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In Praise of the Fool or, What’s in a Joke? 傻瓜万岁，开啥玩笑

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Asking “What is humor?” is not a very funny thing to say. Great minds – Freud, Aristotle, Zhuangzi – have considered this question; but struggled to grasp the slippery quintessence of humor. The simplest definition seems to be: humor is that which topples our expectations and oftentimes causes laughter.

问「幽默是什么？」可一点都不好笑。伟大的思想家──弗罗伊德、亚里士多德、庄子──都想过这个问题，但很难抓住幽默游移难测的精华。最简单的定义似乎是：幽默就是颠覆我们的预期心理，因而常常带来欢笑。

Physically, laughter stimulates the circulatory and immune systems and the release of endorphins into the bloodstream. The American cancer Society accepts that laughter reduces stress and increase pain tolerance. And humans aren’t alone in laughing – chimpanzees appear to laugh when tickled.

就生理上来说，发笑刺激循环及免疫系统，并释放脑内啡到血液里。美国癌症协会认可发笑可以降低焦虑并增进对疼痛的忍受度。而且不是只有人类会笑──黑猩猩若被搔痒似也会笑。

Even though humor is the inversion of expectations, few expectations remain consistent across cultures. Nevertheless, the wordless goofiness of comedians like Jackie Chan and Charlie Chaplin relies on physical, or slapstick, humor; only this seems nearly universally popular.

虽然幽默是预期心理的反转，在不同文化中绝少有相符的预期心理。即使如此，喜剧演员像成龙和卓别麟无言的憨傻喜趣就倚赖动作或俗闹的幽默；似乎只有这类幽默在各地都能受到欢迎。

Wit also jostles our expectations, but by playing on the meaning of words. When the great playwright Oscar Wilde was asked how he felt about the disastrous premiere of his latest play, he replied, “Oh, the play was a great success, but the audience was a failure.”

藉由玩弄文字的意义，机智也在冲撞我们的预期心理。当有人问大剧作家奥斯卡王尔德，他对自己最新剧作有如灾难的首演有何观感，他回答说，「哦，这出戏是个大成功，但观众却是个失败。」

What of the fool who jokes? In Shakespeare, it is the fool who often speaks most truthfully; likewise, Zen master reply on the foolishness of koan to provoke enlightenment. Fools, perhaps, are the least foolish among us.

那么，善开玩笑的笑匠又扮演怎样的角色呢？在莎士比亚的剧作中，通常是由弄臣来说真话；同样的禅师说公案【注】以故事中的愚昧让听者顿悟。傻瓜，或许是我们之间脑筋最清楚的人。

【注】：公案Koan是指禅学大师所说的刻意荒谬、前后矛盾的陈述，为了让听者跳脱自然理性的思考架构并进而顿悟。譬如「拍手时只用单手会发出什么声音呢？」。

－by Iain Ferguson

Vocabulary

单词发音

in praise of 为赞扬

grasp [græsp] v. 领会，理解

slippery [ˋslɪpərɪ] adj. 不稳定的；不明确的

quintessence [kwɪnˋtɛsns] n. 精华；典型

topple [ˋtɑp!] v. 推翻；颠覆

chimpanzee [͵tʃɪmpænˋzi] n.【动】黑猩猩

tickle [ˋtɪk!] v. 搔〔某人的〕痒痒

inversion [ɪnˋvɝʃən] n.【正式】反向; 倒置; 颠倒

consistent [kənˋsɪstənt] adj.〔信仰﹑行为﹑态度﹑质量等〕一贯的﹐一致的

goofiness 愚笨

comedian [kəˋmidɪən] n. 喜剧演员

slapstick [ˋslæp͵stɪk] n. 滑稽表演﹐打闹剧

wit [wɪt] n. 机智；风趣

jostle [ˋdʒɑs!] v. 挤；推；撞; 争抢，争夺

playwright [ˋple͵raɪt] n. 剧作家

truthfully [ˋtruθfəlɪ] adv. 诚实地

foolishness [ˋfulɪʃnɪs] n. 愚蠢；愚笨

enlightenment [ɪnˋlaɪtnmənt] n.【正式】领悟; 启发﹐开导

Sentence of the Day

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

天使不敢去的地方傻瓜却出没。

(匹夫愚勇，做事考虑不周)