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 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。