超越自我篇13：Keep the Trolls Away from your Goals别让小人挡了你的道

There is a type of crab¹ that cannot be caught—it is agile² (敏捷的)and clever enough to get out of any crab trap. And yet, these crabs³ are caught by the thousands every day, thanks to a particular human trait (特点) they possess.
有一种螃蟹行动敏捷，还很聪明，可以从任何一种螃蟹夹子中脱身，因此很难捕获。但是，每天仍有成千上万只这种螃蟹被抓住，因为他们身上的某些特点很像人类。

The trap is a wire cage with a hole at the top. Bait is placed in the cage, and the cage is lowered into the water. One crab comes along, enters the cage, and begins munching⁴ on the bait. A second crab joins him. A third...
这种螃蟹夹子是用铁丝做成的笼子，顶部有一个洞。笼子放在水里，里面放着诱饵。一只螃蟹爬了进来，开始大口地咀嚼着诱饵。第二只螃蟹爬进来了，遂后是第三只螃蟹——简直成了螃蟹的感恩节。

Eventually, however, all the bait is gone. The crabs could easily climb up the side of the cage and through the hole, but they do not. They stay in the cage. Other crabs come along and join them—long after the bait is gone. And more.
然而，最终所有的诱饵都被吃光了。螃蟹可以很容易地从笼子的四壁网上爬，爬出洞口，但是它们没有，它们留在了笼子里。在诱饵已经没有了很长时间以后，依然会有越来越多的螃蟹爬进来。

Should one of the crabs realize there is no further reason to stay in the trap and attempt to leave, the other crabs will gang up on him and stop him. They will repeatedly pull him off the side of the cage. If he is persistent⁵, the others will tear off his claws to keep him from climbing. If he persists still, they will kill him.
如果有一只螃蟹意识到已经没有理由再呆在笼子里，打算离开，其他的螃蟹就会群起而攻之，阻止他爬出去。它们会不断地把那只想要爬出去的螃蟹从笼壁上拉下来。如果它坚持要爬出去无，其他的螃蟹就会扯下它的爪子，不让它爬。如果它任然坚持，它们就会把它杀死。

The crabs—by force of the majority—stay together in the cage. The cage is hauled up, and it’s dinner time on the pier⁶.
由于大多数螃蟹的阻止，这只螃蟹只好和其他的螃蟹一起呆在笼子里。笼子被拉了上来，就在人们在码头上吃晚餐的时间。

The chief difference between these crabs and humans is that these crabs live in water and humans on land.
人类和这种螃蟹的主要区别就在于螃蟹生活在水里，人类生活在岸上。

Anyone who has a dream—one that might get them out of what they perceive to be a trap— had best beware of the fellow inhabitants of the trap.
任何有梦想的人——任何想要挣脱它们眼中牢笼的人——都要当心牢笼里的同伴。

The human crabs (we call them trolls) do not usually use physical force—although they are certainly not above it. They generally don’t need it, however. They have more effective methods at hand, and in mouth—doubt, ridicule⁷ (嘲笑), sarcasm⁸ (挖苦), humiliation⁹, and dozens of others not listed in our dictionary.
人类中螃蟹（我们称之为小人）通常不会使用武力——当然它们的行为并不会比螃蟹好到哪儿去，只不过他们通常不需要使用武力。它们有更有效的方法，那就是用嘴巴——怀疑、嘲笑、讽刺、侮辱，还有许多没有列出来的方式。
 
The point is to manage to keep the trolls away from your goals.
我要说的就是不要让这些小人阻挡了你追求目标的道路。

1 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

2 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

3 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 munching   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果，但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句

5 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

6 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

7 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

8 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

9 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。