"℞"符号的由来(2/2)

英语自学网

概述：药店里或找医生开处方药时总能看到一个表示服用此药的标志"℞"，那么它是怎么来的呢？
Hints:
Seth
Horus
Thoth
papyrus
Jupiter
"R"
校对：OFELIA1030
翻译&注解：StepHanie_Lu   
组长：lahmmsc
答疑：kiwiangle
发音点评：winshare2012
本期材料发音模仿地址：http://bulo.hujiang.com/menu/11885/item/786191/  
The evil Seth put out the eye of the young Horus. The mother of Horus called for help. Her cry was answered by Thoth, the god of learning and magic. Thoth, with his wisdom and special powers, healed the eye of Horus. And the child was able to see again.
The ancient Egyptians used a drawing of the eye of Horus as a magic sign to protect themselves from disease, suffering and evil. They cut this sign in the stones they used for buildings. And it was painted on the papyrus rolls used for writing about medicine and doctors.
For thousands of years, the eye of Horus remained as a sign of the god's help to the suffering and sick.
Long after the fall of the ancient Egyptian civilization, doctors and alchemists in Europe continued the custom of showing a sign of the gods' help and protection. But over the years, the sign changed from the eye of Horus to the sign for Jupiter, the chief god of the Romans. Jupiter's sign looked much like the printed number "four." That sign changed, also. Today, it is the easily-recognized capital "R" with a line across its foot.
The sign no longer offers heavenly assistance to the sick. It now means "take this medicine."邪恶的塞斯挖出了小何鲁斯的眼睛。何鲁斯的母亲向他人求救。她的哭喊声得到了智慧和魔力之神透特的回应。透特以他的智慧和魔力治好了何鲁斯的眼睛。就这样，何鲁斯又重见光明。
古埃及人用一幅何鲁斯眼睛的图画作为一个神奇的符号来保护自己不受疾病、苦难和邪恶的侵扰。他们将这个符号刻在建房用的石头上。这个符号同时也被画在用于书写药物和医生名字的莎草纸卷上。
几千年来， 何鲁斯的眼睛仍然作为一种代表神之庇佑的符号来避免苦难和病痛。
在古埃及文明衰落后的很长一段时间里，欧洲的医生和炼金术士们仍然沿袭着展示神之庇佑符号的习俗。但这些年来，这种符号从何鲁斯的眼睛变成了罗马神话中的主神——朱庇特。朱庇特的符号看起来就像印刷数字“4”。不过现在这个标志也变了。如今标志变得容易辨认，为一条线与大写字母 “R”的最后一笔交叉。
这类符号已经不再为病人提供神的庇佑，它现在的意思是“服用此药。”