贝姬·利特尔 邓安儿

Throughout history， people have promoted stories of curses for a variety of reasons. To sports fans， curses can help explain their favorite teams loss. When a cause of death is misunderstood， curses can provide an explanation. For an imperial nation， curses can betray anxiety about being punished for colonizing and taking artifacts. And sometimes， curses come about because someone just wanted to make up a story.

Here are some prominent curses in history.

1. King Tuts curse （and other ‘mummys curses）

In February 1923， a British archaeological team opened the tomb of Tutankhamun， or “King Tut，” an Egyptian pharaoh during the 14th century B.C. Two months later， when the teams sponsor died from a bacterial infection， British newspapers claimed without evi-dence that hed died because of “King Tuts curse.” Whenever subsequent members of the team died， the media dredged up1 the alleged curse again.

King Tuts curse and other famous “mummys curses” were invented by Europeans and Americans while their countries removed priceless artifacts from Egypt. After the Titanic sank in 1912， some newspapers even promoted a conspiracy theory that the ship had sunk because of a “mummys curse.”

Though its not clear how many people actually took these “curses” seriously， these stories became extremely popular subjects for horror movies like The Mummy （1932） and its many iterations2， as well as comedies like Mummys Boys （1936） and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy （1955）.

2. The curse of the Polish Kings tomb

In 1973， a group of archaeologists opened the tomb of the 15th-century Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon in Kraków， Poland. As with the opening of King Tuts tomb 50 years before， European media hyped up3 the event， and the researchers involved allegedly joked that they were risking a curse on the tomb by opening it.

When some of the team members began to die shortly after， some media outlets4 speculated it was due to a curse. Later， experts discovered traces of deadly fungi inside the tomb that can cause lung illnesses when breathed in. This was the cause of their deaths.

3. The Hope Diamond curse

In the 1660s， the French gem dealer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier purchased a large diamond of unknown origin during a trip to India. Yet by the 20th century， a myth had sprung up5 in the United States and Europe that Tavernier had stolen the diamond from the statue of a Hindu goddess. The newspapers and jewelers who spread this story claimed the diamond was cursed and brought bad luck to those who owned it.

By 1839， the diamond supposedly ended up with Henry Philip Hope， a Dutch collector based in London and the source of the stones modern name6—the Hope Diamond. Sometime after this， European and American newspapers began claiming that the Hope Diamond carried a curse.

The French jeweler Pierre Cartier reportedly used these stories to enhance the diamonds value when he sold it to American heiress Evelyn Walsh McLean in the early 1910s. After she died， it went to a U.S. jewelry company， which exhibited it before donating it in 1958 to the Smithsonian Institution， where it remains today.

4. The curse of Tippecanoe （or Tecumsehs curse）

In the mid-20th century， U.S. media began to note a pattern in presidential deaths. Starting with William Henry Harrison and ending with John F. Kennedy， every 20 years the country elected a president who would die in office.

Harrison， the first president to die in office， was elected in 1840. The other presidents who died in office include Abraham Lincoln， elected 1860 （and 1864）; James A. Garfield， elected 1880; William McKinley， elected 1900; Warren G. Harding， elected 1920; Franklin D. Roosevelt， elected 1940 （as well as 1932， 1936 and 1944）; and JFK， elected 1960. The only president between Harrison and JFK to fall outside of this pattern is Zachary Taylor， who was elected in 1848 and died in 1850.

In the 1930s， Ripleys Believe It or Not7 claimed the “pattern” was due to a curse Shawnee8 Chief Tecumseh placed on Harrison and future presidents after Harrisons troops defeated Tecumsehs at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. （Tecumseh died two years later in another battle against Harrisons troops.） This story likely originated with non-Native Americans and bears a similarity to other “curses” in U.S. books and movies about disturbing Native burial grounds.

