英语泛读第二册Numbers-and-Omens原文及翻译

1NumbersandOmensThereisasetoffamousstreetsinGaoxiongCityinTaiwan,China,whichallbeginwithnumbers.TheyareYixin(OneHeart),Ersheng(TwoSacreds),Sanduo(ThreeMores),Siwei(FourUpholds),Wufu(FiveFortunes),Liuhe(SixRealm),Qixian(SevenVirtues),Bade(EightMoralPrecepts),Jiuru(NineWishes),andShiquan(PerfectTen)streets.Thissequenceofauspiciousstreetnamesgivespeopleawarmfeelingwhentheyhearit,andbringmorethanalittlelucktotheresidents.Manyforeignvisitorscan’thelpbutexclaimthattheChinesearereallycreative,andcanlinenumbersupso“auspiciously”.Chinesenotonlyusenumberstoappealforgoodfortune,theyalsobringthemouttochewpeopleout:“You250[fool],youdothingsneitherthreeorfour[withoutanyorderoroutoftouch],andstillyoudaretosaythatI’m13points[stupid]and3-8[scatterbrained].”Althoughitisn’treallypossibletoknowwherethesecamefrom,onethingisforsure:numbersareintimatelyrelatedtothedailylifeofChinese!中国台湾的高雄市有一组有名的道路，都是以数字起头，它们是一心路、二圣路、三多路、四维路、五福路、六合路、七贤路、八德路、九如路、十全路。这一串吉祥的路名让人听了感到温暖，并给沿街居民带来不少好运气。许多外国游客赞叹不已，说中国人真有创造性，竟能够把数字排列得如此“吉祥”。中国人不仅用数字求好运，还用数字骂人：“你这个二百五（呆子），你做事不三不四（不上规矩），你还敢说我是十三点（愚蠢），说我是三八（心不在焉）。”尽管不可能真的了解这些用法的来源，但是有一点可以肯定：数字与中国人的日常生活密切相关！OriginsintheBookofChangesInantiquity,peoplekepttalliesbytryingknots,andonlyemployednumbersandwordslateron.Fromnaturalphenomenaandlifeexperience,peoplecametorecognizethesignsofchangeinaparticularmatter.Forexample,therewastheancients’sayingthat“ifthemoonhasahaloitwillbewindy,andadampplinthforetellsrain.”Itisinevitablethattherewillbemisfortuneinlife,sopeoplebegantoadoptwaystoattracttheauspiciousandexpelthemalicious.Addtothisthatpeoplehavepsychologicalactivityandtheabilitytolinkthingstogetherintheirminds,andawholesetofauspiciousness-attractingandevil-expellinghabitstookshape.源出《易经》：远古时期人们结绳记事，后来才使用数字和文字。通过观察自然现象、积累生活经验，人们逐渐能够认识万物变化的预兆，比如，古人说：“月晕知风，础润知雨。”由于生活中不可避免地会发生不幸事件，所以人们就用各种方式祈福驱邪，加上人们的心理活动和联想能力，于是就形成了一整套祈福避祸的风俗习惯。TheIChingorBookofChangesisacompilationwhichrecordstheexperience2ofpeopleinancienttimeswithluckanddivination.IntheBookofChanges,eachnumberhassomesignificance:oneisthetai-jior“greatsupreme”,twoisthe“tworituals”,threeisforthe“threepowers”,fourforthe“fourdirections”,fiveisforthe“fivepathway”,sixstandsforthe“sixrealm’,sevenforthe“sevenrulesofgovernment”,eightmeansthe“eighttrigrams”,nineisforthe“ninechains”,andtenisthetendepictions”.《易经》记载了古人预测吉凶祸福的占卜活动，《易经》中的每一个数字都有一定的含义：一为“太极”，二为“两仪”，三为“三才”，四为“四象”，五为“五行”，六为“六合”，七为“七政”，八为“八卦”，九为“九星”，十为“十干”。