不论你信不信基督教(Christianity),亚当(Adam)和夏娃(Eve)的故事你肯定听说过。
圣经上说,上帝耶和华用泥土创造了人类的祖先亚当,然后用亚当的一根肋骨创造了夏娃。神让他们生活在伊甸园(Garden of Eden)里,那里的果子可以随便吃,只有分辨善恶的果子不能吃。在蛇的引诱下,夏娃吃了分辨善恶的果子从此有了自由意志,放弃了衣不蔽体的生活。上帝知道了,给了他们和蛇以惩罚。
这是大家都知道的故事。从此延伸出很多和亚当有关的英语知识,我们来总结一下。
1、亚当的肋骨(Adam's rib),女人的委婉的说法。
2、亚当的酒(Adam's ale),水的别称,传说亚当也是第一个喝酒的人。
3、亚当的苹果(Adam's apple),男人的喉结。传说偷食禁果时,一块果子卡在了喉咙成为了喉结。
4、对亚当的诅咒(Adam's curse),指人类工作的辛苦。为了惩罚男人偷食了禁果,上帝让男人亚当承受辛苦的劳作,女人夏娃承受生育的疼痛,蛇一辈子都要用肚子走路以泥土为生。
5、亚当的前妻(Lilith),犹太教义的记载,传说上帝同样用泥土制作的女人,有自由的思想,不服从于亚当的管束,后来离开了伊甸园,与撒旦为伍。
以上的五个词组,大家可以继续扩展学习。
比如下面是Andrew Sholl的总结。
Adam's apple
Protuberance of the thyroid cartilage in a man's throat. Both the Bible and the Koran record the story of the progenitor of mankind created by God from the earth's dust, whose name has since been attached to all manner of objects and activities: Adam's rib is a euphemism for woman after the Genesis story of her creation;human toli has been called Adam's curse as punishment for eating from the Tree of Knowledge;water is sometimes called Adam's ale becaues it was all the first man would have had to drink. The adam's apple was so named for a piece of the forbidden fruit, which became stuck in Adam's throat.
学术名词:
protuberance /pro'tubərəns/ n.突起,结节
thyroid /'θaɪrɔɪd/ n.甲状腺
cartilage/'kɑrtɪlɪdʒ/ n.软骨