幸灾乐祸的好处
The benefits of schadenfreude
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Neil.
大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语，我是尼尔。
This is the programme where in just six minutes we discuss an interesting topic and teach some related English vocabulary.
在这个节目中，我们将在六分钟里讨论一个有趣的话题以及教授一些相关的英语词汇。
And joining me to do this is Rob.
搭档我做节目的是罗伯。
Hello.
大家好。
In this programme we're discussing schadenfreude.
在这个节目中我们将讨论一下“幸灾乐祸”。
Hold on, Neil – schadenfreude – that's a German word.
等一下，尼尔——幸灾乐祸——那是一个德语单词。
Schadenfreude is what we can call a loanword
“Schadenfreude”是我们叫做外来词的单词
- a word from one language that is used in another language without being changed.
——来自一种语言,未经变化被用于另一语言的单词。
So you're right.
所以你是对的。
Schadenfreude is used in English.
“幸灾乐祸”被用于英语中。
And am I right in thinking it describes the satisfying feeling you get when something bad happens to someone else?
我认为它形容的是当一些不好的事情发生在别人身上时，你所获得的满足感，对吗？
You're abosolutely right, Rob.
绝对正确，罗伯。
Imagine you're in a queue at the supermarket and someone pushes in, but when they got to pay, their credit card doesn't work
想象一下你在超市排队，某人插队了，但是到他们付款时，他们的信用卡不管用了
– think of the feeling you might get just seeing their misfortune – another word for bad luck.
——想象一下你恰好看到他们不幸场面时的感受——形容“不幸”的另一个单词。
Yes, that is a very satisfying feeling – but it's quite a mean feeling too.
是的，那是一种非常满足的感觉——但是它也是一种非常刻薄的感觉。
It is, but we'll be discussing why that feeling could actually be good for us.
是的，但是我们将讨论一下为什么那种感觉实际上对我们有好处。
But first, let's set a question for you, Rob, and our listeners at home, to answer.
但是罗伯，首先让我们给你和在家中的听众设置一个问题来回答。
This is about false cognates – also called false friends - words that look the same in two languages but have different meanings.
这是关于似是而非的同源词——同样被叫做误导词——两种语言中看着一样但意思不同的单词。
So in English we have the word 'rat' but what does that mean in German?
所以在英语中我们有“老鼠”这个单词，但是在德语中那是什么意思？
Is it… a) a big mouse b) annoyed or c) advice?
是a) 大老鼠 b) 恼怒的 还是c) 建议？
That's tricky because I don't speak German. So I'll guess and say b) annoyed.
那很棘手，因为我不说德语。所以我说猜是b)恼怒的。
Well, I'll have the answer later on.
好的，稍后我将揭晓答案。
Now, let's talk more about schadenfreude.
现在让我们讨论更多关于“幸灾乐祸”的内容。
Enjoying someone's misfortune can certainly make us feel good.
享受某人的不幸确实能让我们感觉良好。
And studies have shown this feeling is quite normal – particularly when is happens to someone we envy.
而且研究表明这种感觉相当正常，特别是当它发生在我们所嫉妒的某人身上。
If we see a wealthy celebrity suffering on a reality TV show, or are exposed for not paying their taxes, we feel good.
如果我们看到富有的名人在真人秀节目中受苦，或者是被揭发没有纳税时，我们会感觉良好。
We say they've had their comeuppance.
我们会说他们遭报应了。
That's a good word – meaning a person's bad luck that is considered to be deserved punishment for something bad that they have done.
那是一个不错的单词——指的是一个人的不幸被认为是他所做坏事的应得惩罚。
Let's hear from psychologist Wilco Van Dijk from the University of Leiden, who's been talking about this on the BBC Radio 4 programme, All in the Mind.
让我们听一下来自莱顿大学的心理学家威尔科·范·迪克是怎么说的，他在BBC广播4频道的All in the Mind节目中一直在谈这个。
What have his studies found about our enjoyment of others misfortune?
对于我们对他人不幸的享受，他的研究发现了什么？
People especially feel schadenfreude when they think the misfortune is deserved.
当人们认为别人的不幸是活该的时候，他们会尤其感到幸灾乐祸。
Then the question is where this joy arises, is this actually joy experienced towards the misfortune of others?
接下来问题是这种快乐从何而来，这种快乐实际上来自别人的不幸？
Or is it also at least partly about a just situation – that this misfortune of another actually appeals to a sense of justice.
还是说至少有部分是由于一种公平环境——那是说另一个人的不幸实际上唤起了正义感。
That's also the reason why we like the misfortune of hypocrites,
这也是为什么我们喜欢看伪君子不幸，
because if they fall down that also is a deserved situation.
因为如果他们摔倒了，那也是活该。
OK, so Wilco Van Dijk's studies found we get joy when someone's misfortune is deserved.
好的，所以威尔科·范·迪克的研究发现当某人的不幸是活该的时候，我们会感到快乐。
There is justice – in other words, the punishment someone receives is fair.
这是公平的，换句话说，某人受到的惩罚是公正的。
And a just situation means a fair situation – it is right.
公平的环境指的是公正的环境——它是正义的。
So I guess he's saying we're not just being mean.
