⊙ By Richard Sidaway

DARH HUMOUR 黑色幽默

⊙ By Richard Sidaway

Dark humour: making jokes about things that are usually considered to be serious or sad.

Experts say that laughing is an ability that is specific to human beings. No other animal does it. So why do we?

The Purpose of Laughter笑的目的

For most people, laughing is a way of showing we are happy or relieved[寬慰的]—we usually laugh with other people present[在場的]and it helps relax the atmosphere. Another reason for laughter is that it helps us deal with the sensitive area of social morality[道德觀],or situations which are normally serious, like death, disease or war. This is where humour sometimes gets “dark.”

The Origins of Dark Humour黑色幽默的來源

Dark humour is probably as old as human communication itself. One of the first modern examples in English is in the 17th-century writings of Jonathan Swift. In A Modest Proposal, Swift suggests that poor people sell their children as food to the rich.His intention[意圖]was to make fun of simple suggestions for solving problems such as poverty or overpopulation.

Individual Examples經典例子

There are several individuals who decided to use humour when faced with their own death. Murderer[兇手]William Palmer looked at the door under the gallows[絞刑架]before his execution[處決]in 1855 and asked “Are you sure that’s safe?” Writer Oscar Wilde’s last words as he was dying in a cheap hotel were “Either that wallpaper goes or I will.” Humorist[幽默作家]Spike Milligan had the words “I told you I was ill” (in Irish) written on his gravestone.

Anonymous Contributions無名氏的幽默

It is a mystery where some dark humour comes from. Nobody knows who wrote this:“We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse.” Or how about this piece of graffiti[涂鴉]to make you feel depressed: “Life is a sexually transmitted[傳播的]disease, and it’s 100% fatal[致命的].”

Light at the End of the Tunnel?希望的曙光？

Surprisingly, dark humour can sometimes provide a more positive conclusion to a grim[令人不快的]topic. This is what Dorothy Parker wrote in 1925 on the subject of suicide[自殺]:Razors[剃刀]pain you;

rivers are damp;

acids stain[弄臟]you;

and drugs cause cramp[抽搐].

Guns aren’t lawful;

nooses[套索]give;

gas smells awful;

you might as well live.

Activity 1

Put the sentences in the order they come in the text.

?

1. Some people refuse to take their own death seriously.

2. Dark humour is sometimes a way of commenting on society’s problems.

3. Humans are the only animals that laugh.

4. The origin of dark humour is sometimes unknown.

5. Laughter can be a reaction to difficult situations

Activity 2

Can you make nouns from the five verbs and adjectives?

They are all in the text.