A Handful of History
扑克—手中的历史
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、当你下一次玩扑克的时候，要记住这些。你正在与历史进行游戏。今天我们用的扑克，几乎与数百年前的扑克相差无几。最有意思的东西是扑克里的“套”和“脸牌”。扑克中的“套”不是什么可以穿的东西。它意味着红心、黑桃、红方块、或者梅花。牌面的数标志着牌的顺序或价值。带脸的牌是杰克、皇后、国王、当然还有鬼。
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、你认为“套”代表什么意思？让我们先看红心。当你说一个运动员有很多心，你到底想表达什么意思？你的意思是他很勇敢。因此，你看，红心国王是勇敢之王。
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、看看牌面上黑桃的设计。英语“SPADE”这个字来自意大利语，意思是刀剑。只要有一点想象力，你就能看到柄和刀刃。当然，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、红方块和梅花的设计同样含着很有意思的故事。关于钻石的图案是一个你可能已经知道的东西。它代表你和我都曾在首饰店看见过的珍贵的珍宝。首先它代表了制作和出卖这样的珍宝的富有的商人。梅花看上去有点像三叶草的图案。它的形状来自一个法国的三片树叶的图案。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、现在你看到了为什么一套牌的价值或力量大于另外一套牌。在任何一个扑克游戏里带脸的牌往往威力更大。国王（K）是最强的一个。这里有四个不同的国王，每一个都代表着一个真实的人。首先红心国王代表查理曼大帝，他生活在耶稣诞生后800年后。他是罗马朱利叶斯·恺撒之后，欧洲最强大的国王。顺便说一下，朱利叶斯·恺撒是红方块国王。
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、我们要想找到其它两个国王的名字，必须退回到更久远的历史里去。梅花国王是大马其顿王国年轻的亚历山大，国王大卫是黑桃国王。大卫是杀死巨人歌利亚的人。当某个人谈到大卫和歌利亚，他的意思是一个小个的人，或弱者正在打败一个非常高大和强壮的敌人。大卫战胜了歌利亚成为国王。他可能从来没有想到他会在扑克牌里有一个位置。
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、我们必须再次回到圣经（BIBLE）和大卫王的时代去找两个王后。拉结是圣经中的著名女人。她是红方块王后。
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、应该还记得心代表勇敢。一个非常勇敢的女人是红心王后。红心王后是朱迪丝，她杀死了敌人的一个将军。
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、当伟大的亚利桑德拉还是将军时，雅典娜是一个重要的女神。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、英国的伊利沙白一世女王一般认为是梅花王后。在她统治英国的时代，美国几乎还是一片荒野。
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、杰克牌有时被称为无赖。一个无赖往往意味着他是一个带来麻烦的人。但是在扑克游戏中杰克代表历史上有名的爵士。这些人以他们的胆量和勇敢成名，但是他们不是国王。
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、鬼牌是一张牌脸与其价值不相适应的牌。它常常用做一张特别的牌。有时它被用做比任何牌更有权利的牌。它不像其它牌脸代表着什么人。但是，我认为你能看出它的名字的含义。
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历史，从大卫王到伊利沙白女王全都在扑克的正面。