所以我猜他是在说我们不光是刻薄。
Yes. And he also mentioned the type of people whose misfortune is just and deserved, are hypocrites
是的。而且他同样提到那些自己的不幸是公平和应得的人是伪君子
– people who claim to have certain moral beliefs but actually behave in a way that shows they are not sincere.
——那些人声称有某种道德信仰，但是实际上他们的行为在某种程度上表明他们并不真诚。
The All in the Mind programme also heard from another expert on the subject – author and historian of emotions, Dr Tiffany Watt-Smith.
All in the Mind节目同样听取了这个主题方面的另一位专家的意见——情绪研究专家及历史学家蒂芙尼·瓦特·史密斯博士。
She talked about how schadenfreude is a subjective thing – based on our feelings – and it's not as simple as deciding what is right or wrong.
她谈到幸灾乐祸怎么是一种主观性的东西——基于我们的感觉——而且它并不是像决定什么是对或错那样简单。
What word does she use that means to express sympathy to someone about someone's bad luck?
她用什么词来表达对某人不幸的同情？
We don't really experience emotions, you know, as either-or things, you know it's not black or white.
我们并没有真正经历那种非此即彼的情绪，你知道，它并不是非黑即白的。
I think it's perfectly reasonable that we could genuinely commiserate with someone else's misfortune at the same time as a terrible sly smile spreading across our lips,
在我们真诚同情别人不幸的同时，我们的嘴上会流露出一个可怕狡猾的微笑，我觉得这是完全合理的。
because, you know, something we've envied about them has turned out not to work out so well or whatever it is.
因为，你知道，我们嫉妒他们的某个东西，但是结果发现没那么好，或者诸如此类。
You know, we have a much deeper ability to hold contradictory emotions in mind, much more so than your average moral philosopher would allow.
你知道我们有一种更深层次的能力去把矛盾的情绪记在心里，远远超过一般道德哲学家所允许的。
Interesting stuff. She says when something goes wrong for someone, we have the ability to commiserate with them
有趣的东西。她说当某人出问题时，我们会同情他们
– that's the word for expressing sympathy to someone about their bad luck.
——那是表达对某人不幸的同情的一个单词。
So overall, Tiffany Watt-Smith thinks we have a range of emotions when we experience schadenfreude.
所以总的来说，蒂芙尼·瓦特·史密斯认为当我们幸灾乐祸时，我们会有一系列的情绪。
But these are contradictory emotions – different and opposite emotions.
但是这些情绪是矛盾的情绪——不同并对立的情绪。
Maybe, Neil, we should just be nicer people?
或许，尼尔，我们应该做个更友善的人？
No way! I loved seeing Germany getting knocked out of last year's World Cup – not really!
没门！我很喜欢看到德国在去年的世界杯上被淘汰——不是真的！
Talking of Germany, earlier we mentioned false friends and I asked in English we have the word 'rat' but what does that mean in German?
说到德国，早些时候我提到误导词，而且我问在英语中我们有“老鼠”这个词，但是在德语里那指的是什么？
Is it… a) a big mouse b) annoyed c) advice?
是a) 一只大老鼠 b) 恼怒的 c) 建议？
And, Rob, you said…
罗伯，你说……
I said b) annoyed.
我说b) 恼怒的。
And that is the wrong answer, I'm afraid.
恐怕那是错误的答案。
The right answer is c) advice.
正确答案是c)建议。
Well done if you knew that at home.
如果在家里的你知道答案，那你做得很好。
Now on to the vocabulary we looked at in this programme.
现在来看一下我们在这个节目中提到的单词。
So today we've been talking about schadenfreude – that describes the satisfying feeling you get when something bad happens to someone else.
所以今天我们一直在谈“幸灾乐祸”——那形容的是当坏事发生在别人身上时你所获得的满足感。
And that's an example of a loanword - a word from one language that is used in another language without being changed.
那是外来词的一个例子——来自一种语言，不经改变用于另一种语言的单词。
In this case German.
这种情况下那是指是德语。
We mentioned comeuppance which describes a person's misfortune that is considered to be deserved punishment for something bad that they've done.
我们谈到了“报应”，形容的是一个人的不幸被认为是由于他们所做的某些坏事而活该受到的惩罚。
Next we mentioned justice – that's the punishment someone receives that is fair for what they've done.
接下里我们提到了公平——那是说某人受到的惩罚就他们的所作所为来说是公正的。
And the word just describes something that is fair and right.
而且“公平”这个单词描述的是某事是公正的，正义的。
Hypocrites are people who claim to have certain moral beliefs but actually behave in a way that shows they are not sincere.
伪君子是声称有某种道德信仰的人，但是实际上他们的行为在某种程度上表明他们不是真诚的。
And finally commiserate is a word that means expressing sympathy to someone about their bad luck.
最后“同情”是表达对某人不幸的同情的一个单词。
That's the verb. The noun form is commiseration.
那是动词。名词形式是“commiseration”。
Well commiserations, Neil. We've run out of time for this programme.
好的，同情，尼尔。节目要结束了。
See you soon, goodbye.
下次见，再见。
Goodbye!
再见！