Rob: Hello, I'm Rob.
Alice: And I'm Alice.
Rob: And this is 6 Minute English from the BBC. Today we're talking about
superstitions. Superstition is the belief that certain events can bring good luck
or bad luck. For example, a lot of people think that the number 13 is unlucky,
or that you can avoid bad luck if you touch wood.
Alice: Mm, in fact people even say 'touch wood' if they're hoping for something
good to happen.
Rob: That's right. So Alice, are you superstitious?
Alice: Well I am, a bit. I don't like walking under ladders for example.
Rob: Me too. Well, today we're talking about superstitions involving birds and
animals, and I've got today's question for you. According to British folklore,
eggs from which bird are meant to improve your eyesight?
Is it:
a) ducks
b) owls
c) swans
Alice: I'm not sure. I'll guess swans.
Rob: OK, we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme.
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Now animals, birds and nature feature a lot in British superstitions. We've
already mentioned that people touch wood or knock on wood for luck. So
could you tell us a few more British superstitions involving nature Alice?
Alice: Well one that I can think of off the top of my head is a lucky rabbit's foot.
Apparently if you carry a rabbit's foot around it will bring you good luck. It's
what we call a lucky charm. A charm is an object that brings good luck. So a
rabbit's foot is a charm that brings good luck to the person carrying it.
Rob: But not to the rabbit! You used an interesting phrase there Alice: 'off the top
of my head'.
Alice: Yeah, off the top of my head. It's a helpful phrase that means something you
think of quickly, without much research.
Rob: OK, well let's hear a few more British superstitions involving nature. Dr Paul
Walton, from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, spoke to the BBC
about some superstitions surrounding birds in Scotland. Here he is talking
about seagulls and the traditions associated with them.
Alice: Seagulls or gulls – they're the large grey and white birds that you find near the
seaside.
Rob: So, according to Dr Walton, what superstitions are associated with gulls in
Scotland?
Partly it must be because Scotland's such a fantastic place for birds, I think over the years
these superstitions have developed because these are the living things that we share our
lives with. For example, there's a long tradition in Scotland among sailors and fishermen
of seeing the gulls that follow the boats as actually being the embodiment of dead sailors,
and to kill a gull is still in many places considered to be very back luck.
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Rob: He says sailors and fishermen consider it very bad luck to kill a seagull
because gulls are the embodiment of dead sailors. Could you explain
embodiment for us Alice?
Alice: Embodiment. It literally means to give something a body. So here it means that
the seagulls have given physical bodies to the spirits of dead sailors – they're
the embodiment of the dead sailors.
Rob: So it's bad luck to kill a seagull in Scotland because they're the embodiment of
dead sailors. Let's listen to another bird superstition from Scotland. This is Paul
Walton again talking about another of his favourite superstitions. Listen out for
the bird noises in this clip and see if you can identify which bird he's talking
about. What you should do when you hear its call?
One of my favourites is the cuckoo [Cuck-oo cuck-oo] If you hear a cuckoo calling and
then you start to run away from it as quickly as you can, the number of times you hear the
cuckoo calling before it fades into silence is the number of years you've got left to live.
Rob: Did you hear the sound of the cuckoo? The cuckoo is a bird with a long tail
and a very distinctive cry.
Alice: You can find cuckoo clocks in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, with the
cuckoo making a distinctive cry every hour.
Rob: But in Scotland, if you hear the cuckoo calling then you should run away from
it as quickly as you can. And the number of times you hear the cuckoo is the
number of years you've got left to live.
Alice: Oh dear. So surely you should walk away very slowly – then you'd hear more
calls and live longer? It seems like a very odd superstition to me – it's a real
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old wives' tale. An old wives' tale is what we call superstitions that are totally
untrue and ridiculous sometimes. Now I would definitely say that that sounds
like an old wives' tale to me.
Rob: You could be right – a lot of these superstitions are old wives' tales; possibly
including the one in today's question. Now, if you remember Alice, I asked you,
according to British folklore, which bird's eggs are meant to improve your
eyesight?
Is it:
a) ducks
b) owls
c) swans
Alice: And I said swans.
Rob: Well, apparently it's owl's eggs that are meant to improve your eyesight.
You're meant to cook the eggs until they're ash, and then eat them to get better
sight.
Alice: Urgh, that sounds horrible; eggs made into ashes!
Rob: Yes, I wouldn't recommend doing it. Anyway, before we go Alice, could you
please remind us of some of the vocabulary we've heard in today's programme?
Alice: Sure, we had:
Superstition
To touch wood
Knock on wood
A lucky charm
Off the top of my head
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Seagull
Embodiment
Cuckoo
Old wives' tale
Rob: Thanks Alice.
Alice: See you next time!
Both: Bye!
