VOA慢速英語:Rx: Why It Means Take Your Medicine

[00:00.00]Go to chinavoa.com for more... [00:10.00]Now, the VOA Special English program [00:14.72]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:18.42]Every week at this time, [00:21.35]the Voice of America tells about popular words [00:25.23]and expressions used in the United States. [00:29.18]Some of these words and expressions are old. [00:33.55]Some are new. [00:35.94]Together, [00:36.94]they form the living speech of the American people. [00:40.77]Our story today is very old. [00:45.42]It goes back about five-thousand years. [00:50.65]It is about a sign [00:52.79]that is used to represent some words. [00:56.13]We see this sign on drug stores [01:00.41]and whenever we visit a doctor [01:03.24]to get an order for medicine. [01:05.98]It also appears on bottles of pills [01:09.52]and other medicines. [01:11.13]The sign is formed by a line [01:15.31]across the right foot of the letter "R." [01:19.25]It represents the word "prescription." [01:23.63]It has come to mean "take this medicine." [01:27.88]The sign has its beginnings [01:30.92]five thousand years ago in Egypt. [01:35.25]At that time, people prayed to Horus, [01:39.64]the god of the Sun. [01:41.78]It was said that when Horus was a child, [01:45.91]he was attacked by Seth, the demon of evil. [01:51.64]The evil Seth put out the eye of the young Horus. [01:57.33]The mother of Horus called for help. [02:01.46]Her cry was answered by Thoth, [02:04.74]the god of learning and magic. [02:07.68]Thoth, with his wisdom and special powers, [02:11.76]healed the eye of Horus. [02:14.36]And the child was able to see again. [02:17.99]The ancient Egyptians [02:20.79]used a drawing of the eye of Horus [02:23.92]as a magic sign to protect themselves [02:27.96]from disease, suffering and evil. [02:31.60]They cut this sign [02:34.40]in the stones they used for buildings. [02:37.43]And it was painted on the papyrus rolls [02:41.87]used for writing about medicine and doctors. [02:46.55]For thousands of years, the eye of Horus [02:51.62]remained as a sign of the god's help [02:55.01]to the suffering and sick. [02:57.51]Long after the fall [03:00.29]of the ancient Egyptian civilization, [03:02.73]doctors and alchemists in Europe [03:06.23]continued the custom of showing [03:09.16]a sign of the gods' help and protection. [03:12.85]But over the years, the sign changed [03:16.90]from the eye of Horus to the sign for Jupiter, [03:21.88]the chief god of the Romans. [03:24.72]Jupiter's sign looked much [03:28.76]like the printed number "four." [03:31.15]That sign changed, also. [03:34.28]Today, it is the easily-recognized capital "R" [03:39.77]with a line across its foot. [03:42.70]The sign no longer offers heavenly assistance to the sick. [03:47.49]It now means "take this medicine." [03:50.98](MUSIC) [04:01.65]This VOA Special English program [04:05.78]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES was written by Frank Beardsley. [04:11.26]The narrator was Maurice Joyce. [04:14.50]I'm Warren Sheer.

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