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Файл:Why Do the English Say So (Почему англичане так говорят). Учебное пособие для дополнительного чтения
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This expression is said to have come from
a term going back many hundreds of years.
Dressedtotheeyes(meaningpleasingtotheeye)
was written in Old English as “to then eyne”.
Itiseasytoseehowthishasbecomenow«tothe
nines».
It’salsoconnectedwiththepriceofadmission
toentertainmentplacesof the past.The most expensiveseatsoftencost9d,andwerereferredto
as the “nines”.Tobe dressed to the ninesmeant
thatonewasbeautifullydressedforthebestseats
inthehouse.
21
It has been traditional for many hundreds
of years to say «God Bless You» to anyone
who sneezed.This is because it was originally
believed that the force of a sneeze forced the
soul from the body and the heart momentarily stopped beating.Anybody who wasnearby
whenthey heard asneezewould try tohelpby
usingthesewords andinthiswayhelpthesoul
nditswayback.
Thepracticeofsaying«BlessYou»aftersomebodyhassneezed
isbelievedtooriginatefromPopeGregorytheGreatinthe6
th
century
whorecommendeditsuseafteranoutbreakofplague1inRomeand
calledforprayersasprotectionagainstinfection.
1. Аplague[pleig]–эпидемия(чумы,холерыит.д.)
22
Womenlivelongerthanmenbecausemanwascreatedrstwith
all his imperfections, whereas woman was created later as the nished,perfectmodel.
Womenlivelongerasthey can standmore pain thanmen, asin
thecaseofchildbirth.
Womencantakegreaterextremesoftemperature.
Womenaremorecaringaboutthings.
Women live less stressful lives. No wonder they live longer,
they’remadebetterthanus,men.
Womenalsolivelongerthanmenbecausetheymustalwayshave
thelastword!
23
Theexpression«Lifebeginsatforty»,originatesfromRomantimeswhen
itwasconsideredanhonourforafamilyto send theirdaughteronher tenth
birthdayintotheTempleofVesta
1
.The
girlwouldremaininthetempleforthe
next30yearsandliveasavest al virgin:asimplelifeofprayer,abstinence
and charity work. Even to see a man
wasforbiddenandwould resultin expulsion.On herfortieth birthdaythe unfortunate (orfortunate) lady
wouldbereleasedandbeginhernewlifeassoonaspossible.
Another explanation is that the saying comesfrom the French,
whosaythatwespendtwentyyearsgrowing,twentyyearsworking
andtwentyyearsliving.Thisprobablydatesbacktoatimewhenthe
lifeexpectancyinFrancewasonly60yearsorso.
No,butitmakesusliveinhopeforanotherfortyyears.
1. Vesta–agoddessinAncientRome.
24
Somereligionsbelievethatbeforebeingbornwehadapre-mortalexperience wherewe sawsnippets ofour futurelife.Allwe are
doingata time ofdéjàvuisremembering whatwe «viewed»years
before.
Itisalsosuggestedthatperhapsthepersonhasbeentherebefore,
longago,perhapsinchildhood,andhaseitherforgotten,or“blocked
out”thememoryforsomereason,butobviouslythisisonlypossible
inalimitednumberofcases.
Asecondpossibilityisthateventsinthelifetimesofone’sancestorscanberecordedandpasseddownfromonegenerationtoanother
genetically.
Themostplausibletheory,however,isthatwhenyouhaveanexperience,forsomeunknownreason,itdoesn’tpasstoyourshort-term
memoryfor“sorting”,butpassesdirectlytoyourlong-termmemory,
givingyoutheimpressionthatyouhadalsohadthatparticularexperiencealongtimeago,andthememoryhadbeenrecordedthen.
25
ThecustomofusinglightedcandlesbeganwiththeGreeks.Honeycakesintheshapeofthemoonandlitwithtapers
1
wereplacedon
thetemplealtarofArtemis.Candlesweremeanttoprotectthebirthdaycelebrantfromevilspiritsand to ensure securityforthecoming
year.Astrologers considerthe sun’s positionat birthto indicatethe
strengthofaperson’sheartandthemeasureofvitalenergy.Itisour
batterypoweronwhichwerunanditisrechargedannuallywhenthe
sunreachesthesamebirthposition,that’swhywewishpeople“Many
Happy(Solar)Returns”.
Justbeforeourbirthdaywefeelweak,ourenergyrunslowandso
thecandleamesareasymbolicreassurancethatthespiritoflifein
usisabouttoberenewed.Theolderwegetthemorecandlepowerwe
needtogiveusnewhopefortheyearahead.
1. Tapers–тонкиесвечки.
26
In Norse
1
mythology the cat as
theDevil’sanimal wassupposed to
havegreatinuenceon theweather.
Many myths credited the cat with
an ability to predict the weather.
The dog, like the wolf, is a signal
ofwind.Thus thecatmaybe taken
as the symbol of the downpouring
rain. In the 16th century in Britain
the streets were so narrow and the
drainage was so poor that during
very heavy rains the streets would
befullofstray2cats,dogsandratswhichhaddiedpreviouslyorhad
drownedfromthedeluge3itself.
