欺骗的表象

Most people have heard the now clichéd expression,“Dont judge a book by its cover.”1 The meaning behind the expression is fairly simple–people are complex, and whats on the inside can be far more informative than a mere appearance.2 During my progression into adulthood, Ive written countless essays on this topic–each time trying to come up with a new twist3 on the idiom. Most times, I failed quite considerably, mostly because this idiom seemed like an obvious thing to say–hence the reason it is now clichéd.

However, the other day I was sitting on a bus, I discovered a whole different meaning to this expression. Perhaps it doesnt necessarily qualify as a radical epiphany, and perhaps it doesnt really redefine the expression, but it gives me far deeper insight into the deception of human appearances and the need to look twice before you leap (now that Im talking about idiom, I might as well fit in as many as I can).4

To paint the scene, I was hurrying onto an uncharacteristically5 crowded bus to visit my boyfriend in New York. I quickly scanned the bus and saw that there were no single seats like there normally were, meaning I would have to share a seat with someone. Of course, being a young girl traveling alone, its important to choose your seat companion wisely–this was common knowledge garnered6 from years of reading, watching murder mystery shows, and advice from my mother. I didnt have much time to choose–in a harried moment of decision making, I plopped7 down next to a well-dressed, handsome, young man who looked to be in his twenties. “Can I sit here?” I asked. “Sure!” he responded, moving his belongings out of the seat to make room for me. He sounded friendly enough. Nothing to suspect8 there.

Interestingly enough, although the expression “Dont judge a book by its cover” seems like the standard “right” thing to do in our world today, it cant always be achieved for two reasons: 1) ignorance and choice or 2) split-second9 decisions–which is what applied to me. When you have to quickly judge someone in the space of a second, your mind can work in amazing ways. The quality of the mans clothes told me that he was relatively wealthy and cared about his grooming, thereby implying that he had to come from a respectable background that educated him in manners and personal hygiene.10 The fact that he was attractive led me to infer that he would at least be a pleasant travel companion–though, I must admit, attractiveness often wrongly causes incorrect judgments, particularly in the case of men. Lastly, I inferred from his young age that there was a much smaller chance that he would be dangerous. Im not exactly sure why this judgment came about, particularly seeing how many of the serious criminals today are of the younger generation, but now, looking back, I can only explain this with the reasoning that he seemed closer to my age, and more relatable11 as a consequence.

I settled in with my iPod within a few minutes, and got ready to lure12 myself to sleep. My seat-mate opened his laptop, and began reading a document ponderously, with a frown on his face.13 Unable to suppress my curiosity, I snuck a glance at what he was looking at through my peripherals.14 It was quite clear that he was writing a novel–a very typical tortured15, dark, artists soul novel. I had to hide a giggle16 as I read some of the more dramatic sentences. He seemed to be completely oblivious17 to what I was doing.

For the next few minutes, I pretended to have my eyes closed while listening to my music, but occasionally, I would sneak looks to see what my seat-mate was doing. I soon grew bored of trying to read his novel and instead genuinely fell asleep for a while. When I woke up, the bus had stopped at a rest area and he got off to buy some food from Burger King18. He excused himself in a friendly manner, in a way that didnt suggest at all what a tortured soul he was. The sunny smile on his face did nothing to betray the dark love he had been describing in his narrative.19

The bus soon started moving again after he returned, and this time, I was unable to fall back asleep for some strange reason. Instead, I began my game of surreptitiously20 reading my seat-mates documents that he was reading at the same time. Suddenly, he closed his novel and opened a new document. Excited, I opened my eyes a little wider to get a better look. The document was titled “Notes with Dr. Mark.” Very soon, it became extremely clear to me that the man sitting next to me was suffering from some kind of anxiety and depression, and was seeing a therapist21 to regain the self-esteem and confidence he needed to overcome his mental battles. Surprised and a little shaken by the seriousness of his notes (“Why am I writing this letter? What if I dont get into medical school22?”), I drew back–feeling a lot like I had intruded into a very personal part of this persons mind that he had thought was safely hidden away from the public.

After I had gotten off the bus and eaten dinner with my boyfriend, I began to wonder–how many people look completely fine on the outside but are actually concealing deep mental illnesses inside them? Or how many people give off a pleasant exterior but really participate in extremely troubling behavior?23 And then I thought about myself–people have said various things about me based on first impressions. Some people say I look smart, some say I look mean. Others say that I look shy, while the rest say I look aggressive. However, while I can and have been all of those things, I can never be defined as just one of those listed qualities. Similarly, the man on the bus was much more than just a wealthy-looking, handsome young man–he clearly had many inner demons of his own to address.24

This type of deception really is present in everyone. No one wants to be judged by how they look, whether youre beautiful, average-looking, or ugly. But sometimes, its inevitable in our world. And in that case, youre stuck with your shallow perception of the person for the rest of your life, or you make a concentrated effort to delve25 deeper.

1. 大多数人都听过一句老话 ：不要以貌取人。clichéd: 陈腐的，老一套的。

2. complex: 复杂的；informative: 提供信息（资料）的。

3. twist: 扭曲，此处可理解为“变化 ，新理解”。

4. epiphany: 事情本质的突然显露，对事物真谛的顿悟；insight:洞察力；look (twice) before you leap: 三思而后行；fit in: 插入，嵌入。

5. uncharacteristically: 不典型地。

6. garner: 获得，取得。

7. plop: 扑通地落下。

8. suspect: 怀疑。

9. split-second: 一刹那，瞬间。

10. grooming: 修饰；imply: 暗示；hygiene: 卫生。

11 . relatable: 有关联的。

12. lure: 引诱。

13. laptop: 笔记本电脑；ponderously: 乏味地；frown: 皱眉头。

14. 按捺不住好奇心，我透过（iPod的）边缘偷窥他在看什么。

15. tortured: 充满痛苦的。

16. giggle: 咯咯笑。

17. oblivious: 不注意的，未察觉的。

18. Burger King: 汉堡王，美国知名快餐连锁店。

19. betray: 泄露；narrative: 叙述，故事。

20. surreptitiously: 秘密地。

21. therapist: 治疗专家。

22. medical school: 医学院。

23. give off: 显示，显露；exterior:外在，外部。

24 . demon: 烦恼， 心魔；address:设法解决。

25. delve: 深入研究，钻研。