单，但你能差不多明白个大概。

　　原因3：

　　Many Christians⁶ also believe that the Cain and Abel debacle took place on that date

　　很多基督徒认为该隐和他弟弟亚伯是在13号决裂的。

　　Let's go back to Christianity for a moment. Many Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on Friday.

　　我们回头再来看一下基督教，基督徒认为耶稣是周五被钉在十字架上处死的。

　　Researchers, however, believe that it wasn't a case of Friday the 13th lore⁷ - it was possibly something like Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. But that doesn't mean the 13th is off the hook.

　　然而研究者认为并不是像传言中在一个13号的周五——有可能是公元33年4月3号星期五。但这也不能排除13这个数字的不祥之兆。

　　原因4:

　　Traditionally, there used to be 13 steps leading up the gallows⁸.

　　传统中通往绞刑台有13个阶梯。

　　There's also a legend that a hangman's noose⁹ traditionally contained 13 turns, but it's actually more like eight.

　　原因5：

　　Apollo 13 is the only unsuccessful moon mission (intended to get men on the moon, anyway) thus far.

　　阿波罗13号是目前为止唯一失败的登月计划（试图送太空员登月）。

　　An oxygen tank exploded and the survival of the astronauts on board was pretty touch-and-go for several days, but they did all come home safely in the end (but you already knew that).

　　阿波罗13号氧气罐爆炸，舱内的宇航员要想生存好几天真是难上加难，他们想尽一切办法最终安全回到地面（也许你已经知道这件事）。

　　原因6：

　　There was a mass arrest and execution of the Knights¹⁰ Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307.

　　1307年十月13号，星期五，有一次大规模的圣殿骑士追捕执行活动。

　　原因7：

　　Apollo 13 is the only unsuccessful moon mission (intended to get men on the moon, anyway) thus far.

　　阿波罗13号是目前为止唯一失败的登月计划（试图送太空员登月）。

　　An oxygen tank exploded and the survival of the astronauts on board was pretty touch-and-go for several days, but they did all come home safely in the end (but you already knew that).

　　阿波罗13号氧气罐爆炸，舱内的宇航员要想生存好几天真是难上加难，他们想尽一切办法最终安全回到地面（也许你已经知道这件事）。

　　原因8：

　　it was once believed that a coven was made up of exactly 13 members.

　　曾一度认为巫师会里有13个成员。

　　Although a coven is now just considered to be any group of witches (or vampires¹¹, if you’re into a certain young adult series about sparkly supernaturals)

　　如果你是对超自然系列迷恋的年轻人，现在的巫师会不过是一群巫师（或吸血鬼）的集会而已。

　　原因9：

　　There’s an old superstition¹² that says if you have 13 letters in your name, you’re bound to have the devil’s luck.

　　老的传言中说如果你的名字里有13个字母，那么你注定有魔鬼的运气。

　　Silly, yes, but slightly more convincing when you consider that Charles Manson, Jack¹³ the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all contain 13 letters (I know, I know, what about their middle names?).

　　听起来是挺傻，但想想这些有13个字母的人名Charles Manson, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy 和 Albert De Salvo是不是有点说服力了？（我当然知道，他们的全名是什么来着？）

　　原因10：

　　Kids officially become teenagers at the age of 13, and we all know that’s a scary phase.

　　官方认为小孩于13岁成为青少年，我们都知道这是个恐怖时期。

　　原因11：

　　In numerology, the number 12 is considered to be the representation of perfection and completion.

　　数字学中，12被认为代表着完美和完整。

　　It stands to reason, then, that trying to improve upon perfection by adding a digit¹⁴ is a very bad idea indeed - your greed will be rewarded with bad luck.

　　这是有道理的，想在完美上锦上添花本就是个馊主意——你的贪心只会带来厄运。

　　原因12：

　　In numerology, the number 12 is considered to be the representation of perfection and completion.

　　数字学中，12被认为代表着完美和完整。

　　It stands to reason, then, that trying to improve upon perfection by adding a digit is a very bad idea indeed - your greed will be rewarded with bad luck.

　　这是有道理的，想在完美上锦上添花本就是个馊主意——你的贪心只会带来厄运。

　　原因13：

　　Friday, October 13, 1972, was a bad day in the history of aviation.

　　1972年10月13号星期五，对于航空来说是个灾难日。

　　That's the day that Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 infamously¹⁵ crashed in the Andes, killing¹⁶ 29 people. On the exact same day, 174 people were killed when a Soviet¹⁷ Aeroflot crashed in a lake about a kilometer from the runway.

　　那一天乌拉圭空军571坠毁于安第斯山脉造成29人死亡。同日，前苏联俄罗斯航空坠毁于跑到一公里以外的湖里，造成174人死亡。

1 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

2 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

3 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

4 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

7 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

8 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

9 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。

10 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

11 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

12 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

15 infamously   

不名誉地

参考例句：

• They will not have much cause of triumph when they see how infamously I act. 当他们看到我演得那么糟糕时，他们就不会有多少理由感到胜利了。

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。