温水煮青蛙

By Joshua Ogden-Davis/肝脑涂地

十九世纪末，美国康奈尔大学曾做过一次著名的“青蛙试验”。他们将一只青蛙放在装着沸水的大锅里，青蛙触电般地立即窜了出去，并安然落地。后来，人们又把它放在一个装满凉水的大锅里，任其自由游动，再用小火慢慢加热，青蛙虽然可以感觉到外界温度的变化，却因惰性而没有立即往外跳，等后来感到热度难忍时已经来不及了。这就是有名的“煮蛙效应”或“温水青蛙效应”（frog-boiling effect）。这个效应告诫我们不要得过且过，要居安思危，不断超越自己，超越过去。

Chloe： Hey， Robin！ Youve been pretty quiet in here today.①Nose to the 1）grindstone？

Robin： Hey， Chloe. Yeah， I guess you could say Ive been busy…but not on work！

Chloe： Whats that supposed to mean？

Robin： Check it out. ②My character has leveled up three times！ And its not even four oclock yet.

Chloe： Ugh. You mean to tell me youve been in here playing games all day？

Robin： Not “games.” Just one “game.” And yes， I have. Whats it to you？

Chloe： ③Its no skin off my back， but arent the 2）quarterly reports due tomorrow？

Robin： Hah！ Honestly， I havent met a single deadline in three months， ④and I havent caught any flack for it.

Chloe： What！？ I cant imagine Anderson is too happy about that.

Robin： She brought it up in the last meeting， but I havent seen any real consequences. ⑤I figure I can get away with just about anything these days.

克洛伊：嘿，罗宾！你今天在这里很安静呀。在埋头苦干吗？

罗宾：嘿，克洛伊。是的，我猜到你会说我忙碌……但并非忙于工作！

克洛伊：你这是什么意思？

罗宾：看看吧。我的角色已经三次升级了！而现在还不到四点钟呢。

克洛伊：啊，你是要告诉我你整天都在玩各种游戏吗？

罗宾：不是各种游戏，一种游戏而已。是的，我是在玩。这碍你什么事了吗？

克洛伊：这跟我毫不相干，但是季度报告不是明天要交吗？

罗宾：哈！老实说，这三个月以来我没有一次按时完成过，也没因此受到任何责备。

克洛伊：什么？我无法想象安得生会对这如此宽容。

罗宾：上次会议她有提过这问题，但我还没见到任何实质的后果。我认为自己最近什么事情都可以逃离厄运的。

Chloe： I cant believe you. When you first came here， you were such a hard worker. When you werent on time， you were early. What happened？

Robin： Well， last year I forgot to finish this one project on time， and nobody seemed to care. Then it hit me： if I can get away with being late， ⑥Ive been busting my butt for nothing all these years！ So I decided to take it easy and not stress out over deadlines.

Chloe： I cant believe Im hearing this from you.

Robin： Hah， listen well！ These are the words of a happy man.

Chloe： They sound more like the words of a frog to me.

Robin： Whats that supposed to mean？

Chloe： Havent you ever heard of the boiling frog？

Robin： I think youve lost it， Chloe. Why are you talking about frogs all of a sudden？

Chloe： The boiling frog！ They say that if you put a frog in boiling water， it will jump out right away. But if you put a frog in warm water and slowly heat it up， then the frog wont notice and will let itself be boiled to death.

Robin： Not a very smart frog. But what has that got to do with me？

Chloe： Everything. Think about it： if Anderson had seen you being this lazy in your first week on the job， ⑦she would have fired you right off the bat， right？

Robin： Probably. ⑧But Ive proven my worth

around here， so now I can afford to take it easy.

Chloe： Dont be so sure. I think your waters

heating up， and you just arent noticing.

Robin： I dont feel anything heating up. ⑨Its all

business as usual.

Chloe： Thats what the frog would say. But you

said that Anderson called you out in a meeting；

dont you think thats a bad sign？ You dont think

its time to get back to your old ways before its

too late？

Robin： Why work that hard？ My salary stays the

same， anyway.

