Weird Coincidences in History历史上的那些惊人巧合

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

对普通大众来说，巧合常常发生，但下面的这些巧合或许算是其中最为怪异的几个。

1 马克·吐温

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.\"

马克·吐温是美国著名作家，创作了《汤姆·索亚历险记》和《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》等作品。马克·吐温于1835年哈雷彗星回归的那天出生，于1910年哈雷彗星再次回归的那天去世。他自己在1909年就曾这样预言过，当时他说：“1835年我随着哈雷彗星的回归来到这个世上。明年哈雷彗星将再次回归，我预计我会随它而去。”

2 埃德加·爱伦·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世纪时，著名的恐怖小说家埃德加·爱伦·坡曾写过一本书，名叫《阿瑟·戈登·皮姆的故事》。这本书讲述了四名海难幸存者乘坐一只无遮蔽的小船在海上漂泊多日后，决定杀死并吃掉其中那个名叫理查德·帕克的船舱侍者。几年后，在1884年，“木犀草”号游艇失事沉没，船上只有四人幸存，他们乘着一只无遮蔽的小船在海上漂泊了很多天。最终，船上三名较为年长的船员杀死并吃掉了船舱侍者。而这名船舱侍者的名字正是理查德·帕克。

3 约翰·亚当斯（左）和托马斯·杰斐逊（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.

接下来是美国的两位开国元勋托马斯·杰斐逊和约翰·亚当斯的故事。杰斐逊起草了《独立宣言》后，把草稿拿给亚当斯过目，后者（与本杰明·富兰克林一起）对其进行了修改和加工。大陆会议于1776年7月4日通过了这份文件。令人惊讶的是，杰斐逊和亚当斯于1826年7月4日双双辞世，距离《独立宣言》的签署正好过去了50年。

4 国王翁贝托一世

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.

国王翁贝托一世来到意大利蒙扎的一家小餐馆用晚膳。当餐馆老板前来为国王点餐时，国王发现自己和老板的相貌和身材都极为相似，简直就像双胞胎一样。两人开始谈论彼此的神似之处，交谈之中又发现了更多的相似点。两人同年同月同日出生在同一个地方—都于1844年3月14日出生于意大利的都灵。在国王与玛格丽塔王后成婚的那天，餐馆老板也迎娶了一位名叫玛格丽塔的女士。而这家餐馆老板开店的日子也恰好是翁贝托国王加冕成为意大利国王的那一天。1900年7月29日，翁贝托国王听说那位餐馆老板于当天死于一次颇为蹊跷的枪击事件，就在他对此表示遗憾之时，人群中的一名无政府主义者暗杀了他。

1.shipwreck [ˈʃɪprek] n. 海难

2.yawl [jɔːl] n. 舰载小艇；小帆船

3.mignonette [ˌmɪnjəˈnet] n. 【植】木犀草。这里指“木犀草”号游艇。

4.founder [ˈfaʊndə（r）] vi. （船等）沉没

5.hone [həʊn] vt. 磨练

6.Umberto I： 翁贝托一世（1844～1900），是萨伏依公爵和意大利国王。

7.build [bɪld] n. 体形

8.anarchist [ˈænəkɪst] n. 无政府主义者