中外文化差异案例库平台

对“13”say NO(图文)

戴丹璐  2016-06-30 00:13:23  自编
案例正文:

C是一名公司职员,今年4月被公司派遣到菲律宾出差。中午抵达酒店办理入住手续后,前台工作人员将C安排在14楼的房间。C进入电梯后,选择了自己的所在楼层。等待的过程中,他惊讶发现电梯的楼层数从12楼直接跳到了14楼,并没有“13”这个楼层。初来乍到的他觉得有点奇怪。下午,C搭乘大巴前往办事的地点。上车后,他发现座位号从12直接跳到了14,也略过了“13”这个数字。


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菲律宾电梯




延伸阅读:

切勿乱用数字“13”,忌讳因为这13个理由

维克多英语 · 2015-05-21 00:13

如果你经常去医院看病,一定会知道大多数的医院里都没有“4”楼,因为在汉语中“4”和“死”发音相近,所以为了避讳,不让病人的心情更糟,医院都尽量不会用4这个数字。

同样的,在外国也有被人忌讳的数字,其中最著名的就是数字13了。有些国外的高层建筑就和我们的医院一样,没有特定的楼层——13层楼。因为在老外的“玄学”里数字13会带来不幸。不过,老外为何会忌讳这个数字呢?那是因为他们认为历史上的许多不幸都与13有关。

1. 最有名的当属“最后的晚餐”,在画中叛徒犹大排在第13个出现

There were 13 people at the Last Supper. It’s said that Judas Iscariot — the one who betrayed Jesus — was the 13th man to take his place at the table.

2. 北欧神话中,一次宴会上的第十三位神——邪神洛基不请自来,引发了大风波“诸神的黄昏”

Similarly, there’s a Norse legend that has 12 gods sitting down to a banquet when the 13th (uninvited) god, Loki, shows up. Loki killed one of the other gods, which led to events that eventually resulted in Ragnarok - the death of a bunch of gods.

3. 据信耶稣死于黑色星期五——恰逢周五的13号,亚伯与该隐两人也于13号这一天决裂

Many Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on Friday the 13th. They also believe that the Cain and Abel debacle took place on that date.

4. 上绞刑架要走13步,刽子手的套索有13道旋

Traditionally, there used to be 13 steps leading up the gallows.There’s also a legend that a hang man’s noose traditionally contained 13 turns.

5. 阿波罗13号事故——唯一一次失败的月球任务

Apollo 13 is the only unsuccessful moon mission. An oxygen tank exploded and the survival of the astronauts on board was pretty touch-and-go for several days, but they did all come home safely in the end.

6. 1307年10月13日,圣殿骑士团遭到法国国王下令捕杀

There was a mass arrest and execution of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307.

7. 异端女巫团被认为有13位成员

Although a coven is now just considered to be any group of witches,it was once believed that a coven was made up of exactly 13 members.

8. 古老的迷信认为名字里有13个字母的人,会有魔鬼的命。

There’s an old superstition that says if you have 13 letters in your name, you’re bound to have the devil’s luck. For example, Charles Manson, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all contain 13 letters.

9. 传言如果13个人同桌吃饭,那么其中有一人会在次年遇害

Seating 13 people at a table would result in the death of one of them in the year to follow. In the late 1800s, there was a group called The Thirteen Club.They met on the 13th of the month and had dinner 13 people to a table. Members of the club included five U.S. presidents: Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, The odore Roosevelt and Chester A. Arthur. And, if you’re keeping track, Chester A. Arthur only became president because he was vice when Garfield was assassinated.

10. 黑色星期五——恰逢周五的13号是个极其不幸的日子

Friday, October 13, 1972, was a bad day in the history of aviation. That’s the day that Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 infamously crashed in the Andes, killing 29 people. On the exact same day, 174 people were killed when a Soviet Aeroflot crashed in a lake about a kilometer from the runway.

11. 一年中有13次满月便会不幸

A year with 13 full moons instead of 12 was considered a very unfortunate circumstance, especially by the monks who had charge of the calendar of thirteen months for that year, and it upset the regular arrangement of church festivals. For this reason thirteen came to be considered an unlucky number.

