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@ 50401 民間迷信
A 不知怎麼回事，今天我的眼皮一直在跳。
bùzhī zěnmehuíshì, jīntiān wǒ de yǎnpí yīzhí zài tiào.
I don't know what's going on. All day long, my eyelid has been twitching.
B 左眼還是右眼？
zuǒyǎn háishì yòuyǎn?
Left eye or right?
A 左眼。怎麼，這還有什麼講究嗎？
zuǒyǎn. zěnme, zhè hái yǒu shénme jiǎngjiu ma?
Left eye. What is it, is there something special about that?
B 當然，俗話說“左眼跳財，右眼跳災”，看來你最近要發財了。
dāngrán, súhuàshuō `` zuǒyǎn tiào cái, yòuyǎn tiào zāi" , kànlai nǐ zuìjìn yào fācái le.
Of course! There's a saying that goes, ``If your left eye is twitching, you'll get rich. If your right eye is twitching, you'll have a disaster." Looks like you're going to come into some money soon!
A 沒想到你這麼迷信啊，我一不買彩票，二不買股票，哪可能有什麼意外之財？
méi xiǎngdào nǐ zhème míxìn ā, wǒ yī bù mǎi cǎipiào, èr bù mǎi gǔpiào, nǎ kěnéng yǒu shénme yìwàizhīcái?
I had no idea you were so superstitious. First, I don't play the lotto, and I also don't play the stock market. How could I come into some unexpected wealth?
B 這不是想逗你開心嘛。其實我也不信這些的，不過我奶奶信，像什麼“男人嘴大吃四方，女人嘴大吃錢糧”，“喜鵲報喜，烏鴉報憂”等等，差不多對每件事都有她的一套說法。
zhè bù shì xiǎng dòu nǐ kāixīn ma. qíshí wǒ yě bùxìn zhèxiē de, bùguò wǒ nǎinai xìn, xiàng shénme `` nánrén zuǐdà chī sìfāng, nǚrén zuǐdà chī qiánliáng" , `` xǐquè bàoxǐ, wūyā bàoyōu" děngděng, chàbuduō duì měi jiàn shì dōu yǒu tā de yītào shuōfa.
I'm not just fooling with you. Actually, I don't believe in this stuff, either. But my grandma believes them, stuff like ``A man with big lips will eat a lot, a woman with big lips will spend a lot." ``Magpies report good news, crows report bad." She has something to say about nearly everything that happens.
A 好像老人家都這樣，我奶奶也是，小時候我的牙齒掉了，她就告訴我掉了上面的牙齒要扔到溝裡，掉了下面的牙齒要扔到屋頂上，這樣牙齒才長得快，否則就長不出牙來了。
hǎoxiàng lǎorénjiā dōu zhèyàng, wǒ nǎinai yě shì, xiǎoshíhòu wǒ de yáchǐ diào le, tā jiù gàosu wǒ diào le shàngmian de yáchǐ yào rēngdào gōulǐ, diào le xiàmian de yáchǐ yào rēngdào wūdǐng shàng, zhèyàng yáchǐ cái zhǎng de kuài, fǒuzé jiù zhǎng bu chū yá lái le.
It seems like old people are always that way. My grandma is, too. When I lost teeth as a little kid, she told me to throw the top teeth into a ditch. She had me throw top teeth onto the roof. That's the only way your teeth would grow quickly. Otherwise, you wouldn't grow new teeth.
B 對對對，我小時候奶奶也是這麼對我說的。她老人家呀，真是迷信得厲害，連打個噴嚏都能被她說出一二來。
duì duì duì, wǒ xiǎoshíhòu nǎinai yě shì zhème duì wǒ shuō de. tā lǎorénjiā yā, zhēnshì míxìn de lìhai, lián dǎ ge pēntì dōu néng bèi tā shuōchū yīèr lái.
Right! My grandma said the same stuff to me when I was little. Old people like her are really superstitious. She even had a little something to say about sneezing!
A 她是不是說，打一個噴嚏是有人在想你，兩個是有人在罵你，連打三個就是你感冒了，要去看醫生？
tā shì bu shì shuō, dǎ yī ge pēntì shì yǒurén zài xiǎng nǐ, liǎng ge shì yǒurén zài mà nǐ, lián dǎ sān ge jiùshì nǐ gǎnmào le, yào qù kàn yīshēng?
