1. The next time you do a card trick-remember this. Youre playing with history. The playing cards we use today are much like those used for hundreds of years. The most interesting things are the suits and face cards. A suit of a playing card is not a thing to be worn. It means Hearts, Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. The figures are placed on each card with the number or value of the card. The face cards are the Jacks, Queens, Kings, and, of course, the Jokers.　　2. What do you think the suits stand for? Lets take the Hearts first. When you say that an athlete has a lot of heart, what do you mean? You mean that he is brave. So, you see, the King of Hearts is a brave king.　　3. Look at the design of the Spade on a card. The word spade comes from the Italian word which means sword. With a little imagination, you can see the handle and the blade. Of course, the blade has been made much shorter on the card.　　4. The diamonds and Club designs also have interesting stories. The Diamond design is one that you probably know already. It stands for the expensive gems that you and I have seen in jewelry stores. At first it stood for the rich traders who found and sold such gems. The Club looks a little like a three-leaf clover design. Its shape came from a French design with three leaves. It has the lowest rank of the suits.　　5. Now you see how some suits of playing cards have more value or power than others. The face cards are usually powerful in any card game. The King is one of the strongest. There are four different Kings, and each one stands for a real person. The King of Hearts first meant Charlemagne. He lived about 800 years after the birth of Christ. He was one of the most powerful kings in Europe after Julius Caesar of Rome. Julius Caesar, by the way, is the King of Diamonds.　　6、我們要想找到其它兩個國王的名字，必須退回到更久遠的歷史里去。梅花國王是大馬其頓王國年輕的亞歷山大，國王大衛是黑桃國王。大衛是殺死巨人歌利亞的人。當某個人談到大衛和歌利亞，他的意思是一個小個的人，或弱者正在打敗一個非常高大和強壯的敵人。大衛戰勝了歌利亞成為國王。他可能從來沒有想到他會在撲克牌里有一個位置。　　7、我們必須再次回到圣經和大衛王的時代去找兩個王后。拉結是圣經中的著名女人。她是紅方塊王后。　　8、應該還記得心代表勇敢。一個非常勇敢的女人是紅心王后。紅心王后是朱迪絲，她殺死了敵人的一個將軍。　　9、當偉大的亞利桑德拉還是將軍時，雅典娜是一個重要的女神。她代表智慧。雅典娜是黑桃皇后。

　　10、英國的伊利沙白一世女王一般認為是梅花王后。在她統治英國的時代，美國幾乎還是一片荒野。

　　1. The next time you do a card trick-remember this. Youre playing with history. The playing cards we use today are much like those used for hundreds of years. The most interesting things are the suits and face cards. A suit of a playing card is not a thing to be worn. It means Hearts, Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. The figures are placed on each card with the number or value of the card. The face cards are the Jacks, Queens, Kings, and, of course, the Jokers.　　2. What do you think the suits stand for? Lets take the Hearts first. When you say that an athlete has a lot of heart, what do you mean? You mean that he is brave. So, you see, the King of Hearts is a brave king.　　3. Look at the design of the Spade on a card. The word spade comes from the Italian word which means sword. With a little imagination, you can see the handle and the blade. Of course, the blade has been made much shorter on the card.　　4. The diamonds and Club designs also have interesting stories. The Diamond design is one that you probably know already. It stands for the expensive gems that you and I have seen in jewelry stores. At first it stood for the rich traders who found and sold such gems. The Club looks a little like a three-leaf clover design. Its shape came from a French design with three leaves. It has the lowest rank of the suits.　　5. Now you see how some suits of playing cards have more value or power than others. The face cards are usually powerful in any card game. The King is one of the strongest. There are four different Kings, and each one stands for a real person. The King of Hearts first meant Charlemagne. He lived about 800 years after the birth of Christ. He was one of the most powerful kings in Europe after Julius Caesar of Rome. Julius Caesar, by the way, is the King of Diamonds.　　6、我們要想找到其它兩個國王的名字，必須退回到更久遠的歷史里去。梅花國王是大馬其頓王國年輕的亞歷山大，國王大衛是黑桃國王。大衛是殺死巨人歌利亞的人。當某個人談到大衛和歌利亞，他的意思是一個小個的人，或弱者正在打敗一個非常高大和強壯的敵人。大衛戰勝了歌利亞成為國王。他可能從來沒有想到他會在撲克牌里有一個位置。　　7、我們必須再次回到圣經和大衛王的時代去找兩個王后。拉結是圣經中的著名女人。她是紅方塊王后。　　8、應該還記得心代表勇敢。一個非常勇敢的女人是紅心王后。紅心王后是朱迪絲，她殺死了敵人的一個將軍。　　9、當偉大的亞利桑德拉還是將軍時，雅典娜是一個重要的女神。她代表智慧。雅典娜是黑桃皇后。

　　10、英國的伊利沙白一世女王一般認為是梅花王后。在她統治英國的時代，美國幾乎還是一片荒野。