从未存在过的七大名人

By Jamie Frater

Seven Influential People Who Never Lived

圣诞老人，孩子们平安夜最欢迎的客人；芭比娃娃，女孩子玩具柜里不可或缺的女主人；牛仔，男孩子向往的自由职业；罗密欧与朱丽叶，恋人们梦寐以求的爱情典范……从小到大，他们都是于我们重要的人——有的我们分明知道并非真实存在，而有的我们也不清楚到底存不存在——总之，我们好像不能没有他们了呢。

We have done numerous lists of people and things that have had a great influence on man and they are always popular， so today we are presenting another list of influential people—but this time， they are people who never existed. There were hundreds of people to choose from， so this has been a fun list to compile1.

1. Santa Claus 圣诞老人

What child has not been frightened into behaving thanks to the ever-present youthful fear of Santa not providing come Christmas？2 Almost all western children were told by their parents that Santa would leave them nothing if they misbehaved3. I speak from experience when I say that it was one of the most effective methods of stopping tantrums4！ Funnily enough， though， the fear always dissipates on Christmas Eve as you just know that Santa will be coming—even if you did slip up a few times.5

2. Barbie 芭比娃娃

As Barbie has progressed from a pretty young woman to whom all girls could aspire6， one can wonder whether it was Barbie influencing children， or children influencing Barbie. There are certainly many similarities. Barbie has depicted7 almost every possible female lifestyle choice and I think there can be no doubt that she has been at the start of the path many women have taken in life.

3. Robin Hood 罗宾汉

This could potentially lead to a debate about whether Hood existed or not， but I am of the opinion that he did not. I am sure we have all heard someone justifying8 theft because the victim is wealthy—and where did this justification come from？ Not just the principles of redistribution of wealth that many of us live under in Western Society but the fact that to this day， we are all raised believing Robin Hood was a hero—when， in fact， he was a thief.9 Stealing is almost always wrong， and just because Robin Hood gave the proceeds of his crimes to poor people， it is not a valid justification.10 As for the taxes， there is every reason11 for us to believe that the majority of people accept these taxes because of their prior belief in the false morality of the Robin Hood story.

4. Cowboys 牛仔

This is one for the boys obviously！ Even in remote New Zealand where I grew up， all the boys played “Cowboys and Indians”. The cowboy was a great hero with a shining gun who represented the morality of Western ideals： manliness， defense of justice， protection of women and children.12 No doubt many now cringe at the lack of political correctness involved in the game and stereotype， but kids arent politically correct （thank God） and certainly wont be hindered because of it.13 The influence of the Cowboy movie genre is indisputable an immense one.14 Oh—and for those who say “but cowboys are real！”—yes—but this is about the concept—not about a specific person—just as we might say Santa existed as St Nicholas15， the concept is bigger than any one person.

5. Rosie the Riveter 铆工露斯

And now another for the girls！ Rosie the Riveter may not be a familiar name， but her picture certainly is. Rosie the Riveter told women that they can do anything—and they did！ Rosie managed to motivate an entire generation of working-age women to get out of the home and into factories to help the war effort. This is probably one of the most influential events of the Second World War. Once the floodgates16 of women working were open， they would never be closed again. All women working in traditional male jobs have Rosie to thank.

6. Daedalus and Icarus 代达罗斯和伊卡洛斯

In a short 24 hours， you can fly from one side of the planet to another. This （one of mans greatest achievements） may never have happened if it had not been for the mythological17 characters Daedalus and Icarus. The story tells of Daedalus building mechanical wings for his son Icarus and ever since the tale was told， man has lusted after18 the ability to take the sky and fly. This eventually came true and the entire planet is a changed place as a consequence of it.

7. Romeo and Juliet 罗密欧与朱丽叶

Not only can Romeo and Juliet be blamed for much of our ideas of the “perfect relationship”—I think it can also be blamed for a high percentage of divorces. Couples going in to marriage seek the ideal of a relationship based entirely on passion and romance， and when that romance dims19 （as so often is the case） they feel cheated and believe the marriage has failed. When in reality， passionate romance is not required for a healthy marriage—while respect， love， and charity20 is. Romeo and Juliet have much to answer for！

1. compile： 汇编。

2. 哪个小孩没有被吓唬过要乖乖听话，总是唯恐圣诞老人在圣诞节时不会送礼物来呢？ever-present： 经常存在的。

3. misbehave： 行为不端。

4. tantrum：（通常用于形容小孩）突然发脾气。

5. dissipate：（使）消散；slip up： 出错，犯错。

6. aspire： 追求，渴望。

7. depict： 描述，描画。

8. justify： 证明……正当，为……辩护，后半句justification为其名词形式。

9. 生活在西方社会里，我们大多数人都遵循财富再分配原则；不仅如此，还有一个事实就是，我们从小到大都相信罗宾汉是一个英雄——而实际上他只是一个盗贼。redistribution： 再分配。

10. proceeds： 收益，收入；valid： 合法的，正当的。

11. there is every reason： 有充分理由（做某事）。

12. 牛仔是伟大的英雄人物，他们配着锃亮的枪，代表着西方理想的道德观念：男子气概、维护正义，以及保护妇孺。manliness： 男子气概。

13. 毫无疑问，很多人因为游戏违背政治正确性而放弃了扮演，不过谢天谢地，小孩子是没有政治正确性可言的，所以并不会受到管制。cringe： 退缩；stereotype： 刻板印象；hinder： 阻碍。

14. genre： 类型；indisputable： 无可争议的；immense： 巨大的。

15. St Nicholas： 圣·尼古拉斯，圣诞老人的原型，是土耳其历史上真实存在的一位主教和慈善家，因慷慨而受到人们爱戴。

16. floodgate： 水闸。

17. mythological： 神话的。

18. lust after： 渴望，贪求。

19. dim： 减弱。

20. charity： 仁爱，宽容。