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幕后故事
Buyer beware
买礼物的人请注意
A guide to festive gift-giving from stage, page and screen.
来自舞台、书本、银幕的节日送礼指南。
The man who has everything is only the start of your worries.
不缺任何东西的人只是你烦恼的开始。
What about the uncle with obnoxious views and the teenage niece you scarcely know?
那个有着逆耳观点的叔叔和你几乎不认识的十几岁侄女是不是也让你烦恼呢？
Suggestions for what to get people for Christmas abound, but, collectively, classic stories provide one of the best guides to gifts.
关于圣诞节送什么礼物给别人的建议比比皆是，但是总的来说，经典故事为送礼提供了最好的指南之一。
An overarching lesson is that a present is not just an object but a statement—about you, the recipient and your feelings towards them.
一个首要的教训是，礼物不仅仅是一个物品，更是一种表达——关于你、收礼者、你对他们的感情的表达。
Another is that gifts are a chance to express hostility as well as affection.
另一个教训是，礼物既是表达爱意，也是表达敌意的机会。
Presents are often the continuation of warfare by other means, used to placate foes and rivals as much as to hearten friends, especially in ancient literature and myth.
礼物常常是以其他方式对战争的延续，既用于鼓舞朋友，也用于安抚敌人和对手，特别是在古代文学和神话中。
In the “Iliad”, Agamemnon mollifies the wrathful Achilles with treasure, horses and slave girls.
在《伊利亚特》中，阿伽门农用财宝、马匹、奴隶女孩安抚愤怒的阿喀琉斯。
Gifts can even be exchanged during combat itself: Ajax and Hector maul each other “like hungry lions”, writes Homer, then break off to swap keepsakes instead of blows.
礼物甚至可以在战斗之中交换：荷马写道，阿贾克斯和赫克托耳像“饥饿的狮子”一样互相攻击，然后停下来，交换纪念品而非拳头。
A gift to your estranged relative could offer them a festive truce.
给疏远的亲戚送一份礼物，可以让他们在节日期间休战。
Alternatively, it could be a way to show them how little you think of them.
或者这也可以是向他们表示你有多么蔑视他们的一种方式。
That is the message of the tennis balls sent by the French dauphin to the hero of Shakespeare’s “Henry V”, one of the worst-judged gifts in literature.
莎士比亚《亨利五世》中法国王太子送给主人公亨利五世网球，其中所传达的信息就是蔑视，这是文学作品中判断最失误的礼物之一。（注：王太子以为亨利依然如少年时那样爱玩乐，便送来网球表示嘲笑。）
Irked by this mocking allusion to the revels of his youth, the English king promptly invades France.
英国国王被这个对他少年纵乐的嘲弄影射所激怒，于是立即入侵法国。
Or recall the toothpick and single tissue that the dismal Dursleys give their put-upon lodger Harry Potter in J. K. Rowling’s books.
或者回想一下，在J.K.罗琳的小说中，阴沉的德思礼一家给寄居他们家的总是受气的哈利·波特送了牙签和一片纸巾作礼物。
If insulting an in-law is your aim, and they have young children, try inflicting a remote-control car, with which their offspring will smash up the furniture.
如果你的目标是侮辱你的姻亲，而且他们有年幼的孩子，那就试试送他们一辆遥控汽车，他们的孩子会用这汽车撞坏家具。
Lavish gifts can cause trouble as much as stingy ones.
奢华的礼物和抠门的礼物一样会带来麻烦。
Chebutykin, a boozy doctor, brings a silver samovar to a low-key name-day celebration for Irina, one of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters”.
契诃夫的《三姐妹》中，嗜酒的医生契布蒂金带着一个银质茶炊去参加为伊里娜（三姐妹之一）举行的低调命名日庆祝活动。
In some productions the over-the-top gift is a hint that Chebutykin, who was in love with the sisters’ dead mother, is secretly Irina’s father.
在一些戏剧演出中，这份过于贵重的礼物暗示契布蒂金，这个曾经爱着三姐妹的已故母亲的人，是伊里娜从未公开的生父。
In “Emma”, the pianoforte that Frank Churchill anonymously gives Jane Fairfax sets off cruel rumours about her love life.
在《爱玛》中，弗兰克·丘吉尔匿名送给简·费尔法克斯的钢琴引发了关于简的恋爱生活的残酷谣言。
In Jane Austen’s world, the piano is as much a mark of Churchill’s vulgarity as the time he spends on his haircuts.
在简·奥斯汀的世界里，钢琴和丘吉尔花在理发上的时间一样，是他粗俗的标志。
Before splashing the cash, remember that every gift comes with an obligation.
在挥霍金钱之前，请记住，每一份礼物都伴随着一份义务。
That may simply be to say “thank you” for the bath salts and pretend you like them.
这义务可能只是为收到浴盐说声“谢谢”，并假装你很喜欢。
But often it is more than that.
