《希特勒传》:这肯定不是我的错! （英汉读物）

这肯定不是我的错!                    
    去年,<<监护人>>报纸刊登了一则这样的故事:一个男人在剑桥的一家博物馆参观时不小心被鞋带绊倒,滑下了好几级楼梯并撞翻了三个价值连城的清朝花瓶.花瓶掉在地上,摔成了四百多块碎片.男人惊慌失措地跌坐在地上,这时馆里的工作人员过来了.所有的人都在那静静的围观,只有他一直指着自己的鞋带说:“就是它,是它让我摔倒的.”
    时下,责备别人已经成了一件非常正当的事情.曾经就有一起有名的法律官司.一个女人在麦当老就餐时不小心被热咖啡烫伤.她对此向麦当劳公司提起了控诉,要求其赔偿两百七十万美元.尽管最后赔偿金减少到四十八万美元,但这个事情给了所有的企业警示,他们开始为产品设计一些连白痴都能读懂的安全提示.
    然而,即便是美国法庭也有一些无法逾越的法律界限.两个超级肥胖的女生声称麦当劳公司应该为她们的不良饮食习惯负责.因为她们的律师说麦当劳的食品从生理上和心理上都是让人上瘾的.相反那些穷人家的女孩们却没机会发胖,因为麦当劳只卖汉堡包和可乐.这次,美国联邦法庭拒绝审理此案.
   我们或许会对这些把自己的过错归咎于他人的人摇头不满.但是迫于压力,几乎没有人能克制自己这种不理智的行为.试想一下,我们当中有几个人没有咒骂过砸在手指上的锤子呢?或者,如今更普遍的是,我们有谁没有对死机的电脑怒吼过呢?
    或许是人的天性让我们一做错事时就想找个“顶罪之人”.但是,在你谴责他人之前,想想一句话:“当你向别人伸出谴责之手时,请记住,你的其它三个手指都是指向自己的.”

It certainly wasn’t my fault.                           
       Last year, the Guardian newspaper printed a story about a man who tripped over his shoelace in a museum in Cambridge. Falling down some steps, he knocked over three priceless Qing dynasty vases, which fell to the ground and broke into more than 400 pieces. He was sitting there in shock when the museum staff arrived. Everyone stood around in silence—only the man kept pointing to his shoelace, saying, “There   it is That’s what made me fall.”
       Today blaming others has turned into big legal business. In one famous case, McDonald’s was ordered to pay 2.7 million dollars to a woman who accidentally burned herself with hot coffee. Although the amount was later reduced to 480,000 dollars, this case terrified businesses so much that they began to create warnings for their products that even an idiot would understand.
       There are limits, though, beyond which even American courts are not prepared to go. Two overweight girls claimed that McDonald’s was responsible for their eating habits. Their lawyer said that McDonald’s food was “ physically and psychologically addictive”. The poor girls had no chance –McDonald’s just reached hamburgers and drink Coke. This time, a United States federal court judge threw the case out.    We may shake our heads at people who pass the blame, but under pressure, few of us are immune to acts of irrationality. How many of us have not cursed a hammer that hit a finger? Or, more commonly these days, have we not shouted at a crashed computer?
        Maybe it is simply human nature to find a whipping boy when things go wrong. Before you go, though, consider the old saying:” He who points the finger of blame at another, does well to remember that three fingers point back at him.”