Level6 Unit3 Part1 Reading Meaning of Catch 22
“如果你能证明自己发疯，那就说明你没疯”。源出美国作家约瑟夫·赫勒（JosephHeller）根据自己在第二次世界大战中的亲身经历创作的黑色幽默小说《第二十二条军规》（1961）。这部小说太有影响了，以至于在当代美语中，Catch-22已作为一个独立的单词，使用频率极高，用来形容任何自相矛盾、不合逻辑的规定或条件所造成的无法摆脱的困境、难以逾越的障碍，表示人们处于左右为难的境地，或者是一件事陷入了死循环，或者跌进逻辑陷阱，等等。
当一个人一旦提出申请的时候，恰好了证明这个人是一个正常人，而“只有疯子才能获准免于飞行”，那么，这个人无法在疯了的时候提出申请，所以这个人还是在劫难逃，就不能免于飞行。
One of the most interesting books of the 20th century was the novel, Catch 22.
In the novel, the term "a catch 22 situation" was introduced.
20世纪最有趣的书之一是小说《第22条军规》。
在这部小说中，人们引入了“第22条军规左右为难”这一术语。
term
英 [tɜ:m] 美 [tɜ:rm]
n.术语;期限;学期;条款
vt.把…称为;把…叫做
The term has nothing to do with catching anything.
这个术语和抓住任何东西完全无关。
It has a much deeper meaning and it describes a kind of logical conundrum that's worth exploring.
它有着更深刻的意义，它描述了一种值得探索的逻辑难题。
conundrum
英 [kəˈnʌndrəm] 美 [kəˈnʌndrəm]
n.谜语;难解的问题
First, it's important to put the phrase into context.
首先，把这个短语放到上下文中很重要。
context
英 [ˈkɒntekst] 美 [ˈkɑ:ntekst]
n.语境;上下文;背景;环境
In the novel, a group of American bomber pilots is on an island in the Mediterranean.
在小说中，一群美国轰炸机飞行员在地中海得去的一个小岛上。
bomber
英 [ˈbɒmə(r)] 美 [ˈbɑ:mə(r)]
n.轰炸机;投弹手
Mediterranean
英 [ˌmedɪtəˈreɪniən] 美 [ˌmɛdɪtəˈreniən, -ˈrenjən]
adj.地中海的;地中海地区的;地中海居民的
They face death almost every day when they fly their bombing missions.
他们在执行轰炸任务时几乎每天都面临死亡。
Many have already lost their lives.
许多已经失去了生命。
The remaining pilots know that it is only a matter of time before they will be the next victims.
剩下的飞行员知道他们成为下一个受害者只是时间问题。
One of the characters in the novel is a doctor.
小说中的其中一个角色是医生。
It is his job to see that the pilots are fit to fly.
他的工作是看飞行员是否适合飞行。
In particular, there is a rule that says he has to ground anyone who is crazy.
特别是，有一条规则说他必须让任何疯狂的人停飞。
To ground them means to remove them from active duty so that they don't fly.
让他们停飞意味着把他们从现役中除掉，这他们就不会飞了。
active duty
英 [ˈæktiv ˈdju:ti] 美 [ˈæktɪv ˈduti]
n.现役
Some of the men believed in the principles that they were fighting for.
有些人相信他们为之奋斗的原则。
They were willing to give their lives for their country.
他们愿意为了自己的国家牺牲自己。
But to other, this was crazy.
但是对其他人而言，这太疯狂了。
They thought the whole thing was insane.
他们认为整件事情都是疯狂的。
insane
英 [ɪnˈseɪn] 美 [ɪnˈsen]
adj.疯狂的;精神病的;非常愚蠢的
One of them, Yossarian, wanted out.
他们中有一个，Y，想要退出。
He was friends with the doctor, and he wanted the doctor to ground him.
他是医生的朋友，他想医生让他停飞。
When Yossarian asked the doctor to ground him, the doctor replied: "You're wasting your time. You're not crazy."
当Y请求医生让他停飞时，医生回答：“你是在浪费时间，你并没有疯。”
Yossarian told him to asked one of the other pilots, Clevinger, to tell him how crazy he was.
Y告诉他，去请另外一个飞行员C，告诉他他是多么疯狂。
"There's no point. He's crazy," the doctor replied.
“这没有意义，他是个疯子。”医生回答。
"Crazy people can't decide whether you're crazy or not."
“疯子并不能决定你是疯了还是没疯。”
"Clevinger isn't crazy! He's one of the sanest pilots here."
“C不是疯子，他是这里最理智的飞行员之一。”
sane
英 [seɪn] 美 [sen]
adj.明智的;稳健的;神志正常的;心智健全的
"So he's obviously out of his head,"said the Doc.
“所以他显然是疯了，”医生说。
"He's got to be insane to keep on flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had."
他打了这么多近距离的电话后，还继续执行飞行作战任务，真是疯了。
combat
英 [ˈkɒmbæt] 美 [ˈkɑ:mbæt]
n.格斗，搏斗，战斗;〈美〉竞赛，比赛;论战
vt.与…战斗;与…斗争;防止;减轻
"Well, if he's crazy, why don't you ground him?"
如果他疯了，你为什么没有让他停飞。
"I can't unless he asks to be grounded. That's part of the rule."
我不能，除非他自己要求停飞。这是军规的一部分。
"So all he has to do is ask?"
所以他只需要请求停飞吗？
"No, then I can't ground him."
是的，如果他问了我就不能让他停飞。
"So there's a catch," said Yossarian, trying to get things straight.
“所以，这里有一条规定，”Y说，想让事情变得直接点。
"Sure, there's a catch," said the Doc, with a slight smile.
"Catch 22, if he asks then he can't be crazy. Only those who are crazy are grounded."
第22条军规，如果他要求停飞的话，他就不可能疯。只有那些疯了的才能被停飞。
"That's some catch,"observed Yossarian.
“那是军规的一部分。”Y评论到。
"It's the best there is," the Doc replied.
“这是最好的部分。”医生回答。