別擔心，沒人在乎：英語精讀講義

We tend to begin our lives with a deeply unrepresentative experience, 用詞

我們往往以一種極不具有代表性的經歷開始我們的人生，

that of being surrounded by people who care to an extraordinary extent about us. 片語搭配

那就是被那些極度關心我們的人所包圍。

We look up from the dreams and confusions of early infancy

我們從早期嬰兒階段的夢境與懵懂中抬起頭，

and may find a smiling face or two observing us with the utmost tenderness and concern. 片語搭配

可能會發現一兩張微笑著的臉龐，正以無比的溫柔與關切注視著我們。

They watch us as a rivulet of saliva leaks slowly from the corner of our mouth

他們看著一絲口水從我們嘴角慢慢流下，

and rush to wipe it away as if dabbing at a precious canvas, 慣用語

便趕緊衝過來把它擦掉，彷彿在輕拭一幅珍貴的畫布，

then indulgently stroke the fine soft hairs on our delicate scalps.

然後寵溺地撫摸我們嬌嫩頭皮上細軟的胎毛。

They declare us close to supernatural

他們稱讚我們近乎超自然的存在，

when at last we succeed in pulling our first smile.

當我們終於成功地展露出第一個微笑時。

The applause rings for days

掌聲甚至會持續響上好幾天，

when we take our initial steps,

當我們邁出人生的第一步時，

giggle,

咯咯笑時，

totter,

蹣跚學步時，

fall,

摔倒時，

and bravely try to resume our progress.

並勇敢地試圖繼續我們前行的步伐時。

It isn't just at home.

不僅在家裡是這樣。

At school,

在學校，

the best teachers encourage us when we find something difficult.

最好的老師會在我們遇到困難時鼓勵我們。

They understand we might be shy.

他們理解我們可能會害羞。

They're keen to detect and encourage the early tentative signs of our particular talents.

他們敏銳地察覺並鼓勵我們特定天賦的早期試探性跡象。

Then,

然後，

of course,

理所當然地，

we grow up and are inducted into a horrific reality. 用詞

我們長大了，並被引入一個可怕的現實中。

We exist in a world of astonishing indifference to almost everything we are, 片語搭配

我們存在於一個對我們幾乎一切都驚人地漠不關心的世界，不論是我們是什麼樣的人，

think,

思考什麼，

say,

說什麼，

or do.

還是做什麼。

We might be in late adolescence

我們可能在青春期後期，

when the point really hits home. 慣用語

才真正深刻體會到這一點。

We might be in a bedsit at university

我們可能住在大學的出租屋裡，

or wandering the streets of the city at night on our own

或者獨自在夜晚的城市街道上漫步，

when it occurs to us with full force 片語搭配

這時我們突然強烈地意識到，

how negligible a thing we are in the wider scheme. 文法

在更廣闊的宏大圖景中，我們是多麼微不足道的存在。

No one in the crowds we pass knows anything about us.

我們經過的人群中，沒有人了解我們的任何事情。

Our welfare is of no concern to them. 文法

我們的安危對他們來說毫無意義。

They jostle against us on the pavements and treat us as a mere impediment to their progress.

他們在人行道上與我們推搡，把我們僅僅當作他們前進道路上的障礙。

We're tiny against the towers and brightly-lit flashing advertising hoardings.

在高樓大廈和閃爍的明亮廣告牌面前，我們顯得極其渺小。

We might die

我們可能會死，

and no one would even notice.

而甚至沒有人會注意到。

It may be a stern truth,

這或許是一個殘酷的真相，

but we make it all the more so by focusing only on its darkest dimensions. 文法

但當我們只關注其最黑暗的一面時，這真相就顯得更加殘酷了。

We remain grief-stricken by how invisible we are.

我們因為自己的透明感而感到悲痛欲絕。

Yet,

然而，

we cease to put this bracing thought to its proper philosophical purpose, 片語搭配

我們卻沒有把這種振奮人心的想法用於它應有的哲學目的，

that of rescuing us from another problem

那就是把我們從另一個問題中解救出來，

which is gnawing at us all the while, 慣用語

這個問題一直以來都在折磨著我們，

an ongoing and highly corrosive sense of self-consciousness.

一種持續存在的、具有高度腐蝕性的自我意識。

In another side of our minds,

在我們內心的另一面，

we haven't accepted the indifference of others at all.

