It never rains it pours.
不知是巧合還是什么,倒霉的事通常都會(huì)接二連三的發(fā)生.中文有句話叫‘禍不單行’,其實(shí)英文也有相同的說(shuō)法：It never rains it pours.(不雨則已,一雨傾盆) 也就是喻意‘禍不單行’.西方人也相信壞運(yùn)氣必會(huì)來(lái)臨三次,所以有句話叫Bad luck comes in 3's.另外It's one thing after another.或 A run of bad luck.都是‘屋漏偏逢連夜雨’或‘禍不單行’的意思.
對(duì)話
Brian:I can't believe my luck.I must have done something wrong in a past life.
Helen:Why,what's happened?
Brian:Well,this week I got fired,I sprained my ankle,I crashed my car,got my tax bill,got my wallet stolen and put on 10 pounds.
Helen:It never rains it pours right?At least your love life's fine,isn't it?
Brian:Definitely not.My girlfriend caused all this.She’s got to go.
布萊恩：:我不能相信我的運(yùn)氣.我一定是前世做錯(cuò)了什么事.
海倫：為什么?發(fā)生什么事?
布萊恩：哎,這周內(nèi)我被解雇、扭傷腳踝、撞了車(chē)、收到稅單、錢(qián)包被偷,還胖了十磅.
海倫：真是禍不單行呀!至少你的愛(ài)情生活還很好,對(duì)嗎?
布萊恩：:絕對(duì)不是.所有事都是我的女朋友造成的,她必須離開(kāi).
有沒(méi)有看過(guò)英國(guó)名作家梅斯菲爾 (John Masefield) 的小說(shuō)Odtaa?那是one damned thing after another的縮略,出自成語(yǔ)Life is just one damned thing after another.（人生無(wú)非是一件又一件的倒霉事）.
英文諺語(yǔ)It never rains but it pours.用現(xiàn)代英文來(lái)說(shuō),是It never rains without pouring.（不雨則矣,一雨傾盆）,意思是事情一發(fā)生就接二連三,可以指好事,但多數(shù)是指壞事,例如：It never rains but it pours.Shortly after losing his job,he was diagnosed with cancer.（禍不單行,他失業(yè)不久,就診斷出患了癌癥）.另一句英文諺語(yǔ)Misfortunes never come singly.和中文成語(yǔ)‘禍不單行’如出一轍.Singly是single（單一）的副詞(adverb)寫(xiě)法,He lives singly.即‘他過(guò)著獨(dú)身生活’.
說(shuō)到禍福,你有時(shí)可用as luck would have it 這說(shuō)法,意思是‘幸運(yùn)地’或‘不幸地’,例如：(1) As (ill) luck would have it,I fell sick on the day of the examination.（考試那天,我不幸病倒了）.(2) As (good) luck would have it,I failed to catch the plane that crashed immediately after taking off.（幸而我沒(méi)趕及搭那架一起飛就墜毀的飛機(jī)）.
Luck是不可數(shù)名詞 (uncountable noun),不可說(shuō)a luck,但可說(shuō)a stroke of luck（一件幸運(yùn)的事）,例如：It was a stroke of luck that I missed the plane.（我沒(méi)趕及搭那架飛機(jī),真幸運(yùn)）.