When you were young, did your mother run around the house draping sheets over mirrors when a thunderstorm was on the way, or yell at you for opening your umbrella inside? These are just two examples of old wives' tales or superstitions that millions of people grew up hearing about and even if you don't actually believe in them, it's hard to shake them off completely. Superstitions often arise around the things that scare people most, so it's no wonder some of them are as freaky as the following.
当暴风雨快来临的时候，你的妈妈是不是在屋子里跑来跑去把所有的镜子都盖上床单，或者当你在家里打开雨伞的时候对你大喊大叫？这只是成千上万人从小到大听过的无数荒诞故事或者迷信中的两个例子而已。就算你不相信这些说法，想要彻底摆脱它们也非常之难。迷信往往出现在那些最吓人的事情中，所以其中一些和以下名单中那样吓人就也不足为奇了。

10.Pinky Pinky
10.粉鬼粉鬼

The story of Pinky Pinky is an urban legend and old wives' tale rolled into one. With the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, a story started doing the rounds in primary schools about a monster that awaits girls in the school toilet. Girls were warned by their friends not to wear pink to school because this would anger the creature, who would then try to attack or even rape them.
粉鬼（Pinky Pinky）的故事是由都市传说和荒诞故事杂糅而成。1994年南非实现了民主政治，紧接着一个恐怖故事就在南非的各个小学流传开来：学校的厕所里有个怪物在等着女生。朋友们都警告女孩子不要穿粉色衣服去学校，因为那样会惹怒怪物，他会攻击甚至强奸她们。
The hysteria grew and sightings of the monster, dubbed Pinky Pinky, were reported at many schools around the country. It was said to resemble a bogeyman or a tokoloshe (an African mythical creature) and had one paw and one claw. Boys could not see the creature but some claimed to have been attacked by it and left scratched and bruised. Naturally, no solid proof of the monster exists. No one really knows what prompted the Pinky Pinky tale. It has been suggested that it was an embodiment of the fear young girls had of going to school toilets by themselves in a society where instances of rape and other sexual abuse was (and still is) very prevalent. Pinky Pinky seems to have left the building in most cases, with only one or two sightings still being reported as the years go by. Several books and an art exhibition have been dedicated to the story. Today it is just a scary story that those who went to primary school in South Africa in the 1990s can relate to.
这种歇斯底里的恐惧愈演愈烈，全国许多学校都有报告称见到了这名叫粉鬼的怪物。据说它很像一种妖怪或者托科洛希（非洲南部班图民间传说中似人的恶魔），有一只手爪和一只脚爪。男孩子们看不到这个怪物，但有人称他曾遭受它的袭击而且还留下了抓痕和淤青。自然，没有任何确凿证据证明粉鬼的存在。实际上，没有人知道是谁编造了粉鬼的故事。有人指出这是因为社会上强奸和其他性虐待（仍旧）太过猖獗，所以年轻的女孩们就对去学校上厕所产生了恐惧，而看见粉鬼就是恐惧的集中表现（极端恐惧下所产生的幻觉）。在多数情况下，粉鬼（Pinky Pinky）似乎都已经离开了学校。随着时间的流逝，关于粉鬼的目击报告少之又少（只有一两例）。这个故事已经出现在一些书籍和一个艺术展览中。现在它只是一个与20世纪90年代上小学的人有关的恐怖故事而已。

9.Corpses With Open Eyes
9.死不瞑目

It was once popularly believed that if a person died and their eyes remained open, they were looking for someone to take with them to their final destination. This was usually assumed to be someone within the family of the deceased person. To prevent this from happening, the British would close the eyes of the dead person and place two pennies on the eyelids to prevent the eyes from opening again. In Greek mythology, a coin was placed in the deceased's mouth to pay the ferryman to take their soul across the River Styx into Hades. This reasoning has sometimes spread to the British practice as well.
曾经人们都普遍认为如果一个人死了，但是他的双眼却还是睁开的，那就说明他们正在寻找一个人陪他们走到生命的尽头。而这个人通常被认为是死去的人的家人。为了避免这种事情发生，英国人会将死去的人的双眼合上并在眼睑上放上两个便士，这样眼睛就不会再次睁开。在希腊神话中，人们会在死人的嘴里放上一块硬币当作酬劳，好让摆渡者带着他们的灵魂渡过冥河顺利到达冥府。这个推论也在英国传播开来成为习俗。
In earlier times it was also believed that if a person died and their eyes stayed open, it was the work of evil spirits that wouldn't let them rest or a sign of a life left unfulfilled.In a creepy turn of events in a small village in north-east Namibia, a corpse halted his own funeral because he refused to keep his eyes closed. The man, who was in his eighties, had had a long, drawn-out illness before he finally passed way. When his relatives gathered at the morgue to prepare his body for the funeral, they were shocked to see it blinking several times. After asking for advice from a traditional healer, the family decided to bury the man in a blanket and not a coffin. Just in case.
更早的时候，人们还认为如果一个人死了，但双眼还是睁开的话，那就是恶灵在作怪不让他们的灵魂得到安息，或者表明死者生前壮志未酬满是遗憾。在纳米比亚东北地区的一个小村庄里发生了一件毛骨悚然的事情。一具死尸中断了他自己的葬礼因为他拒绝闭上自己的双眼。这个男人，已经80高龄，在他去世之前忍受了长久的病痛。当他的亲朋好友们聚集在停尸房里准备为他举办葬礼时，他们震惊了，因为他们看见有时候他还在眨眼睛。向一位传统的治疗师征询意见之后，家人们打算把他裹在毯子里，而不是放在棺材里埋葬。这也是以防万一啊。

