TED演讲:反英雄式人物(2)

 　　The anti-hero initially¹ conforms, ignorantly accepting the established views, 一开始，反英雄顺从、无知地接受别人给出的观点，

　　a typical, unquestioning, brainwashed member of society. 是典型的盲目、被洗脑的社会一份子。

　　The anti-hero struggles to conform, all the while starting to object, 他们努力去顺应社会，然后开始反抗，

　　perhaps finding other outsiders with whom to voice his questions, 可能找到一个人，和他一起喊出了自己的质疑，

　　and naively², unwisely, sharing those questions with an authority figure. 天真、无知地向权威提 问。

　　The anti-hero openly challenges society, and tries to fight against the lies and tactics used to oppress the populace. 他们公开地挑战社会，奋力对抗压迫公众的谎言和手段。

　　This step, for the anti-hero, is seldom a matter of brave, wise and heroic opposition³. 此时，反英雄通常还不是勇敢、智慧、英勇的对抗者。

　　Maybe the anti-hero fights and succeeds in destroying the oppressive government, with a lot of impossible luck. 他们可能有不可思议的好运气，反抗成功，推翻了镇压人民的政府。

　　Perhaps he or she runs away, escapes to fight another day. 也可能他或她逃跑了，等待时机再战。

　　All too often though, the anti-hero is killed, or brainwashed to return to conformity⁴ with the masses. 然而更常见的是，反英雄被杀了，或被洗脑了，重新回到顺从大众的队伍中。

　　No heroic triumph here, no brave individual standing⁵ up against impersonal⁶ institutions of a modern world, 没有英雄式的凯旋，没有挺身而出反抗不人道制度的勇士，

　　inspiring others to fight, or resourcefully outwitting and outgunning the massive army of the evil empire. 没有一呼百应，机智战胜邪恶帝国庞大军队的英雄。

　　Our storytelling ancestors calmed our fears of powerlessness by giving us Hercules and other heroes 我们的祖先以故事安抚我们对无力感的恐惧，想象出像赫居里斯和其他强壮的英雄，

　　strong enough to fight off the demons⁷ and monsters that we suspected haunted the night beyond our campfires. 他们能打败那些我们担心在夜晚出没在营火范围外的恶魔和怪物。

　　But eventually, we realized the monsters did not lie out there, they reside inside of us. 但最终，我们发现怪物不在外面，他们住在我们心里。

　　Beowulf's greatest enemy was mortality. Othello's, jealousy⁸. Hiccup⁹, self-doubt. 贝奥武夫最大的敌人是恐惧死亡。奥赛罗是嫉妒。希卡普则是自我怀疑。

　　And in the tales of the ineffectual anti-hero, in the stories of Guy Montag and Winston Smith 在功亏一篑的反英雄的传说里，在蒙塔格和温斯顿·史密斯的故事里，

　　lie the warnings of contemporary storytellers playing on very primitive¹⁰ fears: 藏着当代作者针对我们最原始恐惧的警告：

　　that we are not strong enough to defeat the monsters. 我们还没有强大到能够打败怪兽。

　　Only this time, not the monsters chased away by the campfire, 只是这次，怪兽不是被营火赶跑的那个，

　　but the very monsters who built the campfire in the first place. 怪兽正是最初生起营火的那一个。

1 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

2 naively   

adv. 天真地

参考例句：

• They naively assume things can only get better. 他们天真地以为情况只会变好。
• In short, Knox's proposal was ill conceived and naively made. 总而言之，诺克斯的建议考虑不周，显示幼稚。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 conformity   

n.一致，遵从，顺从

参考例句：

• Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法？
• The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

7 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

9 hiccup   

n.打嗝

参考例句：

• When you have to hiccup,drink a glass of cold water.当你不得不打嗝时，喝一杯冷水就好了。
• How long did he hiccup?他打嗝打了多久？

10 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。