海外文化:英美民俗-不祥之举:一根火柴三支烟

【英文原文】

摘要：有些人认为一根火柴连点三支烟不吉利。

Many people believe that lighting cigarettes for three persons from one match will bring bad luck. This superstition may have come from among soldiers during World War I. At night, a match that stayed lit long enough to light three cigarettes provided a target for the enemy.

Some people believe that it is unlucky to walk under a ladder. Different reasons have been given for this superstition. One of them is that a ladder was used to take down Jesus from the cross. But this is not mentioned in the Bible. Maybe the most sensible reason is, when a person walks under a ladder, it may fall on him or her, or a hammer or a bucket of paint may fall on his or her head.