原标题：WHY DO WE SAY 'BLESS YOU' OR 'GESUNDHEIT' WHEN PEOPLE SNEEZE?

作者：STEPHANIE WATSON

译者：吴骏

夏日炎炎，伴随着一声声喷嚏的是一句句的Bless You。这句祝福语是怎么来的呢？

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Many people have become accustomed to saying "bless you" or "gesundheit" when someone sneezes. No one says anything when someone coughs, blows their nose or burps, so why do sneezes get special treatment? What do those phrases actually mean, anyway?

别人打喷嚏时，很多人一直习惯说“bless you”或“gesundheit”。咳嗽、擤鼻涕或打嗝时，谁也不会说什么。那么，为什么打喷嚏有特殊待遇呢？这两个短语究竟是什么意思呢？

Wishing someone well after they sneeze probably originated thousands of years ago. The Romans would say "Jupiter preserve you" or "Salve," which meant "good health to you," and the Greeks would wish each other "long life." The phrase "God bless you" is attributed to Pope Gregory the Great, who uttered it in the sixth century during a bubonic plague epidemic (sneezing is an obvious symptom of one form of the plague).

祝福打喷嚏的人，或许源于几千年之前。古罗马人会说“朱庇特（古罗马人的主神）保佑你”或“Salve“——“祝你健康”。希腊人会互相祝愿“长寿”。“God bless you”一语被归到罗马教皇格瑞盖利名下，他在六世纪的黑死病泛滥时期说过这句话（打喷嚏是一种瘟疫的明显症状之一）。

The exchangeable term "gesundheit" comes from Germany, and it literally means "health." The idea is that a sneeze typically precedes illness. It entered the English language in the early part of the 20th century, brought to the United States by German-speaking immigrants.https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/HgZ7ThicpJCbqWAhdGq1iagAq16Lx02tR4rQgBk9VcEMicFnkUFwQSTepHU2lsgvdTm5sgKqNawlEwKBQAicwicbZXA/640?wx_fmt=jpeg

可以交换使用的习语“gesundheit”来于德国，它的字面意思是“健康”。有人认为，打喷嚏之后一般会生病。这个习语在20世纪早期进入英语，是说德语的移民把它带到了美国。

Virtually every country around the globe has its own way of wishing sneezers well. People in Arabic countries say, "Alhamdulillah," which means, "praise be to God." Hindus say, "Live!" or "Live well!" Some countries have special sneezing responses for children. In Russia, after children are given the traditional response, "bud zdorov" ("be healthy"), they are also told "rosti bolshoi" ("grow big"). When a child sneezes in China, he or she will hear "bai sui," which means, "may you live 100 years."

其实，世界上每个国家都有祝愿打喷嚏者的独特方式。阿拉伯国家的人会说"Alhamdulillah," 意思是“赞美归于真主”。印度教徒会说“Live（活着）！”或“Live well（好好活着）!”。一些国家对小孩子打喷嚏有特殊的回应。在俄罗斯，人们给孩子传统的回应——“愿你健康”之后，还祝孩子“长得高大”。在中国，当一个孩子打喷嚏，他/她会听到“百岁”，意思是“愿你活一百年”。

For the most part, the various sneeze responses originated from ancient superstitions. Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. Saying "bless you" would stop the devil from claiming the person's freed soul. Others believed the opposite: that evil spirits use the sneeze as an opportunity to enter a person's body. There was also the misconception that the heart momentarily stops during a sneeze (it doesn't), and that saying "bless you" was a way of welcoming the person back to life.

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 对于打喷嚏的各种反应，基本上都出自古代的迷信。一些人认为，打喷嚏会让灵魂通过鼻子逃离身体。说“bless you”可以阻止魔鬼夺走人们游离的灵魂。另一些人所相信的完全相反：恶灵会借着打喷嚏进入人体。还有一个错误认识是打喷嚏时心跳会暂停（并没有），所以说“bless you”是欢迎此人回到人间。

We now know that sneezing is a reflex action and is most often the sign of something relatively benign, such as a cold or allergy. A sneeze also can be provoked by being outside in the sunlight or from smelling a strong odor. Still, we persist in the custom of saying "bless you" or "gesundheit," mainly out of habit and common courtesy.

我们现在知道，打喷嚏是一种条件反射行为，通常预示着相对温和的东西，例如感冒或过敏。在阳光下活动或闻到浓烈的气味，也可能引发喷嚏。尽管如此，我们还是坚持着说“bless you”或“gesundheit”的习俗，主要是出于习惯和礼节。