By Jamie Frater

Seven Influential People Who Never Lived

圣誕老人，孩子們平安夜最歡迎的客人；芭比娃娃，女孩子玩具柜里不可或缺的女主人；牛仔，男孩子向往的自由職業(yè)；羅密歐與朱麗葉，戀人們夢寐以求的愛情典范……從小到大，他們都是于我們重要的人——有的我們分明知道并非真實存在，而有的我們也不清楚到底存不存在——總之，我們好像不能沒有他們了呢。

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 圣誕老人

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 羅賓漢

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 鉚工露斯

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 代達羅斯和伊卡洛斯

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 羅密歐與朱麗葉

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： 匯編。

2. 哪個小孩沒有被嚇唬過要乖乖聽話，總是唯恐圣誕老人在圣誕節(jié)時不會送禮物來呢？ever-present： 經(jīng)常存在的。

3. misbehave： 行為不端。

4. tantrum：（通常用于形容小孩）突然發(fā)脾氣。

5. dissipate：（使）消散；slip up： 出錯，犯錯。

6. aspire： 追求，渴望。

7. depict： 描述，描畫。

8. justify： 證明……正當，為……辯護，后半句justification為其名詞形式。

9. 生活在西方社會里，我們大多數(shù)人都遵循財富再分配原則；不僅如此，還有一個事實就是，我們從小到大都相信羅賓漢是一個英雄——而實際上他只是一個盜賊。redistribution： 再分配。

10. proceeds： 收益，收入；valid： 合法的，正當?shù)摹?/p>

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

12. 牛仔是偉大的英雄人物，他們配著锃亮的槍，代表著西方理想的道德觀念：男子氣概、維護正義，以及保護婦孺。manliness： 男子氣概。

13. 毫無疑問，很多人因為游戲違背政治正確性而放棄了扮演，不過謝天謝地，小孩子是沒有政治正確性可言的，所以并不會受到管制。cringe： 退縮；stereotype： 刻板印象；hinder： 阻礙。

14. genre： 類型；indisputable： 無可爭議的；immense： 巨大的。

15. St Nicholas： 圣·尼古拉斯，圣誕老人的原型，是土耳其歷史上真實存在的一位主教和慈善家，因慷慨而受到人們愛戴。

16. floodgate： 水閘。

17. mythological： 神話的。

18. lust after： 渴望，貪求。

19. dim： 減弱。

20. charity： 仁愛，寬容。