VOA090322-WORDS AND THEIR STORIES

How a special sign came to mean a doctor's prescription.
一个特殊的记号是怎样变成医生的处方的

 

Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
现在是VOA慢速英语节目，词汇和掌故

 

Every week at this time, the Voice of America tells about popular words and expressions used in the United States.  Some of these words and expressions are old. Some are new.  Together, they form the living speech of the American people.
每周的这个时候，美国之音会讲述在美国经常使用的词汇。有些词汇比较旧，有的比较新，他们一起形成了美国人生动的语言。

 

Our story today is very old. It goes back about five-thousand years. It is about a sign that is used to represent some words. 
我们今天的故事很古老，它大概可以追溯到5000年前，是关于一个经常代表一些单词的记号。

 

We see this sign on drug stores and whenever we visit a doctor to get an order for medicine. It also appears on bottles of pills and other medicines.
我们能在药店看到这个记号，或者我们无论何时去找医生订购药物也能看到它。同时它也出现在药丸或者其他药物的瓶子上。

 

The sign is formed by a line across the right foot of the letter "R." It represents the word "prescription." It has come to mean "take this medicine."
这个记号又一条直线构成，位于字母R的右边，它代表单词“处方”。现在它表示“吃药”

 

The sign has its beginnings five thousand years ago in Egypt. At that time, people prayed to Horus, the god of the Sun. It was said that when Horus was a child, he was attacked by Seth, the demon of evil.
在埃及这个记号五千年前就已经开始了，在那个时候，人们崇拜太阳神荷鲁斯，据说当太阳神还是一个孩子的时候，他被邪恶之魔赛思袭击了。

 

The evil Seth put out the eye of the young Horus. The mother of Horus called for help. Her cry was answered by Thoth, the god of learning and magic. Thoth, with his wisdom and special powers, healed the eye of Horus. And the child was able to see again.
邪恶的赛思弄瞎了年轻的荷鲁斯的眼睛。荷鲁斯的母亲呼救，她哭声得到了知识和魔法之神透特的回应。透特用他的智慧和特殊的力量治愈了荷鲁斯的眼睛，最终幼小的荷鲁斯又能重见光明。

 

The ancient Egyptians used a drawing of the eye of Horus as a magic sign to protect themselves from disease, suffering and evil.  They cut this sign in the stones they used for buildings. And it was painted on the papyrus rolls used for writing about medicine and doctors.
古埃及人把荷鲁斯眼睛的图画当成一种魔法记号，记号能保护他们远离疾病、苦难和邪恶。他们把这个标志雕刻在他们用于建造房子的石头上。同时记号也被绘制在草纸卷上，草纸卷是用于书写药物和医生的。

 

For thousands of years, the eye of Horus remained as a sign of the god's help to the suffering and sick.
几千年来，荷鲁斯的眼睛一直被作为上帝帮助苦难者和病人的标志。

 

Long after the fall of the ancient Egyptian civilization, doctors and alchemists in Europe continued the custom of showing a sign of the gods' help and protection. But over the years, the sign changed from the eye of Horus to the sign for Jupiter, the chief god of the Romans. Jupiter's sign looked much like the printed number "four."
在古埃及文明消失很多年以后，欧洲的医生和炼金术士继续使用该记号来表示上帝帮助和保护，但是这些年来，这个记号已经由荷鲁斯的眼睛变成了罗马书中的首领朱庇特，朱庇特的记号看起来很像4。

 

That sign changed, also. Today, it is the easily-recognized capital "R" with a line across its foot.
那个记号同样也改变了，现在，它很容易被辨认，大写字母R和一条下划线。

 

The sign no longer offers heavenly assistance to the sick. It now means "take this medicine."
记号不在为病人提供神圣的援助，它现在意味着“吃药”

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrator was Maurice Joyce. I'm Warren Sheer.
这里是VOA慢速英语节目词汇和掌故，Frank Beardsley编写，Maurice Joyce讲述，我是Warren Sheer。