Why Do Bad Things Keep Happening to Me?

Much is constantly happening that annoys us: trains pull out of platforms as we approach them. Taps snap off their moorings; shopping bags leak; suppliers go bankrupt; colleagues resign; cars break down. It is all — undoubtedly — maddening. But the question is how much does it all, beneath the surface, have to feel intentional as well?
我们经常会遇到很多烦心事：火车在我们接近站台时驶离。水龙头突然断裂；购物袋漏了；供应商破产；同事辞职；汽车抛锚。毫无疑问，这一切都令人抓狂。但问题是，在表象之下，这一切又有多少是有意为之的？

For a certain kind of personality, it is very hard to hold on to the idea that many troubles might come down to something as innocent as chance. It simply seems implausible that awful things might repeatedly unfold, at terribly inopportune moments, without some kind of malevolent intent being involved.
对于某种性格的人来说，很难坚持认为许多麻烦可能是由偶然事件这样无辜的事情造成的。在没有某种恶意的介入下，可怕的事情在非常不恰当的时刻一再发生，这似乎根本说不过去。

It can't be just an accident that the dinner order went missing, that the cinema seat was double booked, that the phone's battery has died. Why did their dry cleaning — and no one else's — end up being stolen and their new shoes spring a leak? Why is there a strange smell just next to where they are seated on the plane? How come there is a small beetle in their salad?
晚餐订单丢失、电影院座位被重复预订、手机没电，这一切都不可能只是意外。为什么他们的（不是其他人的）干洗衣服的被偷了，为什么他们的新鞋漏水了？为什么他们在飞机上的座位旁有一股奇怪的味道？他们的沙拉里怎么会有一只小甲虫？

It's as though someone is trailing them, undermining them, laying traps for them — and laughing at them. It seems like there is some kind of conspiracy to make them look like a cretin to the world (why else have they been walking around all day with a sticker on the back of their coat and why does their zip jam exactly ten minutes before an important dinner? ) . No wonder they may get very cross indeed.
就好像有人在跟踪他们，破坏他们，给他们设下陷阱，还嘲笑他们。似乎有什么阴谋要让他们在世人面前看起来像个白痴（不然他们为什么整天都穿着贴着贴纸的大衣走来走去，为什么他们的拉链会在重要晚宴前十分钟卡住？) 。也难怪他们会非常生气。

The sad and touching truth is that there is — of course — almost never any conspiracy at play. But that it strongly feels like there is one on the inside tells us a lot about the origins of paranoic hypersensitivity: it is the bitter fruit of self-hatred. When we heartily dislike ourselves, it is only natural to have the impression that the world is ridiculing us in turn.
悲伤而感人的真相是，当然，几乎从来没有什么阴谋在起作用。但是，如果我们内心强烈感觉有阴谋存在，这告诉我们很多关于偏执性超敏反应的起源：它是自我厌恶的苦果。当我们极度地厌恶自己时，很自然地就会觉得世界也在反过来嘲笑我们。

The hotel concierge knows exactly how awful we are; that's why they've given us the room with the malfunctioning airconditioning unit; the waiter has deep experience of our revoltingness; that's why they chose our trousers on which to drop a piece of butter. The phone company knows that we are an idiot (and that we think dreadful things) ; that's why they've made sure our mobile would give out on the second day of our trip.
酒店门房清楚地知道我们有多糟糕，所以才给我们安排了空调出故障的房间；服务员对我们的反感深有体会，所以才选了我们的裤子来放一块黄油。电话公司知道我们是个白痴（也知道我们会胡思乱想）；这就是为什么他们要确保我们的手机在旅行的第二天就会坏掉。

We need to be given the chance to see that our suspicious natures are a symptom of a self-hatred that owes its origins not to the prevalence of actual plots and schemes, but to childhood dynamics in which we lacked the reassurance, attention and care we deserved — and for this, we deserve immense, ongoing sympathy.
我们需要有机会看到，我们多疑的天性是一种自我厌恶的症状，而这种自我厌恶的根源并不在于实际阴谋诡计的盛行，而在于童年时期我们缺乏应有的安慰、关注和关怀——为此，我们应该得到极大的、持续的同情。

The world doesn't hate us, we have just learnt to have contempt for ourselves which returns to haunt us in the form of imagined plots. No one is actually laughing at us; we weren't loved properly and now don't like ourselves very much. That's the true outrage for which we should reserve our anger and our self-compassion.
世界并不讨厌我们，我们只是学会了蔑视自己，而这种蔑视又以想象中的阴谋的形式纠缠着我们。事实上，没有人嘲笑我们；我们只是没有得到应有的爱，所以现在也不太喜欢自己。这才是真正的愤慨，我们应该为此保留愤怒并学会自我同情。

词汇表
pull out of platforms 驶离站台
snap off [snæp] 突然折断，断裂
mooring  ['mʊərɪŋz] 系泊处，系泊用具（这里指水龙头固定连接点）
supplier [səˈplaɪə(r)] 供货商，供应者
go bankrupt [ˈbæŋkrʌpt] 倒闭，破产
maddening  ['mæd(ə)nɪŋ] 令人发狂的，使人恼火的
intentional [ɪnˈtenʃ(ə)nəl] 故意的，有意的，存心的
come down to 归结为，取决于
implausible [ɪmˈplɔːzəb(ə)l] 难以置信的，不可信的，不合情理的
unfold [ʌnˈfəʊld] 发生，打开，展示
inopportune [ɪnˈɒpə(r)ˌtjuːn] 不合时宜的，不凑巧的
malevolent intent [mə'levələnt] [ɪn'tent] 恶意
double booked（座位等）被预订给多人，重复预订
dry cleaning 干洗，需干洗的衣服
spring a leak [liːk] 开始漏水，出现漏洞，泄漏
trail [treɪl] 跟踪，追踪
undermine [ˌʌndə(r)ˈmaɪn] 暗中破坏，逐渐损坏
lay traps for 设陷阱
conspiracy [kən'spɪrəsi] 密谋，阴谋
cretin [ˈkretɪn] 笨蛋，傻瓜，白痴
sticker 粘贴标签，贴纸
zip jam [zɪp][dʒæm] 拉链卡住
get cross 生气
at play 起作用
paranoic [ˌpærə'nɔik] 偏执的，妄想的，多疑的
hypersensitivity  [ˌhaɪpə:ˌsensə'tɪvətɪ] 过敏症，超敏反应
self-hatred [ˈheɪtrɪd] 自我憎恨，自我厌恶
heartily [ˈhɑː(r)tɪli] 非常地；由衷地；热忱的
ridicule [ˈrɪdɪˌkjuːl] 嘲弄，取笑
hotel concierge [ˈkɒnsiˌeə(r)ʒ] 宾馆门房，酒店礼宾部
malfunctioning[mæl'fʌŋkʃ(ə)nɪŋ] 出故障的
revoltingness [rɪˈvəʊltɪŋnəs] 反感，恶心感
give out 坏掉，出故障，停止运转
prevalence ['prevələns] 盛行，流行，普遍
plots and schemes [plɒt][skiːm] 阴谋诡计
reassurance [ˌriːəˈʃʊərəns] 安慰，慰藉，（能消除疑虑等的）肯定
have contempt for [kən'tempt] 轻蔑，蔑视
outrage ['aʊtreɪdʒ] 愤怒，愤慨，暴行

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