5. The curse of Macbeth

There are lots of superstitions in the world of theatre. Its bad luck to wish actors good luck， hence the reason people instead tell them to “break a leg.” And its also bad luck to say the word “Macbeth” in the theatre except during a performance of the Shakespeare play. Supposedly， this is because tragedy has historically befallen productions9 of the play. In reality， these stories are a mix of fabrication and selective evidence-picking.

The legend about the play seems to have started with Max Beerbohm， a British cartoonist and critic born in the 1870s， nearly three centuries after Macbeths first performance. Beerbohm—possibly annoyed that Macbeth was such a popular play—made up a story that the first actor cast to play Lady Macbeth10 died right before the plays opening night.

Since then， this story has become part of a myth that the play is cursed and has brought bad luck to those involved with it. Though there have been real accidents during runs of Macbeth over its more than 400-year history， these accidents gain more attention than accidents during other plays because of the supposed “curse.”

6. The billy goat curse on the Chicago Cubs

As with theatre， there are also a lot of superstitions in the world of sports. One of the most famous is the supposed “billy goat curse” on the Chicago Cubs11.

In 1945， a tavern owner named William “Billy Goat” Sianis was reportedly prevented from bringing his pet goat， Murphy， into Chicagos Wrigley Field to see the Cubs play the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. Supposedly， Sianis put a curse on the Cubs， saying they wouldnt win this or any other World Series12 ever again.

Before this， the Cubs had only won the World Series twice before， in 1907 and 1908. When they lost the World Series in 1945， the curse gained credence. In 2016， when the Cubs won the World Series for the first time in over a century， U.S. media promoted the idea that the curse was broken.

The billy goat curse is similar to the curse of the Bambino， which supposedly began when the Boston Red Sox traded Babe Ruth13 in 1919 and ended when the team won the World Series in 2004. Theres also rapper Lil Bs curse on Kevin Durant， which Lil B issued in a 2011 tweet and lifted in 2017 in another tweet. When the Golden State Warriors won the NBA finals that year with Durant earning MVP， sports media jokingly （or not？） proclaimed that Lil B had helped by lifting the curse.              ■

縱观历史，人们之所以传扬诅咒故事，原因不尽相同。对体育迷来说，他们最喜爱的队伍失利了，诅咒可以解释一二。要是死因受到曲解，诅咒倒是个说法。帝国主义殖民海外，掠夺他国文物，诅咒会暴露他们害怕受到惩罚的焦虑。而有时候，诅咒的出现仅仅是因为有人想编个故事。

以下是历史上一些著名诅咒。

1. 图坦卡蒙诅咒（以及其他“木乃伊诅咒”）

1923年2月，一支英国考古队掘开了图坦卡蒙的陵墓。图坦卡蒙，亦称“图特王”，是公元前14世纪的一位埃及法老。陵墓开启两个月后，考古队赞助人就因细菌感染死亡。一些英国报纸毫无证据地宣称，他死于“图坦卡蒙诅咒”。之后，这支考古队但凡有成员离世，媒体就会翻出这一所谓诅咒。

图特王诅咒以及其他有名的“木乃伊诅咒”，是由欧洲人和美国人炮制的。当时，他们的国家从埃及搬走了不少无价的文物珍宝。1912年，泰坦尼克号沉没后，一些报纸甚至推出了阴谋论，声称船难发生是“木乃伊诅咒”所致。

虽然并不清楚有多少人真把这些“诅咒”当回事儿，但这些诅咒故事成了极受欢迎的恐怖片题材，如《木乃伊》（1932年）和后来多部翻拍作品;同时还有喜剧题材，如《木乃伊总动员》（1936年）和《两傻捉尸记》（1955年）。

2. 波兰国王陵墓的诅咒

1973年，在波兰克拉科夫市，一群考古学家打开了15世纪波兰国王卡齐米日四世雅盖隆的陵墓。同50年前图特王的陵墓发掘时一样，欧洲媒体将这件事情炒作了一番。据称，参与掘开陵墓的研究人员也打趣说，他们打开陵墓可是冒着被诅咒的危险。……