Chloe： ⑩Well， to each their own， I suppose. Now that I think about it， I hope you do keep playing that game！

Robin： Whys that？

Chloe： Cuz when Anderson fires you， Ill be first in line for your job！

克洛伊：我不敢相信是你。刚进来这里的时候，你是那么勤快的员工。如果不是按时完成，就是提前。发生什么事了？

罗宾：呃，去年我忘记按时完成一个项目，似乎都没人在意。于是让我想到：如果我这次延迟能幸免于惩罚，那我这些年的不辞劳苦算是白搭了！于是我决定放轻松，不再为最后期限搞得压力重重。

克洛伊：我很难相信这些话是出自于你。罗宾：哈，听好了！这些是一个快乐的人的肺腑之言。

克洛伊：对我来说，这些话听起来更像一只青蛙的名言。

罗宾：那是什么意思？

克洛伊：你没听说过“温水煮青蛙”吗？罗宾：我想你是糊涂了，克洛伊。你为什么突然谈到青蛙？

克洛伊：“温水煮青蛙”！有人说如果把一只青蛙放进烧开的水里，它会立刻跳出来。但是如果你把一只青蛙放进温水里，并且慢慢加热，青蛙就不会发觉，直到自己被烫死。

罗宾：那是只不怎么聪明的青蛙，这个跟我有什么关系吗？

克洛伊：关乎一切。你想想：如果安得生在你上班的第一周就看到你那么懒惰，她会立刻把你炒掉，对吗？罗宾：也许吧。但是我在这里已经证明了我的价值，所以现在我有资格放轻松了。

克洛伊：别那么有把握。我认为你的水正在加热，而你毫无察觉。

罗宾：我没感觉到任何危机，（我觉得）一切如常。克洛伊：那就是青蛙要说的。但你说过安得生叫你去谈话，你不觉得那是个不好的前兆吗？你不觉得是时候恢复你原来的工作方式，免得为时已晚？

罗宾：为什么那么努力工作？毕竟我的工资还是老样子。克洛伊：嗯，我想每个人都有自己的选择。现在我要考虑一下，希望你继续玩那个游戏。

罗宾：为什么？

克洛伊：因为等安得生解雇了你，我就会第一个接手你的工作！

Smart Sentences

① Nose to the grindstone？ 在埋头苦干吗？

nose to the grindstone： = keep （ones） nose to the grindstone， work hard and in earnest（专心致志于，拼命地工作）。例如：

Amys been keeping her nose to the grindstone since her transfer to the QC.

埃米自从调到质检部门后就一直埋头工作。

② My character has leveled up three times！ 我的角色已经三次升级了！

level up： a player of a video game has earned enough experience points to acquire a new level in a skill or skills（在游戏中升级）。例如：

Michael refuses to play video games because he can always level up too easily.

迈克尔拒绝打游戏，因为他总能轻而易举地升级。

③ Its no skin off my back. 这跟我毫不相干。

no skin off sb.s back： used to indicate sb. is indifferent to sth. because it does not affect him/her（跟某人毫不相干）。例如：

You dont have to go if you dont want to. Its no skin off my back.

如果你不想就别去，那跟我没有关系。

④ And I havent caught any flack for it. （我）也没因此受到任何责备。

catch flack for sth.： being blamed for sth.（因某事被责怪）。例如：I always caught flack for things my brother did when we were kids.小时候，我哥哥总让我为他受罚。

⑤ I figure I can get away with just about anything these days. 我认为自己最近什么事情都可以逃离厄运的。

get away with sth.： avoid blame， punishment， or criticism for doing sth. bad（逃避责任）。例如：

She cheated on the test and thought she could get away with it.

她考试作弊，以为自己可以侥幸逃脱。

⑥ Ive been busting my butt for nothing all these years！ 那我这些年的不辞劳苦算是白搭了！

bust ones butt for nothing： working hard turns out in vain（徒劳无益）。例如：

I cant believe they moved the conference to Hong Kong. It turned out that weve been busting our butts for nothing for the last month.

我真不敢相信他们把会议地点搬到了香港，我们过去一个月的辛勤劳动都白费了。

⑦ She would have fired you right off the bat. 她会立刻把你炒掉。

right off the bat： immediately； first thing（毫不犹豫，马上）。例如：

The new manager demanded the sales report right off the bat.

新经理要求马上拿到销售报告。

⑧ But Ive proven my worth around here. 但是我在这里已经证明了我的价值。

prove ones worth： show or demonstrate ones value（证明自身的价值）。例如：

You need to prove your worth before even thinking about a promotion.

你要证明自己的价值，才能去想晋升的事。

⑨ Its all business as usual. （我觉得）一切如常。

business as usual： having things go along as usual（一切如常）。例如：

Even right after the flood， it was business as usual in all the stores.

即使是洪水刚过，所有商店都照常营业。

⑩ Well， to each their own， I suppose. 嗯，我想每个人都有自己的选择。

to each ones own： everyone has the right to his/her choice， used to express respect/ recognition/tolerance for others choices， especially the unusual ones （每人都有权选择，用以表达对他人选择的尊重/接受/容忍，特别是不太寻常的选择）。例如：

—Dan wants to transfer to Personnel！ Thats ridiculous， dont you think？

丹想调到人事部去！你不觉得这太荒唐了吗？

—No！ To each his own.

不会啊，每个人都应有自己的选择。