Whether we find a joke funny or not
largely depends on where we have been
brought up. The sense of humour is
mysteriously bound up with national
characteristics. A Frenchman, for in-
stance, might find it hard to laugh at a
Russian joke. In the same way, a Russian
might fail to see anything amusing in a
joke which would make an Englishman
laugh to tears.

Most funny stories are based on comic
situations. In spite of national differences,
certain funny situations have a universal
appeal. No matter where you live, you
would find it difficult not to laugh at, say,
Charlie Chaplin's early films. However, a
new type of humour, which stems largely from America,
has recently come into
fashion. It is cal1ed' sick humour '.
Comedians base their jokes on tragic situations
like violent death or serious accidents.
Many people find this sort of joke dis-
tasteful. The following example of 'sick humour'
will enable you to judge for
yourself.

A man who had broken his right leg was taken
to hospital a few weeks before
Christmas. From the moment he arrived there,
he kept on pestering his doctor
to tell him when he would be able to go home.
He dreaded having to spend
Christmas in hospital.
Though the doctor did his best, the patient's recovery
was slow.
On Christmas day, the man still had his right leg in plaster.
He spent
a miserable day in bed thinking of all the fun he was missing.
The following day,
however, the doctor consoled him by telling him that his
chances of being able
to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good.
The man took
heart and, sure enough, on New Year's Eve he was able to hobble
along to a
party. To compensate for his unpleasant experiences in hospital,
the man drank
a little more than was good for him. In the process,
he enjoyed himself thoroughly
and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals.
He was stilI mumbling
something about hospitals at the end of the party when
he slipped on a piece of
ice and broke his left leg.

我們覺得一則笑話是否好笑，很大程度取決于我們是在哪兒長(zhǎng)大的。幽默感與民族有著神秘莫測(cè)的聯(lián)系。譬如，法國(guó)人聽完一則俄國(guó)笑話可能很難發(fā)笑。同樣的道理，一則可以令英國(guó)人笑出淚來的笑話，俄國(guó)人聽了可能覺得沒有什么可笑之處。
大部分令人發(fā)笑的故事都是根據(jù)喜劇情節(jié)編寫的。盡管民族不同，有些滑稽的情節(jié)卻能產(chǎn)生普遍的效果。比如說，不管你生活在哪里，你看查理.卓別林的早期電影很難不發(fā)笑。然而，近來一種新式幽默流行了起來，這種幽默主要來自美國(guó)。它被叫作“病態(tài)幽默”。喜劇演員根據(jù)悲劇情節(jié)諸如暴死，重大事故等來編造笑話。許多人認(rèn)為這種笑話是低級(jí)庸俗的。下面是個(gè)“病態(tài)幽默”的實(shí)例，你可據(jù)此自己作出判斷。
圣誕節(jié)前幾周，某人摔斷了右腿被送進(jìn)醫(yī)院。從他進(jìn)醫(yī)院那一刻時(shí)，他就纏住醫(yī)生，讓醫(yī)生告訴他什么時(shí)候能回家。他十分害怕在醫(yī)院過圣誕。盡管醫(yī)生竭力醫(yī)治，但病人恢復(fù)緩慢。圣誕節(jié)那天，他的右腿還上著石膏，他在床上郁郁不樂地躺了一天，想著他錯(cuò)過的種種歡樂。然而，第二天，醫(yī)生安慰他說，出院歡度新年的可能性還是很大的，那人聽后振作了精神。果然，除夕時(shí)他可以一瘸一拐地去參加晚會(huì)了。為了補(bǔ)償住院這一段不愉快的經(jīng)歷，那人喝得稍許多了一點(diǎn)。在晚會(huì)上他盡情娛樂，一再告訴大家他是多么討厭醫(yī)院。晚會(huì)結(jié)束時(shí)，他嘴里還在嘟噥著醫(yī)院的事，突然踩到一塊冰上滑倒了，摔斷了左腿。