A Handful of History
撲克—手中的歷史
1. The next time you do a card trick-remember this. You're playing with history. The playing cards we use today are much like those used for hundreds of years. The most interesting things are the suits and face cards. A "suit" of a playing card is not a thing to be worn. It means Hearts, Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. The figures are placed on each card with the number or value of the card. The face cards are the Jacks, Queens, Kings, and, of course, the Jokers.
1、當(dāng)你下一次玩撲克的時(shí)候，要記住這些。你正在與歷史進(jìn)行游戲。今天我們用的撲克，幾乎與數(shù)百年前的撲克相差無幾。最有意思的東西是撲克里的“套”和“臉牌”。撲克中的“套”不是什么可以穿的東西。它意味著紅心、黑桃、紅方塊、或者梅花。牌面的數(shù)標(biāo)志著牌的順序或價(jià)值。帶臉的牌是杰克、皇后、國王、當(dāng)然還有鬼。
2. What do you think the suits stand for? Let's take the Hearts first. When you say that an athlete has a lot of heart, what do you mean? You mean that he is brave. So, you see, the King of Hearts is a "brave king".
2、你認(rèn)為“套”代表什么意思？讓我們先看紅心。當(dāng)你說一個(gè)運(yùn)動(dòng)員有很多心，你到底想表達(dá)什么意思？你的意思是他很勇敢。因此，你看，紅心國王是勇敢之王。
3. Look at the design of the Spade on a card. The word "spade" comes from the Italian word which means “sword”. With a little imagination, you can see the handle and the blade. Of course, the blade has been made much shorter on the card.
3、看看牌面上黑桃的設(shè)計(jì)。英語“SPADE”這個(gè)字來自意大利語，意思是刀劍。只要有一點(diǎn)想象力，你就能看到柄和刀刃。當(dāng)然，牌面的刀刃被做的非常短。
4. The diamonds and Club designs also have interesting stories. The Diamond design is one that you probably know already. It stands for the expensive gems that you and I have seen in jewelry stores. At first it stood for the rich traders who found and sold such gems. The Club looks a little like a three-leaf clover design. Its shape came from a French design with three leaves. It has the lowest rank of the suits.
4、紅方塊和梅花的設(shè)計(jì)同樣含著很有意思的故事。關(guān)于鉆石的圖案是一個(gè)你可能已經(jīng)知道的東西。它代表你和我都曾在首飾店看見過的珍貴的珍寶。首先它代表了制作和出賣這樣的珍寶的富有的商人。梅花看上去有點(diǎn)像三葉草的圖案。它的形狀來自一個(gè)法國的三片樹葉的圖案。它在套牌里排序最低。
5. Now you see how some suits of playing cards have more value or power than others. The face cards are usually powerful in any card game. The King is one of the strongest. There are four different Kings, and each one stands for a real person. The King of Hearts first meant Charlemagne. He lived about 800 years after the birth of Christ. He was one of the most powerful kings in Europe after Julius Caesar of Rome. Julius Caesar, by the way, is the King of Diamonds.
5、現(xiàn)在你看到了為什么一套牌的價(jià)值或力量大于另外一套牌。在任何一個(gè)撲克游戲里帶臉的牌往往威力更大。國王（K）是最強(qiáng)的一個(gè)。這里有四個(gè)不同的國王，每一個(gè)都代表著一個(gè)真實(shí)的人。首先紅心國王代表查理曼大帝，他生活在耶穌誕生后800年后。他是羅馬朱利葉斯·愷撒之后，歐洲最強(qiáng)大的國王。順便說一下，朱利葉斯·愷撒是紅方塊國王。
6. We must go further back in history to find out the names of the two other kings. The young Alexander the Great of Macedonia is the King of Clubs and King David is the King of Spades. David is the person who killed the giant Goliath. When someone talks about a David and Goliath, he means that a smaller, or weaker, person is trying to fight a very large and strong enemy. David beat Goliath and became a king. He probably never thought that he would have a place in playing cards.
6、我們要想找到其它兩個(gè)國王的名字，必須退回到更久遠(yuǎn)的歷史里去。梅花國王是大馬其頓王國年輕的亞歷山大，國王大衛(wèi)是黑桃國王。大衛(wèi)是殺死巨人歌利亞的人。當(dāng)某個(gè)人談到大衛(wèi)和歌利亞，他的意思是一個(gè)小個(gè)的人，或弱者正在打敗一個(gè)非常高大和強(qiáng)壯的敵人。大衛(wèi)戰(zhàn)勝了歌利亞成為國王。他可能從來沒有想到他會(huì)在撲克牌里有一個(gè)位置。
7. We must go back to the Bible and the times of David again to find two of our queens. Rachel was a famous woman in the Bible. She is the Queen of Diamonds.
7、我們必須再次回到圣經(jīng)（BIBLE）和大衛(wèi)王的時(shí)代去找兩個(gè)王后。拉結(jié)是圣經(jīng)中的著名女人。她是紅方塊王后。
8. Remember that the heart stands for bravery. A very brave woman is the Queen of Hearts. That was Judith, who killed an enemy general.
8、應(yīng)該還記得心代表勇敢。一個(gè)非常勇敢的女人是紅心王后。紅心王后是朱迪絲，她殺死了敵人的一個(gè)將軍。
9. When Alexander the Great was a general, one of the important woman goddesses was Athena. She stood for wisdom. Athena is the Queen of Spades.
9、當(dāng)偉大的亞利桑德拉還是將軍時(shí)，雅典娜是一個(gè)重要的女神。她代表智慧。雅典娜是黑桃皇后。
10. Queen Elizabeth I of England is thought to be the Queen of Clubs, She ruled England when America was mostly a wilderness.
10、英國的伊利沙白一世女王一般認(rèn)為是梅花王后。在她統(tǒng)治英國的時(shí)代，美國幾乎還是一片荒野。
11. The Jacks are sometimes called Knaves. A Knave is usually a person who gets into trouble. But the playing cards stand for famous knights in history. These men made themselves famous for their courage and bravery, but they were not kings.
11、杰克牌有時(shí)被稱為無賴。一個(gè)無賴往往意味著他是一個(gè)帶來麻煩的人。但是在撲克游戲中杰克代表歷史上有名的爵士。這些人以他們的膽量和勇敢成名，但是他們不是國王。
12. The Joker of the card deck is the one that doesn't always fit. He is sometimes used as an extra card. He sometimes becomes more powerful than any other card. He does not stand for anyone person like some of the other cards. But I think that you can see what his name means.
12、鬼牌是一張牌臉與其價(jià)值不相適應(yīng)的牌。它常常用做一張?zhí)貏e的牌。有時(shí)它被用做比任何牌更有權(quán)利的牌。它不像其它牌臉代表著什么人。但是，我認(rèn)為你能看出它的名字的含義。
13. So, you see that you can hold some history in your hands. History from King David to Queen Elizabeth is all on the front of playing cards.
13、所以，你看，你用你的手握住了一些歷史，從大衛(wèi)王到伊利沙白女王全都在撲克的正面。