但义务往往不止如此。
If the recipient is unable to reciprocate, a present may be an unpayable debt.
如果收礼人无法回报，那么礼物可能是一笔无法偿还的债务。
Or it can be an unwelcome claim to intimacy.
或者礼物可能是一种不受欢迎的对亲密关系的索要。
This is particularly true when the gift is from a sleazy man to a woman he is pursuing.
当礼物是一个卑鄙的男人送给一个他正在追求的女人时，这一点尤其正确。
“Take back your mink,” sings Miss Adelaide in “Guys & Dolls”, “Take back your pearls/What made you think/That I was one of those girls?”
“把你的貂皮大衣拿回去，”歌舞剧《红男绿女》中的阿德莱德小姐唱道，“把你的珍珠项链拿回去/你凭什么认为/我是那种女孩？”
In “Grease”, too, Danny’s gift of his high-school ring to Sandy has an erotic undertone.
在电影《油脂》中，丹尼送给桑迪的高中戒指也带有一种色情意味。
He makes a boorish pass at her and winds up “stranded at the drive-in”.
他对桑迪做出了粗俗的举动，结果“被困在了汽车影院”。
Thoughtlessness is as much a no-no as disproportionality.
轻率的礼物像过于奢侈的礼物一样都是不行的。
At Kendall Roy’s 40th-birthday party in “Succession”, his girlfriend Naomi, herself an heiress, gives him a flashy watch.
在剧集《继承之战》中，在肯德尔·罗伊的40岁生日派对上，他的女友娜奥米（本身也是一位女继承人）送给他一块俗丽的手表。
The moment is even more awkward than when Kendall’s brother Roman accidentally buys the wrong Scottish football team for their plutocrat father.
这一刻甚至比肯德尔的哥哥罗曼不小心为富豪父亲买下了错误的苏格兰足球队还要尴尬。
Naomi’s offering isn’t even engraved; Kendall is appalled.
娜奥米的礼物甚至没有刻字，肯德尔对此感到震惊。
“I don’t want to be a dick,” he sneers, being a dick, “but I have a watch.”
“我不想当个混蛋，”他像个混蛋一样嘲笑道，“但我有手表。”
The scene is a concise parable of gift-giving.
这个场景是关于送礼的一个简洁寓言。
Surrounded by snazzily wrapped boxes, this man who has everything is interested only in a home-made tribute from his children.
这个拥有一切的男人被包装精美的礼物盒子环绕，但他只对孩子们自己做的礼物感兴趣。
He is not alone: many of the most cherished gifts in fiction are modest.
这样的人并非只有他一个：小说中许多最珍贵的礼物都是很朴素的。
Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet bestow on Eeyore an empty honey jar and a burst balloon. Eeyore is delighted.
小熊维尼和小猪送给毛驴屹耳一个空的蜂蜜罐和一个爆了的气球。屹耳很高兴。
Before he penetrates Willy Wonka’s factory, Charlie Bucket is given a single chocolate bar which he ekes out deliriously for a month.
在进入威利·旺卡的工厂之前，查理·巴克特收到了一块巧克力，他欣喜若狂地省着吃了一个月。（注：典故为《查理与巧克力工厂》，查理一家非常贫穷但也非常和睦。）
In stories, as in life, buying gifts can be a joy or a minefield, receiving them a blessing or a burden.
在故事中，就像在生活中一样，买礼物可能是乐事，也可能是雷区，而收礼物可能是福气，也可能是负担。
They can convey a surrender or assert supremacy.
礼物可以传达投降之意或宣示称霸之意。
They could sweeten your family Christmas or embitter it.
可能让你的家庭圣诞节变得甜蜜，也可能让它变得苦涩。
To judge by books and films, if you aim to spread good cheer, personal tends to trump pricey.
从书籍和电影来判断，如果你想传播快乐，那么有私人性的礼物往往会胜过昂贵的礼物。
Don’t get too personal, though.
不过不要太涉及个人隐私。
Imbuing a trinket with weighty meaning makes it and you hostages to fortune—or to the machinations of your enemies.
赋予一件小饰品以重大意义会使它和你成为命运的人质，或者成为敌人阴谋的人质。（注：表示带来灾祸。）
For Othello, the strawberry-spotted handkerchief that he gives Desdemona is a symbol of devotion.
对于奥赛罗来说，他送给苔丝狄蒙娜的带有草莓图案的手帕是挚爱的象征。
Misplaced, it is turned by Iago into proof of her imaginary infidelity.
但手帕被弄丢了后，伊阿古就把它变成了想象出来的苔丝狄蒙娜不忠的证据。（注：手帕为奥赛罗与苔丝狄蒙娜的定情信物，但不小心丢失后被伊阿古捡到，伊阿古诬陷苔丝狄蒙娜把手帕送给了其他人。）
Perhaps Othello should have got her an Amazon voucher instead.
也许奥赛罗应该送她一张亚马逊礼品卡才对。