12. 小孩从13岁开始迎来叛逆期,一个个像“小魔鬼”一样可怕……(这也算是理由?)

Kids officially become teenagers at the age of 13, and we all know that’s a scary phase.

    看过以上这12个理由,你或许会真的信了这些理由,也或许会像华生一样觉得这些理由都是胡编乱造、生搬硬套的。不过,我认为下面的这第13个理由,才是真正使13变得“不幸”的真相。

13. 数字13被认为是“打破圆满”的数字

In numerology, the number 12 is considered to be the representation of perfection and completion. It stands to reason, then, that trying to improve upon perfection by adding a digit is a very bad idea indeed — your greed will be rewarded with bad luck.

就好像汉语中说“十全十美”把10和完美华生等号一样,西方人也把“12”作为“完美”的象征。这应该归功于十二进制对西方世界的深远影响:一年有12个月,黄道有12宫,一天有24(12x2)个小时,一个小时有60(12x5)分钟,等等……

12进制影响最明显的,莫过于英语数词:one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, night, ten, eleven, twelve从1数到12都有各自的单词对应不重复,而从13开始就变成了thirteen。

老外都觉得“十二全十二美”很好,而十三就是过了头。人应该知足常乐,而贪婪会给人带来厄运。所以13这个数字注定不招老外待见。

所以华生觉得,与其说是数字13会带来不幸,倒不如说是人们因为不喜欢数字13而把它作为不幸的象征。因此才会有那么多生搬硬套给13“栽赃”的理由,而其他的数字却被人为地选择性忽略了。比如数字17,某航空公司两次空难的航班编号都包含这个数字,难道它不比13更可怕吗?

不过,别人怎么想是别人的事情,无需去纠正别人的固有看法。你要做的,只是去了解为什么13会使人联想到不幸,以此来避免在生活中因为误用而冒犯到他人。比如你遇到一个虔诚的基督徒,就不适合约他在13号的晚上吃晚餐,一桌13个人,点13道菜……




思考题:


分析点评:

对菲律宾人而言,7和8是最幸运的数字。英文中数字7的发音与“平安(safe)”的发音有点接近,因此对菲律宾人而言7代表平安。而受华人文化的影响,菲律宾人也认为数字8意味着“发达”。但是, 由于菲律宾在独立之前曾被美国、西班牙占领过,因此在一些禁忌上也受到了西方国家的影响。菲律宾人很忌讳“13”这一数字。他们认为“13”是“凶神”,是厄运和灾难的象征,是不吉利的,所以是令人极为厌恶的数字。菲律宾的酒店、公寓的电梯指示没有13层,旅馆房间、汽车座号、楼房编号、门牌号等也都没有“13”,同时购物也不买13份,请客避免请“13”人,总之,凡遇“13”一定会设法避开。一般而言,如果遇到某一个星期五是13号,菲律宾人喜欢足不出户,旨在驱祸避邪。80%的菲律宾人是天主教徒,根据《圣经》,666充满了撒旦的邪恶,菲律宾人对它避而远之。和中国相似,菲律宾幸运数字的号码价格也很高,如888的车牌号在菲律宾陆运署的身价为5000至20000比索不等,约合100至400美元。 

这一忌讳源于两种传说:

其一,传说耶稣受害前和弟子们共进了一次晚餐。参加晚餐的第13个人是耶酥的弟子犹太。就是这个犹大为了30块银元,把耶稣出卖给犹太教当局,致使耶稣受尽折磨。参加最后晚餐的是13个人,晚餐的日期恰逢13日,“13”给耶纸带来苦难和不幸。从此,“13”被认为是不幸的象征。“13”是背叛和出卖的同义词。

其二,西方人忌讳“13”源于古代希腊。希腊神话说,在哈弗拉宴会上,出席了12位天神。宴会当中,一位不速之客——烦恼与吵闹之神洛基忽然闯来了。这第13位来客的闯入,招致天神宠爱的柏尔特送了性命。