Weird Coincidences in History歷史上的那些驚人巧合

Coincidences happen all the time to the most ordinary of people， but the following events are perhaps some of the strangest of them all.

對普通大眾來說，巧合常常發生，但下面的這些巧合或許算是其中最為怪異的幾個。

1 馬克·吐溫

Mark Twain was a popular American author who wrote such books as the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835， and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910. He himself predicted this in 1909， when he said： \"I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year， and I expect to go out with it.\"

馬克·吐溫是美國著名作家，創作了《湯姆·索亞歷險記》和《哈克貝利·費恩歷險記》等作品。馬克·吐溫于1835年哈雷彗星回歸的那天出生，于1910年哈雷彗星再次回歸的那天去世。他自己在1909年就曾這樣預言過，當時他說：“1835年我隨著哈雷彗星的回歸來到這個世上。明年哈雷彗星將再次回歸，我預計我會隨它而去。”

2 埃德加·愛倫·坡

In the 19th century， the famous horror writer， Edgar Allan Poe， wrote a book called The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. It was about four survivors of a shipwreck1） who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later， in 1884， the yawl2） Mignonette3） foundered4）， and only four survivors were left in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.

19世紀時，著名的恐怖小說家埃德加·愛倫·坡曾寫過一本書，名叫《阿瑟·戈登·皮姆的故事》。這本書講述了四名海難幸存者乘坐一只無遮蔽的小船在海上漂泊多日后，決定殺死并吃掉其中那個名叫理查德·帕克的船艙侍者。幾年后，在1884年，“木犀草”號游艇失事沉沒，船上只有四人幸存，他們乘著一只無遮蔽的小船在海上漂泊了很多天。最終，船上三名較為年長的船員殺死并吃掉了船艙侍者。而這名船艙侍者的名字正是理查德·帕克。

3 約翰·亞當斯（左）和托馬斯·杰斐遜（右）

Then come the lives of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams， two of America's founders. Jefferson crafted the Declaration of Independence， showing drafts of it to Adams， who （with Benjamin Franklin） helped to edit and hone5） it. The Continental Congress approved the document on July 4， 1776. Surprisingly， both Jefferson and Adams died on the same day， July 4， 1826—exactly 50 years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

接下來是美國的兩位開國元勛托馬斯·杰斐遜和約翰·亞當斯的故事。杰斐遜起草了《獨立宣言》后，把草稿拿給亞當斯過目，后者（與本杰明·富蘭克林一起）對其進行了修改和加工。大陸會議于1776年7月4日通過了這份文件。令人驚訝的是，杰斐遜和亞當斯于1826年7月4日雙雙辭世，距離《獨立宣言》的簽署正好過去了50年。

4 國王翁貝托一世

In Monza， Italy， King Umberto I6） went to a small restaurant for dinner. When the owner took King Umberto's order， the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles， in face and in build7）. Both men began discussing the striking resemblance between each other and found many more similarities. Both men were born in the same place， on the same day， of the same year （March 14， 1844； Turin， Italy）. On the day that the King married Queen Margherita， the restaurant owner had married a lady named Margherita. The restaurant owner opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy. On July 29， 1900， King Umberto was informed that the restaurant owner had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident， and as he expressed his regret， an anarchist8） in the crowd assassinated him.

國王翁貝托一世來到意大利蒙扎的一家小餐館用晚膳。當餐館老板前來為國王點餐時，國王發現自己和老板的相貌和身材都極為相似，簡直就像雙胞胎一樣。兩人開始談論彼此的神似之處，交談之中又發現了更多的相似點。兩人同年同月同日出生在同一個地方—都于1844年3月14日出生于意大利的都靈。在國王與瑪格麗塔王后成婚的那天，餐館老板也迎娶了一位名叫瑪格麗塔的女士。而這家餐館老板開店的日子也恰好是翁貝托國王加冕成為意大利國王的那一天。1900年7月29日，翁貝托國王聽說那位餐館老板于當天死于一次頗為蹊蹺的槍擊事件，就在他對此表示遺憾之時，人群中的一名無政府主義者暗殺了他。

1.shipwreck [???prek] n. 海難

2.yawl [j??l] n. 艦載小艇；小帆船

3.mignonette [?m?nj??net] n. 【植】木犀草。這里指“木犀草”號游艇。

4.founder [?fa?nd?（r）] vi. （船等）沉沒

5.hone [h??n] vt. 磨練

6.Umberto I： 翁貝托一世（1844～1900），是薩伏依公爵和意大利國王。

7.build [b?ld] n. 體形

8.anarchist [??n?k?st] n. 無政府主義者