If you see a postman or a red truck, cross your fingers and make a wish. Then, keep your fingers crossed until you see a dog, and your wish will come true; if you don’t keep your fingers crossed, you will have bad luck.
If you see an eyelash on someone’s cheek, tell the person to make a wish and guess which side the eyelash is on. If the guess is correct, the wish will come true.
After a girl ties five knots in a string, she ties it around a girl friend’s wrist. The friend makes a wish for each knot and vows to tie threads on the wrists of from one to ten other girls. If a boy pulls the thread from her wrist, her wishes will come true.
Find a dandelion that has gone to seed, make a wish, and try to blow off all the seeds. If you do so, your wish will come true.
If you are riding in a car through a tunnel, ask the driver to honk, raise your right hand, and make a wish.
You can wish on a wishbone or on a falling star.
knot узелок
string веревка, тесемка, шнурок
wrist запястье
vow клясться
tie связывать
thread нитка
pull разорвать
Weather law
If you kill a daddy longlegs spider, it will rain.
If you cut your hair during a full moon, it will grow fast.
When it rains, say, “Rain, rain, go away; little Donald wants to play.”
When it rains, say, “It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring, / Hit his head when he went to bed and couldn’t get up in the morning.”
pour литься
snore храпеть
Cures
If you rub a wart with a new penny, the wart will go away.
If you rub a wart with an uncooked potato peel, the wart will go away.
If you wrap some of your own hair around a wart, in a few days it will die and go away.
To cure a headache, stand on your head.
A cup of whiskey and lemon juice will cure a cold.
To cure hiccups, drink water while bending over or standing on your head.
To cure hiccups, take twelve sips of water and hold your breath.
A teaspoon of sugar will cure hiccups.
rub тереть
wart бородавка
peel кожица
hiccups икота
sip маленький глоток
Signs
If you hiccup, you’ve told a lie.
If your foot itches, you’re going on a trip.
If your ear rings, someone is talking about you.
If your hand itches, you will get money.
If you are walking with a friend and either of you walks on a different side of a telephone pole or a street-sign pole, you will soon quarrel.
White spots on your fingernails means you lie a lot.
If you drop a knife, a boy will come; if you drop a fork, a girl will come.
One sneeze means a kiss is on the way, two mean a wish, three a disappointment, four a letter, five something better.
A rainbow shows where gold is buried.
itch чесаться
pole столб
sneeze чиханье
What superstitions do you know?
Try to find out their historical background or surmise how they could come into the world.
Fingernails
Cut them on Monday, you cut them for health;
Cut them on Tuesday, you cut them for wealth.
Cut them on Wednesday you cut them for news;
Cut them on Thursday, a new pair of shoes.
Cut them on Friday, you cut them for sorrow;
Cut them on Saturday, see your true love tomorrow.
Cut them on Sunday, the devil will be with you all the week.
Remember the Bible:
On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.