我們根本沒有接受他人的漠不關心。

In fact,

事實上，

we know and suffer intensely from just how much,

我們因為深信不疑的事情而深受折磨，

as we feel sure,

我們確信，

others are thinking of us.

別人正在思考著我們。

We are extremely worried about how high-pitched and odd our voice sounded when we asked the waiter for a bit more milk.

我們極其擔心當我們要服務生多加一點牛奶時，自己的聲音聽起來有多尖銳和古怪。

We're certain that the sales attendant noticed how out of shape our stomach is. 慣用語

我們確信售貨員注意到了我們的肚子有多麼走樣。

The people in the restaurant where we're eating alone

在我們獨自用餐的餐廳裡，那些人

are undoubtedly spending considerable time wondering why we have no friends.

無疑花了不少時間在想我們為什麼沒有朋友。

At work,

在工作中，

they're still dwelling on that slightly stupid thing we said last month about the US sales strategy. 片語動詞

他們仍在反覆琢磨我們上個月關於美國銷售策略時說的略顯愚蠢的話。

A person we went to bed with 4 years ago 慣用語

一個四年前和我們上過床的人，

is to this day thinking ill of us in some powerful but undefined way. 片語搭配

直到今天還在以某種強烈但說不清的方式對我們抱有負面看法。

We don't really have any evidence for this, 表達脈絡

我們其實沒有任何證據證明這一點，

and yet it can feel like an emotional certainty.

然而這感覺就像是一種情感上的確鑿事實。

It can feel intuitively clear that our foolishness and less than impressive sides are being noted and dwelt on 用詞

我們的直覺會清楚地認為，我們的愚蠢和不那麼令人印象深刻的一面正被注意到並反覆回味，

all the time

一直以來

by everyone at large. 用詞

被所有人廣泛關注。

Every way in which we depart from what the world considers to be normal, 文法

我們偏離世俗眼中的正常、

upstanding,

正直、

and dignified

與體面的每一次行為，

has been registered by the widest constituency. 慣用語

都已經被最廣泛的人群所記錄在案。

To liberate us from this kind of punitive story, 慣用語

為了將自己從這種懲罰性的故事中解放出來，

we may need to conduct a deliberately artificial thought-exercise 片語搭配

我們可能需要進行一次刻意的人工思維練習

We may have to set ourselves the challenge of examining how long we spend on the foolishness or just existence of other people. 片語搭配

我們可能要給自己設定一個挑戰，審視我們花了多少時間在他人的愚蠢或者僅僅是他人的存在上。

How we think and feel about other people we don't particularly know is perhaps the best guide to the workings of the average human imagination.

我們如何思考和感受那些我們不怎麼了解的人，或許是了解普通人類想像力運作方式的最佳指南。

To pretty much the rest of the world,

對於世界上幾乎所有人來說，

we are the very same sort of strangers or casual acquaintances as we know and deal with in our own daily experience. 文法

我們和他們在日常生活中認識和打交道的陌生人或泛泛之交並沒有什麼兩樣。

And now here,

而現在在這裡，

the results can be surprising.

結果可能會令人驚訝。

Imagine that we are in a lift

想像我們正在電梯裡，

standing next to someone on our way to the 20th floor.

站在某人旁邊，正要去往20樓。

They think they know that we disapprove of their choice of jacket. 表達脈絡

他們以為他們知道我們不贊同他們對外套的選擇。

They think they know that we should have picked another one and that they look silly and pinched in this one.

他們以為他們知道我們認為他們應該選另一件，而且他們穿這件看起來很傻又很緊繃。

But in reality,

但在現實中，

we haven't noticed the jacket.

我們根本沒有注意到那件外套。

In fact,

事實上，

we haven't noticed they were born or that one day they're going to die.

我們沒有注意到他們的出生，也沒有注意到他們有一天會死去。

We're just worrying about how our partner responded when we mentioned our mother's cold to them last night.

我們只是在擔心昨晚和伴侶提到母親感冒時，伴侶會有什麼反應。

Or imagine it's well on the way into the last bit of a 2-hour meeting 片語搭配

或者想像在兩個小時會議的最後階段，

that we sense that a colleague's hair really is a bit different today,

我們感覺到某個同事今天的髮型確實有點不一樣，

though we can't quite put a finger on how 慣用語

雖然我們說不太清楚是哪裡不同，

even though they spent a small fortune on their cut 慣用語

儘管他們在理髮上花了一小筆錢，

and thought intensely about the wisdom of visiting a new salon.

