ЕГЭ по английскому языку (аудирование №12: детальное понимание текста)

Traditional Beliefs and Superstitions

There are many unusual traditional beliefs concerning house and home. For the most part they are now recorded in folk history books and not really followed or seriously believed in today. But there are still a few, mostly older people, who continue the old traditions of their ancestors. Here are a few that I’ve heard about.

A common superstition is the belief that houses can be friendly or hostile, lucky or unlucky. There are fortunately many remedies to ‘correct’ a house with negative qualities. The front door is a good starting place! It’s a sensible place to spread good luck as this is the main point of entry. All manner of statues, symbols, etc. have been used for this job. Probably the most common is a horseshoe — with points upwards to stop the luck from running out.

And there are plenty of sayings about doors. It is apparently unlucky to enter the house for the first time by the back door, as this entrance isn’t protected against evil spirits. Also that you should encourage visitors to leave by the same door they came in to avoid taking the owner’s luck with them! If a door blows open, a visitor is coming and so on and so forth.

There are plenty of superstitions about cooking as well. When any food is mixed it should be stirred clockwise, as all functions of importance should be performed in an east to west direction. You should also never leave a tray in the oven when it’s not in use. I have no idea why!

Some of these old beliefs, however, are quite practical. For example, one saying states you should never waste leftover morsels of pastry or dough from making bread or cakes, or the whole baking will be ruined. Although some others defy all logic: for example, if you drop a slice of buttered bread, butter side up — a visitor will arrive.

There are lots of old beliefs concerning salt. The Ancient Greeks believed that salt was sacred and consequently used it in their sacrificial cakes and preparations. They also believed it to be a symbol of friendship, and if any was spilled, it was an omen of the end of a friendship. Among some peoples it was the custom to pay workers in amounts of salt, hence our modern word salary, from salarium.

There are also plenty of beliefs about tea. Never stir the teapot anti-clockwise or you will stir up a quarrel. If two women pour from the same pot, one of them will have a baby within a year. There is also widespread belief in ‘reading the tea-leaves’ to predict the future. I believe if you stir the tea twice and wait 5 minutes, you’ll get a decent brew!

According to tradition you should be very cautious around mirrors: to break one will result in seven year’s bad luck. This belief might originate with prehistoric peoples, who, on seeing their image reflected in water, believed it represented their soul. Should anything disturb this
image then his own life was in danger.

There are plenty of old traditions that seem to me plain daft. For example — do not sing in bath as this will lead to sorrow before evening; Get out of bed the right side but, if you can’t avoid it, put your right sock and shoe on first — and never, never ever put a hat on the bed!

As for me, I like singing in the bath and will continue to take the risk.