填空题
Certain birds are, more often than not, considered
bad luck, or even frightening, a sign of impending death. All over the world,
both crows and ravens (乌鸦) have some connection with war and death. In early
times, crows and ravens were thought to accompany the gods of war, or be signs
of their imminent arrival in an area. Later, this belief became more general,
and these birds, crows more particularly, were thought to be harbingers (预兆) of
ill fortune or, in some cases, guides to the afterlife. Woe be it to the person
who saw a single crow or raven flying overhead, for this most certainly was a
portent of death in the near future. Interestingly, though potentially bad luck
for people individually, the raven is considered to be good luck for the crown
of England. So much so, in fact, that a "raven master" is even today an actual
government position in the Tower of London. He takes care of the ravens there
and also clips their wings, ensuring that these birds can never fly far from the
seat of the British government. This way, the kingdom will never fall to ill
fortune.
