58 Are You Superstitious?

Many superstitious people are afraid of black cats. They believe that black cats have a strange power. If a black cat crosses their path, they think they will have bad luck.

Black cats haven’t always had such a bad reputation. Long ago, the Egyptians thought that black cats were holy animals. They even worshipped them. Pasht was an Egyptian goddess who had a woman’s body and a cat’s head. Because the Egyptians had so much respect for black cats, they often buried the sacred creatures with great ceremony. Mummies of cats have often been found in ancient cemetery ruins. To keep the cats company after they died, mice were sometimes buried beside them.

Feelings about black cats have always been strong. People have thought they were either very good or very bad. The people of Europe in the Middle Ages believed black cats were the evil friends of witches and the devil. Witches were said to have the power to change themselves into black cats. People believed that you could not tell whether a black cat was just a cat or whether it was a witch disguising herself as she plotted some evil scheme. The brain of a black cat was thought to be a main ingredient in a witch’s brew.

Unlike their ancestors of the Middle Ages, the English today consider black cats to be good luck charms. Fishermen’s wives often keep a black cat around so that their husbands will be protected when they are out at sea.

许多迷信的人害怕黑猫。他们认为黑猫有一种奇特的力量。如果有黑猫从他们面前走过，他们就觉得自己会遭遇厄运。

黑猫并非一直名声这么差。很久以前，埃及人认为黑猫是神圣的动物，他们甚至会崇拜黑猫。巴斯忒是一位埃及女神，有着女人的身体和猫的脑袋。因为埃及人对黑猫极为敬重，他们常常会隆重地安葬这些神圣的生灵。在古代墓地遗址中，经常能发现猫的木乃伊。为了让猫死后不孤单，有时会把老鼠埋在它们身边。

人们对黑猫的情绪一直很强烈，要么觉得它们极好，要么觉得它们极坏。中世纪的欧洲人认为黑猫是女巫和魔鬼的邪恶同伙。据说女巫有能力把自己变成黑猫，人们认为没法分辨一只黑猫到底只是普通的猫，还是正在密谋邪恶计划的女巫变的。黑猫的脑子还被认为是女巫药剂的主要原料之一。

和中世纪的祖先不同，如今的英国人把黑猫视为好运的象征。渔民的妻子们常会养一只黑猫在身边，这样她们的丈夫出海时就能得到保护。