Comprehension check

I. Divide the text into logical parts. Entitle each part.

II. Give English equivalents to the following Russian expressions:

Годовщина, поджог, обман, сценарист, наручники, ци­линдр, поклонники, живописный, экземпляры пользовались большим спросом, глу­боко посаженные глаза, широко использоваться.

III. Use the expressions from the text in the sentences of your own:

to be mystified, to be in great demand, to be easily forgotten, to re­main unchanged, to surpass expectation, to take on a life beyond fiction.

IV. You've just returned from London. Tell your groupmates about visiting Sherlock Holmes' pub and museum.

Superstitions

Pre-reading activity

1. Do you believe in superstitions?

2. Do you observe some restrictions concerning it?

3. What is your attitude to people who observe superstitions?

Many contradictory superstitions are linked to bats. In some places they are said to be unlucky and in others they are thought to avert ill luck. In

the Isle of Man and in parts of Wales, witches were said to transform themselves into bats and to enter houses where they would have power over the inhabitants. Despite this witch connection, it is thought to be extremely lucky if a bat falls on any person. In Oxfordshire, it's a death omen if a bat flies three times round a house. However, when bats come out early in the eve­ning and fly about as they are playing, it is a sign of fine weather to come.

The cat has always had a very special place in folk beliefs. At various times and in different places, it has been regarded as a holy or a diabolical beast, as a bringer of good fortune, or as an omen of evil. In Britain, the black cat is usually considered lucky. It's a very good sign if a black cat comes into a house or on board a ship, especially if it does so uninvited. To meet a black cat is usually thought to be fortunate, especially if it runs across the path in front of you.

There are, however, many variants of these be­liefs. For example, in east Yorkshire, while it's lucky to own a black cat, it's unlucky to meet one. In some places, the good fortune will only come if it is stroked three times, or greeted politely.

In most countries, the horseshoe is a luck-bringing, protective amulet. To find one lying in the road is very fortunate and it should not be passed by. You should pick it up, take it home and nail it over the house door. It is believed that its presence there will keep away evil and bring good fortune. There are slight varia­tions concerning how you should hang it up: some people say the horns should point downwards, others say the opposite.

Almost everywhere, it is considered unlucky to walk under a ladder standing against a wall. Even today, many people avoid doing so. There are several ways of counteracting the bad luck if you can't avoid walking under a ladder. One is to cross your fingers and keep them crossed until you see a dog. Another way is to spit three times through the rungs and walk on without looking back. In some places, it was believed that to reach through the rungs for something was also unlucky.

It is commonly thought that to break a mirror means seven years' bad luck or else a misfortune "of a particular kind", like the loss of a close friend or a death in the house. A woman could find out who would be her future husband by practicing a common form of divination on Halloween. She would go at night to her bedroom and light two candles on her dressing table. Then, if she stood in silence before the mirror, brushing her hair and eating an apple, she would see the face of her future husband in the glass, looking over her shoulder.

To open an umbrella in the house is generally said to be unlucky, and likely to bring misfortune either to the person who does it, or to the household as a whole. In some places, it's unlucky to put one on a bed. If an umbrella is unnecessarily opened during fine -weather, it will bring rain. If anyone drops one, he mustn't pick it up himself, but must get someone else to do it. In some places, an umbrella is considered to be a rather ill-omened gift.

Comprehension check

I. Look through the text. Find a key sentence for each paragraph.

2. Use the expressions from the text in the sentences of your own:

to avert ill luck to bring good fortune

an omen of evil a common form of divination

an ill-omened gift.

3. Complete the sentences given below:

1. It is considered to be a death omen if...

2. The good fortune will come...

3. There are several ways of counteracting the bad luck...

4. It is likely to bring a misfortune if...

5. It has a special place in folk beliefs because...

4. Make up a dialogue in order to compare superstitions in Russia and in Britain. Express your attitude to it.

Wedding Superstitions

Pre-reading activity

1. What is your attitude towards the wedding superstitions?

2. What Russian superstition do you know? Do you feel like observing them?

In England wedding preparations, ceremony and feast have become loaded with ritual practices to ward off evil and bless the marriage with fortune and fertility. The choice of date is important. May is traditionally unlucky for weddings and many modem couples marry between Easter and late May, the practice much encouraged by tax rebates. The tradition that bride's parents should pay for a wedding dates back from two or three centuries ago, when wealthy families should pay an eligible bachelor to take an unmarried daughter off their hands in exchange for a large dowry. At most formal weddings brides still get married in virginal white - many other colours are considered unlucky. The bride will also ensure that her wedding outfit includes "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". "Old" maintains her link with the past, "new" symbolizes the future, "borrowed" gives her a link with the present and "blue" symbolizes her purity.

Even a modern bride will observe the taboos about wearing her dress before the ceremony. The groom must not see her in it until she enters the church. The veil should be put on for the first time as she leaves for the church. It is a lucky omen if the bride sees a chimney sweep on her way to church. Sometimes the sweep is paid to attend the ceremony and kiss the bride - a relic of the old idea that soot and ashes are symbols of fertility.

After the ceremony, the couple is showered with the confetti -to bless the marriage with fertility.

One old custom was for a bride and sometimes the groom to negotiate some obstacle as they left the church - guests would impede them with ropes of flowers, for example, or with sticks that had to be jumped over.

After that the bride is faced with the feast. The most important item is the wedding cake, which richness symbolizes fertility just as it has done since Ro man times. Today, the first slice is cut by the bride to ensure a fruitful marriage.