8.Dead Hands
8.死人的双手

Next time you're at a funeral, make sure to look after your own health. Otherwise you might get closer to the deceased than you may have thought. Folklore has it that the hands of a dead person have healing powers. Regardless of what type of disease a person had, it was thought that laying the hands of a dead person upon them would cure it. In Britain it was believed that a dead hand was especially helpful in reducing swelling. Many times, an Irish household that experienced a death in the family would be overrun by sick people trying to get to the corpse. Ideally, the dead person should be the opposite sex of the sick person. After being touched by the dead hands, the sick person would have to lie down in a bed aligned north to south.
下次你去参加葬礼的时候，一定要照顾好自己的身体。不然的话，很有可能你比你想象中更接近死亡。民间传说死人的双手具有神奇的治愈力量。不管你生了什么病，只要你把死者的双手放在身上病就会痊愈。在英国，人们认为死人的手对于减轻肿胀特别有帮助。历史上多次记载一个爱尔兰家庭的家人死去之后，生病的人就纷纷前来想要接近尸体。死人的性别最好与生病的人的性别相反。触碰了死人的双手之后，生病的人必须躺在床上从北向南保持一条直线。
It was also thought that the sheets and other bedding the person was wrapped in when they died would contain some of the magic of their hands. People would wrap the material around the aching parts of their bodies to reduce the pain and cure the underlying disease.
人们还认为死人在死去时包裹的那些床单和其他寝具都包含了一些神奇双手的魔力。人们会用这些布料东西包裹自己疼痛的部位，以减少痛苦和治愈潜在的疾病。

7.Chewing Gum After Midnight
7.午夜之后嚼口香糖

No culture is free from superstitions and many of them are connected with our fear of death. For instance, in many cultures it is still believed that if a baby cries constantly, someone in the household will die soon. If a corpse is brought into a house, three members of that household will die. Taking your socks off and leaving them at the foot of their bed is another way to invite death into the house.
任何文化都不能摆脱迷信而且许多迷信都与人们恐惧死亡有关。比如说，在许多文化中人们认为如果一个小孩子哭个不停，那么不久家里就会死人。如果你把一具死尸带回家里，那么家庭的三名成员就会死去。把袜子脱掉放在床脚也会把死亡带进家门。
Far more gruesome is an old wives' tale from Turkey that warns against chewing gum after midnight. In English-speaking countries, the superstition persists that chewing gum remains in your digestive system for seven years, but in Turkey children are told that gum chewed after midnight transforms into rotten, decaying flesh. In some parts of Turkey, the gum wouldn't wait until the witching hour to turn into dead flesh—any hour after dark would do it.
更加毛骨悚然的是土耳其的一个民间怪谈，不能在午夜之后嚼口香糖。在说英语的国家，一直有这样一个迷信：午夜之后嚼口香糖，口香糖就会一直在你的消化系统里，长达七年之久。但是在土耳其人们会告诉孩子午夜之后嚼的口香糖会变成发出恶臭的腐烂的肉。在土耳其的某些地方，口香糖不到子夜就变成了死肉——天黑之后任何时候。

6.Evil Spirits Follow You
6.恶鬼跟着你呢

In Korea, folks who take old wives' tales seriously go to a lot of effort to make sure no bad luck befalls them. For example, it is believed that when you move into a new home, the evil spirits and ghosts from the old home move right in with you. It is thought that they slip into the removal van and hide between your furniture to make sure they also end up at the new address.
在韩国，那些把迷信怪谈当真的人会费很大力气确保灾祸不会降临到他们身上。举个例子，人们认为当你搬新家的时候，老房子的恶鬼会跟着你一起住进来。他们会偷偷溜进搬家卡车内，隐藏在家具里以确保他们也能到达新的住址。
There are certain "safe" days every month, when the evil spirits are not present or not paying attention, and Korean removal companies will often mark these days on their calendars. Residents will hastily move into their new homes on these days. To trick the spirits even further, they don't clean up behind them before leaving for their new home. It is said that this throws the evil ghost guys off track, making them think they haven't moved, until they're firmly established in the new house. Only then will the spirits realize their original and unwilling landlords have moved, by which time it'll be too late to follow them. Luckily the old wives' tale does not include anything about the spirits haunting the newly moved-in family at the old residence.
每个月都有几天是"平安日"，那个时候恶鬼不在或者不会注意，韩国的搬家公司常常把这些日子在日历上画上标记。在这些日子里，房客们就会匆忙地搬往他们的新家。为了把恶鬼骗得更久，他们去新家之前没有对老房子进行清理。据说这样能摆脱恶鬼，恶鬼会误以为他们没有搬家，直到人们在新家安定下来。也只有到那个时候，恶鬼才意识到他们的房主已经搬家了，这个时候追踪他们已经为时已晚。幸运的是，这个荒诞故事里恶鬼并没有在老房子里继续纠缠这新搬家的一家人。

翻译：高陈影 来源：前十网