並且為了去一家新沙龍剪髮而苦思冥想了一番。

In other words,

換句話說，

when we take our own minds as a guide, 慣用語

當我們以自己的思想為指南時，

we get a far more accurate and far less oppressive vision of what's likely to be going on in the heads of other people 講解

關於別人遇到我們時他們腦子裡可能會想些什麼，我們會得到一個更準確且遠沒有那麼壓抑的視角，

when they encounter us,

他們遇到我們時，

which is,

結論是，

in the nicest way, 語氣意圖

說得好聽點，

not very much.

他們沒想太多。

This kind of news is both very bad and strangely good. 表達脈絡

這樣的消息既非常糟糕，又出奇地好。

On the one hand, 表達脈絡

一方面，

no one may notice when we die.

我們死的時候可能沒人會注意到。

On the other,

另一方面，

they're also sure not to have noticed when we spill some orange juice down our front or do our hair the wrong way.

當我們把柳橙汁灑在胸前或是弄錯了髮型時，他們也肯定不會注意到。

It's not that we or they are horrible. 文法

這不是說我們或他們很糟糕。

Our lack of caring isn't absolute.

我們缺乏關心並非絕對的。

If we really saw a stranger in trouble in the water,

如果我們真的看到一個陌生人在水中掙扎，

we would dive in.

我們會跳下去救人。

When a friend is in tears,

當朋友落淚時，

we are sympathetic.

我們會充滿同情。

It's just that for the most part,

只是在大多數情況下，

we need to filter. 用詞

我們需要過濾資訊。

Our everyday lack of care occurs for a perfectly sane and forgivable reason.

我們日常缺乏關心發生的原因是非常理智且可原諒的。

We need to spend most of our waking energies

我們需要把大部分清醒時的精力

on navigating

花在駕馭生活上

and doing justice to our own intimate concerns. 慣用語

並妥善處理我們自己切身相關的事情。

Once we've had to think about our relationship, 文法

一旦我們不得不考慮我們的感情關係、

our career,

我們的事業、

our finances,

我們的財務狀況、

our health,

我們的健康、

our close relatives,

我們的近親、

our offspring,

我們的後代、

our upcoming holidays,

我們即將到來的假期、

our friends,

我們的朋友，

and the state of our household,

以及我們的家庭狀況，

there's just going to be very little time left to reflect on the suddenly high-pitched voice of a customer or the outfit of a colleague.

我們就只剩下極少的時間去回味某個顧客突然拔高的嗓門或某個同事的著裝了。

We are owed the upside of an otherwise tragic insight. 慣用語

對於這個原本悲劇性的洞察，我們理應享有它積極的一面。

We shouldn't just suffer from the indifference of other people.

我們不應該僅僅承受他人的冷漠。

We should,

我們應該，

where it matters,

在重要的地方，

properly reciprocate it. 用詞

適當地以冷漠回敬之。

We shouldn't merely suffer from being ignored. 表達脈絡

我們不應該只是承受被無視的痛苦。

We should accept the liberation implicit in the fact that we are being so.

我們應該接受由於我們被無視這一事實所隱含的解放感。

And then in turn, 表達脈絡

然後反過來，

we should embark more courageously on those situations and adventures 片語搭配

我們應該更勇敢地投入到那些情境和冒險中，

where a touch of foolishness is always going to be a possibility, 用詞

在這些經歷中，總有可能會發生一些顯得愚蠢的事情，

like the start of a new business,

比如開始一項新事業、

a romantic invitation,

一次浪漫的邀約、

or asking a question at a conference.

或者在會議上提問。

We may fail,

我們可能會失敗，

but we can believe with new certainty that almost no one will give a damn if we do, 慣用語

但我們可以帶著一種新的確定性去相信，即使我們失敗了，也幾乎沒有人會在乎，

an idea that may,

這個想法，

above anything else,

比任何其他事情都更能

help to contribute to our future success, 片語搭配

有助於我們未來的成功，

something which,

而這些成功，

as we now know,

正如我們現在所知，

no one's going to much notice or care about anyway.

不管怎樣，也沒人會太注意或關心。

At The School of Life,

在人生學校（The School of Life），

we believe that confidence is a skill we can all learn.

我們相信自信是一項我們所有人都可以學習的技能。

Click now to learn more.

點擊現在了解更多。