The Loveliest People in the World

Who are the loveliest people in the world? They're not the famous ones or the respected ones, the worthy ones and the powerful ones. They are the ones you haven't really heard of who long ago shed their pride, who can tell you frankly how lonely and sad they are, who can face their self-hatred and accept their regrets.
谁是世界上最可爱的人？他们不是那些有名的或者受人尊敬的，有价值的或者有权势的人。他们是你没有真正听说过的人，他们很久以前就放下了他们的骄傲，他们可以坦率地告诉你他们有多孤独和悲伤，他们可以面对他们的自我厌恶，接受自己的遗憾。

They aren't just unhappy (there are plenty of boring and frightening ways to be that); they've come to an optimal perspective on their unhappiness. You could tell them about the strangest, oddest, most lamentable things about you and know that they understood it all at once from the inside. There are no follies around sex or status, love or money that they aren't fully acquainted with.
他们不仅仅是不快乐（乏味和可怕的不快乐方式有很多）；他们已经对他们的不快乐有了最佳的看法。你可以告诉他们关于你的最奇怪、最古怪、最可悲的事情，并且知道他们立刻就能从内心深处理解这一切。他们熟知性、地位、爱情或金钱周围的愚蠢行为。

They want to get to the howl inside you because they are so familiar with the howl inside them. They aren't remotely attached to seeming sane; they long ago ceased attempting to appear normal. They know that life is mostly pain, mystery and error – and they'll never try to persuade you otherwise. They will never be so mean as to try to cheer you up.
他们想要触及你内心深处的嚎叫，因为他们对自己内心深处的嚎叫非常熟悉。他们一点也不追求表面的理智；他们早已放弃试图表现得正常。他们知道生活大多是痛苦、神秘和错误——他们永远不会反过来试图说服你。他们绝不会刻薄到试图让你振作起来。

They can be trusted because they have had the courage to fathom their full propensities to cowardice and corruption. They don't give a jot about your reputation – because they know enough about what people in general are like. They combine a thorough misanthropy for the group with a deep love and tenderness for the individual. They've been through their obsessions with love, public esteem, career triumph and positivism – and they've come out the other side.
他们值得信任，因为他们有勇气去深入了解自己内心的懦弱和堕落倾向。他们对你的名声毫不在意——因为他们深知一般人是什么样的。他们对群体持有彻底的厌世，但对个体却有着深深的爱和温柔。他们经历了对爱情、公众认可、事业成功和积极性的痴迷，但他们却站在了另一边。

They can let their humour get very dark, because the gap between their hopes and their experience is so wide. They've gone into the weirdest bits of themselves and will therefore understand the oddest bits about you. They don't expect life as a whole to go right and, against a backdrop of despair, they can laugh with exceptional richness and glee.
他们可以让自己的幽默变得非常黑暗，因为他们的希望与他们的经历之间的差距是如此之大。他们已经深入探索到了自己最奇怪的部分，因此也会理解你身上最奇怪的部分。他们并不指望生活会一帆风顺，而在绝望的背景下，他们却能笑得异常灿烂和开心。

These are the sort of people you want in the prison cell or on the way to the scaffold, in the trenches or in the bed next to you on the cancer ward. These are the kinds of people we need so many more of in our lives – and should try so hard to be for others.
这些人是你希望在监狱牢房里或走向绞刑架的路上，战壕中，或者在你癌症病房隔壁病床上的人。这些人是我们生活中需要更多，并且我们也应该努力成为别人生命中的那种人。

词汇表
respected [rɪˈspektɪd] 受尊敬的
shed  [ʃed] 放下，摆脱，去除
frankly ['fræŋkli] 坦率地，直率地
self-hatred [ˈheɪtrɪd] 自我厌恶，自我憎恨
optimal [ˈɒptɪm(ə)l] 最理想的，最好的，最佳的
lamentable [ˈlæməntəb(ə)l] 可悲的，使人惋惜的
folly [ˈfɒli] 荒唐事，愚蠢的行为
be acquainted with [əˈkweɪntɪd] 熟悉，了解
howl [haʊl] 嚎叫，怒吼
not remotely 一点也不
be attached to 认为有重要性（或意义、价值、分量等）
sane [seɪn] 精神健全的，理智的
cease doing [siːs] 停止，结束
fathom ['fæðəm] 理解，彻底了解，弄清
propensity [prəˈpensəti] 倾向，习性，嗜好
cowardice [ˈkaʊə(r)dɪs] 懦弱，惧怕，胆小
give a jot about [dʒɒt] 毫不在意
misanthropy [mɪs'ænθrəpi] 愤世嫉俗，厌恶人类，厌世
tenderness ['tendənɪs] 温柔，柔和
obsession [əb'seʃ(ə)n] 痴迷；困扰
public esteem [ɪˈstiːm] 公众敬重，公众认可
career triumph  [ˈtraɪʌmf] 事业成功
positivism [ˈpɒzətɪvˌɪz(ə)m] 积极性；实证主义
gap [ɡæp] 差距，间隙
despair [dɪˈspeə(r)] 绝望，失去希望
exceptional richness and glee [ɡliː]（笑得）异常灿烂高兴
prison cell [sel] 牢房，监狱
scaffold [ˈskæfəʊld] 绞刑架；脚手架
trench [trentʃ] 战壕，壕沟
ward [wɔː(r)d] 病房，病室

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