善意玩笑的重要性：英语精读讲义

It may not seem like it,

也许表面看不出来，

but teasing done with affection and skill 語法

但充满爱意和技巧的打趣，

is a profound human accomplishment.

是一种深刻的人类成就。

There is a nasty teasing, of course,

当然，也有一种恶意的嘲弄，

in which we pick away at a sore spot in someone's life. 習語

专戳别人生活中的痛处。

But here,

但在这里，

we're talking of the affectionate version,

我们谈论的是充满爱意的版本，

something generous and loving,

它是慷慨而充满关爱的，

which feels good to be on the receiving end of. 習語

让人被这样打趣时也感觉很好。

It can be lovely to be teased when, for example,

有时被打趣是很美好的，比如，

you're a teenager and in a grumpy sullen mood

当你还是个处于郁闷暴躁情绪中的青少年时，

and your kindly dad nicknames you Hamlet, 文化背景

你善良的爸爸给你起了个绰号叫哈姆雷特，

Shakespeare's Danish prince of gloom.

莎士比亚笔下那位忧郁的丹麦王子。

Or when you're 45 and pretty serious in business

或者当你45岁、在商界非常严肃认真时，

and your old university friends come around 短語動詞

你的大学老友来访，

and call you by that name they made up for you when you aged 19, 短語動詞

用你19岁时他们给你起的名字叫你，

the night you failed dismally trying to pick up a German girl who was in town. 短語動詞

就在那天晚上，你极其悲惨地搭讪城里的一位德国女孩失败了。

All of us get a bit unbalanced in one way or another, 短語搭配

我们所有人都在某一方面会有些失衡，

too serious, too gloomy, too jokey. 語法

太严肃、太忧郁、太爱开玩笑。

And so, we all benefit from being tugged back towards a healthier mean. 習語

因此，我们都会从被拉回到更健康的中庸状态中受益。

The good teaser latches onto and responds to our distinctive imbalances 短語動詞

优秀的打趣者能抓住并回应我们独特的失衡，

and gets compassionately constructive about trying to change us,

并充满同情心地、建设性地试图改变我们，

not by delivering a stern lesson, 語法

不是通过严厉的教训，

but by helping us to notice our excesses and laugh at them.

而是帮助我们注意到自己的过度行为并一笑置之。

We sense the teaser trying to give us a useful little shove 習語

我们感觉到打趣者在试着轻轻推我们一把，

in a good and secretly welcome direction,

把我们推向一个好的、我们在心里其实很欢迎的方向，

and therefore we know that at its affectionate best,

所以我们知道，处于最好、最有爱意的状态时，

teasing is at once sweet and constructive. 短語搭配

打趣既是甜蜜的，也是有建设性的。

The English literary critic Cyril Connolly once famously said,

英国文学评论家西里尔·康诺利曾有一句名言：

"Imprisoned in every fat man is a thin man 講解

“在每一个胖子体内，都囚禁着一个瘦子，

wildly signaling to be let out."

正拼命发信号想被放出来。”

It's a general idea with multiple variants.

这是一个有着多种变体的普遍概念。

Inside the fussy, over-formal individual,

在爱挑剔、过度拘谨的人内心，

there's a more relaxed person looking for an opening. 習語

有一个更放松的人在寻找出口。

There's an ambitious, eager self

也有一个野心勃勃、充满渴望的自我

quietly despairing within the lazy man.

在懒汉体内静静地绝望。

The gloomy, disenchanted cynic

阴郁、幻想破灭的愤世嫉俗者，

harbors a more cheery, sunny sub-self in need of more recognition. 短語搭配

心里藏着一个更快乐、更阳光，需要更多认可的潜藏自我。

The teasing remark speaks over the head of one's dominant personality 習語

打趣的话语越过一个人的主导人格，

to the subordinated side of the self

对着那个处于从属地位的自我说话，

whom it helps to release and relax.

帮助它释放和放松。

There's a moment in the line of beauty,

比如在小说《美丽曲线》中，

a novel by Alan Hollinghurst set in the 1980s,

这是艾伦·霍林赫斯特以20世纪80年代为背景的一部作品，

in which Nick, the charming young central character,

魅力十足的年轻主人公尼克

is invited to a grand party

受邀参加一场盛大的派对，

where he meets the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

在那里遇到了英国首相玛格丽特·撒切尔。

Everyone is slightly terrified of her,

每个人都有点怕她，

but Nick warmly and teasingly suggests

但尼克热情地、带着打趣的口吻建议，

that she might like to dance to a pop song. 語氣意圖

她也许想随着一首流行歌曲跳舞。

The other guests are horrified.

其他客人都惊呆了。

She's meant to be obsessed by stringent economic reform and hard-nosed politics. 講解

她应该沉迷于严格的经济改革和强硬的政治。

But, after a brief inner struggle,

但是，经过短暂的内心挣扎，

she replies with a smile,

她微笑着回答，

"You know, I'd like that very much."

“你知道吗，我非常乐意。”

Perhaps, if in reality, 語法

也许，如果在现实中，

there'd been more people to tease her,

有更多的人去打趣她，

the pop-loving, dancing side of Mrs. Thatcher

撒切尔夫人喜爱流行乐、爱跳舞的那一面，

might have played a greater role in national affairs

也许会在国家事务中发挥更大的作用，

and history would have been different.

历史也会因此不同。

When we enjoy being warmly teased,

当我们喜欢被热情打趣时，

it's because the teasing remark emerges from a genuine insight into who we are. 短語搭配

是因为打趣的话语源于对我们真实身份的深刻洞察。

This person has studied us

这个人研究过我们，

and put their finger on a struggle that's going on in us. 習語

并指出了我们内心正在进行的斗争。

They've taken the part of a nice 習語

他们站在了我们很好

but currently under-supported side of who we are.

但目前并未得到充分支持的那一面。

It's pleasing because

这很令人高兴，因为

normally others don't see much past the front we put on for the world. 習語

通常别人看不到我们向世界展示的伪装背后的东西。

Typically, the world just thinks of us as 短語搭配

通常情况下，世人只会认为我们是

gloomy or stern or intellectual or obsessed by fashion.

阴郁的、严厉的、理性的，或者沉迷于时尚的。

The teaser does us the favor of recognizing 短語搭配

打趣者帮了我们一个忙，他们认识到

that the dominant front isn't telling the whole story. 習語

主导的表象并不能说明一切。

They're kind enough and perceptive enough 語法

他们足够善良，也足够敏锐，

to see past the surface. 習語

能够透过表面看到本质。

Perhaps the most instructive question we can ask,

也许我们能问的最有启发性的问题，

the one that teaches us most about the value of affectionate teasing

也是那个最能教会我们爱的打趣价值的问题，

is simply,

仅仅是，

"What do I need to be teased about?" 語法

“我需要在哪些方面被打趣？”