“敌人”的故事

何苗

There are many expressions using the word “enemy”. So today， lets talk about the stories of the “enemy”.

英语中有很多表达中使用了“敌人”一词，所以今天我们就从敌人的故事说起吧。

Do you have an enemy？ An enemy threatens you， attacks you or tries to harm you. Hopefully， you dont.

你有敌人么？敌人会威胁你，攻击你，或者试图伤害你。希望你没有。

If you do have enemies， I have some advice for you：

如果你有敌人的话，我有几点建议给你：

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.1” Many believe it was wrote in the old Chinese military book The Art of War. Others say Machiavelli wrote this sentence in The Prince.

“密切关注你的朋友，更要密切关注你的敌人。”很多人都相信这个说法来自于中国伟大的兵书《孙子兵法》中。也有人说马基雅维利在《君主论》中也写过类似的话。

We may not know for sure who said it first. But many know who said this line in the movie The Godfather II. Gangster boss Michael Corleone advises a member of his crime “family” on how to deal with an enemy who is causing trouble. “My father taught me many things here. He taught me in this room. He taught me， ‘Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.”

我们也不太确定是谁最先说的这句话。但很多人知道在电影《教父2》中谁说过这句话。黑帮老大迈克尔·可莱昂给他的犯罪家族中的一名成员提建议，如何处理引起麻烦的敌人。“我爸爸在这间房子里教会了我很多事。他教会了我，‘密切关注你的朋友，更要密切关注你的敌人。”

Here is another piece of advice， “An enemy of my enemy is my friend.2” Lets say you have two enemies who also hate each other. If you are smart， you may be able to use their hatred of each other to get what you want.

有另外一條忠告：“敌人的敌人就是朋友。”我们说的是，你有两个敌人，但这两个敌人相互讨厌彼此。如果你是聪明人，你可以利用他们讨厌彼此的情况，来获得自己所想要的东西。

Lets say you dont have a formal enemy. But what if you have a friend who treats you badly？ People around you might say， “With a friend like that who needs enemies？3” This expression means that if a friend treats you badly， they behave as an enemy. It also means you should get another friend.

我们来说说你没有正式敌人的情况。但如果你有一个对你不好的朋友呢？你周围的人可能说：“有那样一个朋友，要敌人来干嘛？”这个短语表达的意思是，如果一个朋友对你很不好，他们就像你的敌人。这意味着你应该换个朋友了。

We are supposed to hate our enemies. But when something is so bad， so terrible， we often say， “I wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy.4” For example， “I was so sick last weekend！ I wouldnt wish that flu on my worst enemy.”

我们应该讨厌自己的敌人。但是当有不好的、糟糕的事，我们常会说：“就算是我最大的敌人，我也不希望他怎么样。”比如，“我上周生重病！我不希望自己最大的敌人也感冒。”

Public Enemy5 No. 1 is a status given to the worst criminals in the United States. During the Great Depression， John Dillinger was named Public Enemy No. 1. He was a killer， bank robber and the most feared gangster in the U.S. A gangster works in a group of people， like a network， or system.

头号公敌是指美国最坏的犯罪情况。在经济大萧条时代，约翰·迪林格被称为头号全民公敌。他是一个杀手，银行抢劫犯，还是美国最可怕的黑帮分子。黑帮分子团体作案，就想是一个网络或系统一样。

Throughout the years several artists have borrowed this expression. In 2009， Johnny Depp plays the famous gangster John Dillinger in the film titled Public Enemies. Public Enemy is also a famous hip hop group that came out of Long Island， New York in the1980s.

这些年来，有一些艺术家借用了这种说法。2009年，约翰尼·德普在名为《全民公敌》的电影中扮演了头号黑帮分子约翰·迪格林。“头号公敌”也是上世纪80年代从纽约的长岛走出来的一个著名嘻哈组合的名字。

If you have many enemies， you may have to rank them in order of importance. Your archenemy6 is your main enemy. For example， “The two politicians were archenemies.”

如果你有很多敌人，你可能需要根据他们的重要性进行排名。你的死敌是你主要的敌人。比如说，“这两位政客是死敌。”

Sometimes you dont need an enemy. Some people fail on their own. These types of people sometimes do not realize they are making things hard for themselves—that they are their own worst enemy7. So， if you know someone like this， you can say to them， “Life is hard enough. Dont be your own worst enemy.”

有時，你不需要敌人。人们会败给自己。这类型的人有时没意识到他们把事情弄得更加复杂，他们就是自己最大的敌人。所以如果你认识这样的人，你可以对他们说：“生活已经如此艰难，不要自己为难自己。”

Now， its your turn to guess the meanings of the expressions using the word “enemy”！

下面，你来猜一猜文中使用了“敌人”一词的表达方式的意思吧！