Luck Numbers 幸运数字

In China, many people believe that some numbers can bring good luck, while some are often connected with misfortune. For example, number 6 in China usually means “doing things smoothly”, number 8 means “make a fortune”, and number 10 means “prefect”. While the number such as 4, usually means “death” because its pronunciation is similar with the Chinese character Si. Therefore, the superstitious people will try their best not to choose telephone numbers or car plate numbers or door numbers which are contain with 4. And the people usually will not have their wedding on 4th. People believe those numbers have magic power, which can bring them good luck or bad luck.

在中国，许多人相信一些数字能给人带来好运气，而另一些则不太吉利。比如说，数字6在中国表示“六六大顺”；数字8表示“挣大钱，大家发”，数字10则表示“十全十美”。而数字4，因为其发音与中文中的“死”字相近，所以被认为不吉利。因此，迷信的人们尽量避免自己的电话号码、车牌号码或是门牌号码含有数字4，人们通常也不会在4号举行婚礼。他们相信，这些数字是有魔力的，能给人带来好运气或坏运气。

In my humble opinion, I do not think these so-called lucky numbers can bring people good luck. Number stand for nothing but quantity. They are only some arbitrary symbols used for communication. Our ancestors created numbers for counting, not for luck. People believe number 8 can bring good fortune is only because the pronunciation of eight has almost the same sound of “fa cai” in Cantonese. The ironic part is the people who choose the number on purpose do not always make big money, while the people whose telephone numbers or car plate numbers contain 4 do not kick their buckets. Shakespeare said, “If we call a rose by any other name, it would smell sweet as well.” This means there is no connection between sound and meaning. So it’s no good to believe that number has something to do with the luck.

在我看来，我不认为这些所谓的“幸运数字”能给人们带来好运。数字值代表数量。它们不过是一些为了沟通交流而产生的任意符号。我们的祖先创造数字是为了记熟而不是为了运气。人们之所以相信数字8能给人带来好运气是因为“八”的发音与广东话“发财”的发音几乎一样。最讽刺的是那些故意选了数字8最为电话号码、车牌号码的人也没有一直赚大钱发大财，而那些选择了数字4的人也都活得好好的。莎士比亚曾说过：“如果我们把‘玫瑰’称为其他的名字，它依旧香甜。”这意味着发音与词义没有很大的联系。所以，一味的相信数字能带来好运气不是一件好事情。

To sum up, we should believe in our personal ability instead of so-called lucky numbers, as a proverb goes, “Man proposes, God disposes.”

总得来说，我们应该相信个人能力，而不是这些所谓的“幸运”数字。就像俗话说的那样——谋事在人，成事在天。