Did she say that sneezing once means that someone is thinking of you, sneezing twice means someone is yelling at you, and the third time means that you've caught a cold and should go to the doctor?
B 沒錯，沒錯，這也是你奶奶告訴你的？
méicuò, méicuò, zhè yě shì nǐ nǎinai gàosu nǐ de?
Exactly right. Did your grandma tell you that, too?
A 不是，是鄰居的大媽告訴我的。
bù shì, shì línjū de dàmā gàosu wǒ de.
No, my neighbor's auntie told me.
B 看來民間迷信的人還真不少呢。
kànlai mínjiān míxìn de rén hái zhēn bùshǎo ne.
Seems like a lot of people believe in folk superstitions.
A 是啊，不過我覺得民間的這些說法雖然很多都不可信，卻挺有意思的。比如說我嘴角長了一顆痣，奶奶就說，嘴角長痣的人有口福，而且能言善辯。
shì ā, bùguò wǒ juéde mínjiān de zhèxiē shuōfa suīrán hěnduō dōu bù kěxìn, què tǐng yǒu yìsi de. bǐrú shuō wǒ zuǐjiǎo zhǎng le yī kē zhì, nǎinai jiù shuō, zuǐjiǎo zhǎng zhì de rén yǒu kǒufú, érqiě néngyánshànbiàn.
Yeah. I think that a lot of these folk superstitions aren't really believable. But they're really interesting. For instance, if you have a mole on your lip, you're likely to eat well, and you're very eloquent.
B 那像我這樣耳朵上長痣的人呢？
nà xiàng wǒ zhèyàng ěrduo shàng zhǎng zhì de rén ne?
What about people like me who have a mole on their ear?
A 據說耳朵上長痣的人特別聰明。
jùshuō ěrduo shàng zhǎng zhì de rén tèbié cōngming.
People say that if you grow a mole on your ear, you're very smart.
B 哈哈，這話說得有道理，我從小就過目不忘。
hāhā, zhè huà shuō de yǒudàolǐ, wǒ cóngxiǎo jiù guòmùbùwàng.
Ha ha, that sounds about right. Ever since I was small, I've always had a great memory.
A 真受不了你，剛才還說自己是不迷信的，一轉眼聽到好話就信了？明知道這些都是沒有科學根據的說法。
zhēn shòubuliǎo nǐ, gāngcái hái shuō zìjǐ shì bù míxìn de, yīzhuǎnyǎn tīngdào hǎohuà jiù xìn le? míngzhīdào zhèxiē dōu shì méiyǒu kēxué gēnjù de shuōfa.
I can't stand you! Just then you said you don't believe in superstitions. But then you hear something nice, and now you do? You clearly know that these explanations don't have a basis in science.
B 人都是愛聽好話的嘛，好事當然是“寧可信其有”。
rén dōu shì ài tīng hǎohuà de ma, hǎoshì dāngrán shì `` nìngkě xìn qí yǒu" .
Everyone loves to hear pleasant things. Of course ``you'd rather to believe that good things will happen."
A 那壞事呢？
nà huàishì ne?
What about bad things?
B 壞事嘛，也“不可信其無”，做好防範化解措施總沒錯。
huàishì ma, yě `` bùkě xìn qí wú" , zuò hǎo fángfàn huàjiě cuòshī zǒng méicuò.
Bad things, ``It's not possible to believe that they won't happen." There's nothing wrong with taking measures to prevent them.
A 現在我總算明白為什麼那些迷信說法會有這麼多人相信了。
xiànzài wǒ zǒngsuàn míngbai wèishénme nàxiē míxìn shuōfa huì yǒu zhème duō rén xiāngxìn le.
Now I finally understand why so many people believe in those superstitions.
B 為什麼啊？
wèishénme ā?
Why?
A 為了趨吉避凶呀。
wéile qūjíbìxiōng yā.
To get good fortune and avoid disaster!
Key Vocabulary
講究 jiǎngjiu to be particular about
意外之財 yìwài zhī cái money from an unexpected source
一二 yī èr very little
痣 zhì mole
能言善辯 néngyánshànbàn eloquent
過目不忘 guòmùbùwàng to have a photographic memory
寧可信其有 nìngkě xìn qí yǒu to rather believe to be true
不可信其無 bùkě xìn qí wú to be unable to believe does not exist
防範 fángfàn to guard against
措施 cuòshī measure
趨吉避凶 qūjíbìxiōng to pursue good fortune and avoid bad
Supplementary Vocabulary
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