Weoftensay“threeyangmakegoodfortune”todescribethehopethatmisfortunewillbeheldatbayandgoodluckwillfollow.ItisasayingoftenusedattheNewYearandsymbolizesanewbeginningandfindsitsoriginsintheBookofChanges.YangisthepositiveforceandthereisenormousYangandveryweakYin(Negativeforce)inthefirst,second,andthirdoftheninetrigrams.SothethreeYangareverypositive.我们常说“三阳开泰，以期远离凶险，万事亨通。这句成语源自《易经》，常常在新年里使用，表示新的开端。阳是宇宙间的正气，在九爻的第一爻、第二爻和第三爻中，阳已经远盛于阴，所以三阳的阳气极盛。Someonefeelsthatnumbershavenoconnectionwithfortunegoodorill,saysthattheonlysignificancenumbershaveiswhatpeopleascribetothem.Tryingtosaythatagivennumberiseitherauspiciousorominousismeresuperstition.Still,unliketheWesternsensitivitytothenumber13,Chinesehaveawholephilosophybuiltuparoundnumbers,whichisspreadorexperiencedinreallife.国际道教基金会主席李恒力（音译）认为数字和祸福并无任何联系，它们的意义是人们强加上去的，硬要说一个数字吉利或不祥，只不过是迷信而已。中国人不像西方人那样只对数字13敏感，他们对数字有一整套观点，体现在日常生活中。Godscanbealone,butpeoplecannotOneisnumbermarkingthebeginning,andalsohasthemeaningof“independent”or“alone”.神仙可以孤单，人却不能孤单：“一”是表示开端的数字，同时含有“单独”或“孤单”的意思。InTaiwanpeoplepreferevennumberswhichsymbolize“fortunecomesinpairs.Theyaremorewaryofone,three,five,seven,andnine.Becausethecharacterfor“odd”inChinese(dan)alsomeans“alone”,peoplearenotveryfondofit.Butalthoughpeoplelikeevennumbers,thegodscanbealone.Thusinodd-numberedmonthsholidayshavebeenstipulatedtohelppeoplegetby,fromNewYears(firstdayofthefirstmonthonthelunarcalendar)andTombSweepingDay(thirddayofthethirdmonth)todragonBoatFestival(fifthofthefifth),ChineseValentine’sDay(sevenoftheseventh),andOldPeople’sDay(ninthdayoftheninthmonthinthelunarcalendar).台湾神学院神学教授童凤婉（音译）指出，台湾人偏爱双数，因为双数表示3“好事成双”。他们对一、三、五、七、九等单数比较谨慎。由于单数的“单”字在汉语里有“孤单”的意思，所以人们不大喜欢这个字。虽然人们喜欢双数，但神仙们却可以孤单，因此单月里定下一些节日让人们庆祝，从新年（农历正月初一）和清明节（三月初三），到端午节（五月初五）、七夕（七月初七）和重阳节（九月初九）等都是单数。Atweddings,whenChinesepeoplegive“redenvelopes”withgiftsofcash,theyonlysendevenamounts,like1200or3600.becausethepronunciationof“four”isclosetothatof“death”,ifyousend4400tothebrideandgroom,peoplewon’tbegratefulandmightevencriticizeyoubehindyourbackforfailingtounderstandbasicmanners.Atfunerals,ontheotherhand,peopleusuallygiveofferingswiththelastdigitbeingodd,soastoavoidillfortunenotcome“alone”.婚礼上，中国人会送装有现金的“红包”，但只送双数，如1200元或3600元。由于台湾话“四”的发音近似“死”，所以，如果你送给新郎新娘4400元的话，他们不但不会感谢你，甚至还会暗地里骂你不懂规矩。然而在葬礼上，人们送礼的末位数都是单数，这是为了避免“祸不单行”。HappinesscomesinpairsWhenpeoplegotmarriedinancienttimes,betrothalgiftswouldincludeadocumentrecordingallthedetailsoftheaccompanyinggifts.Thewritingstylewasrathermeticulous.Thus,forexample,chickensorduckswouldbewrittenas“Fourwingsofpoultry”.Goldbraceletswouldbewritten“Goldbraceletsbecomingapair”.Candleswouldbewrittenas“Fe