Thereisno record ofiteverhavingrained cats anddogs,butit
has rained frogs! In Germany there was once a snail storm and in
1972blackwormsaboutthesizeofbeesfellfromtheskybythethousandsoverBucharest.
1. Norse[no:s]–скандинавский.
2. Stray[strei]–бездомный.
3. Adeluge[delju:dz]–потоп.
27
Thenumber13wasoriginallythought
tobeunluckybyearlyChristians,asthere
were13guestsat the LastSupper before
Christwascrucied.Thefearofthenumber 13 is known as triskaidekaphobia.
This phobia affects every superstitious
mind in any country all over the world.
TheFrenchdon’tnumbertheirhouses13.
The Italians even leave the unfortunate
numberoutoftheirnationallotteryandalloverBritainandtheUSA
millionsofpoundsare lostbecausedealswon’tbemadeandpeople
won’tgotoworkonthe13
th
,especiallyifitfallsonthesamedayas
aFriday.InthelasttenyearssurgeonsatCardiffRoyalHospitaldecidedtocomparethenumberofpatientsadmittedtocasualtyforeach
Friday6thandFriday13thtoseeifpeoplehadmoreaccidentsonthe
unluckydate.TheyfoundoutthattheaveragenumberseekingtreatmentonFriday6
th
was204;onFriday13th196.
28
Thisdatesbacktomediaevaltimeswhencatswerethoughttobe
theservantsofwitches.Thosecatswerehunteddownandkilledbut
itwasthoughtthatthe witch couldreincarnatethecat’ssoul,andso
bringitbackfromthedead,uptoninetimes.Ifthisistrue,thencats
reallydohaveninelives.
Cats don’t really have nine lives. This was derived from the
whipcalled«theCat-of-Ninetails»thatwasusedonshipstobeatthe
slaves.Asthewhiphadnine«tails»,itdidn’tmatterifonebrokeas
therewereeightremaining.Hence«thecathadninelives».
Catsaresoskilledandnimblethattheyavoidwhatlookslikecertain death. This may be one reason why they are regarded as being
lucky.Itisthatluckinesswhichgivesthecluetothenumbernine.Nine
wasonceknownasaholynumber,andsobecamealuckynumber.
Thecatsagility1enablesthemtogetoutofriskysituationsmore
easily than other animals. High speed photography has shown that
when a cat falls, even from an upside down position, it somehow
managesto turnin the airand landon its feetwhich arepaddedto
sustaintheimpactalmostlikebuilt-inshockabsorbers.AlsoinEgypt
over3000yearsagocatkillingwaspunishedbydeath.Withsuchprotection,catswereunlikelytodieprematurely.
Cats mustalso stay content with nine– birds, mice,hamsters
3
voles
,rats,shrews4,goldsh,moles5andgerbils6.
«Catsdo have ninelives!Threefor playing,threefor straying
2
7
threeforstaying»(anEnglishproverb).
,
,
1. Agility–ловкость,
проворство.
2. Ahamster–хомяк.
3. Avole–полевка.
4. Ashrew–землеройка.
5. Amole–крот.
6. Agerbil–тушканчик.
7. Tostray–бродить.
29
55–54ВС ExpeditionsofJuliusCaesar.
Ic.AD–Vс.AD
409 EndofRomanRuleinBritain.
Vс. Anglo-SaxonraidsandsettlementinBritain.
VIIIc.–IXс. DanishraidsonBritishlands.
871–899 TheRuleofKingAlfredTheGreatofWessex.
1014–1035 TheRuleofKingCanutetheDanishKinginBritain.
1042–1066 TheReignofEdwardtheConfessor.
1066(January) DeathofEdwardtheConfessor.EarlHarold
1066(September)
1066(October) DukeWilliamofNormandydefeatsandkills
1066(December)
1086 DomesdaySurvey(Book)iscarriedout.
1087–1100 TheRuleofWilliamIIRufus.
1100–1135 TheReignofHenryI,KingofEngland.
1135–1154 TheReignofStephen,KingofEngland.
1154–1189 TheReignofHenryII(Plantagenet),
1162 ThomasBecketbecomesArchbishop
1215 ThebaronsforceJohntosignandacceptthe
1216–1272 TheReignofHenryIII,KingofEngland.
1199–1216 ThereignofJohn(Lackland),KingofEngland.
1258 HenryIIIagreestotheProvisionsofOxford,
1265 SimondeMonfort,thevirtualrulerofEngland,
TheRomanRuleinBritain.
becomesking.
KingHaroldofEnglanddefeatsandkills
KingHaroldofNorwayatStamfordBridge.
KingHaroldofEnglandatHasting.
WilliamiscrownedKingofEngland.
KingofEngland.
ofCanterbury(1170).
MagnaCartaLibertata(TheGreatCharter).
limitingtheroyalpower.
summonsaparliamentofchurchmen,barons,
knightsandtworepresentativesfromeachborough.
30
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