导读：热门美剧《行尸走肉》为观众带来了另一番末日(doomsday)景象——哀殍遍野，丧尸满目，带来毁灭与伤害的不仅仅是那些行尸走肉，还有人类之间的争斗。
Zombies are officially the new vampires.
丧尸正式成为新版吸血鬼。
The zombies in The Walking Dead terrified 10.5 million viewers last week. The show became the first cable series to win the US fall TV ratings this year, reported the Los Angeles Times.
上周，美剧《行尸走肉》中的丧尸们令1050万观众心惊胆战。据《洛杉矶时报》报道称，该剧已成为今年美国秋季有线电视收视冠军。
But why is a show promoted with the slogan “Spread the dead” such a hit with the living?
但就是这样一部以“散布死亡”为宣传口号的剧集为何能在现实社会中获得如此巨大的成功呢?
According to experts, Americans love zombies because they represent whatever happens to be their greatest fear at the time.
专家称，美国人之所以喜欢丧尸，是因为它们代表的恰好是美国人此时此刻内心的极度恐惧。
“You can’t shoot the financial meltdown in the head – you can do that with a zombie,” said Max Brooks, author of the best-selling Zombie Survival Guide.
“你不能拿枪爆金融危机的头——但是你可以对丧尸这样做，”畅销书《丧尸生存手册》的作者马克思•布鲁克斯说。
But the best thing about The Walking Dead is that it isn’t just about zombies. In this show they are more of a lens through which to observe the humans’ character and test their humanity to the limits.
但《行尸走肉》最重要的一点在于，它讲述的不仅仅是丧尸。这部剧更多的是透过镜头洞察人性、考量人性底线。
The story follows deputy sheriff Rick Grimes as he tries to lead his family and a small group of survivors to safety in a zombie-ridden world. Humans are the minority in this new landscape.
故事讲述了在丧尸横行的世界中，副警长瑞克•格里姆斯带领家人和一小群幸存者到达安全地带的故事。在这片新领地里，人类成为弱势群体。
To avoid being bitten by zombies – which would turn them into zombies – the living have to either hide from them or shoot off their heads. As time goes by and the survivors get used to the bloodshed, a recurring question arises: who are the real monsters?
为避免被丧尸咬伤(咬伤后就会沦为丧尸)，活着的人必须躲避他们或者开抢打爆他们的头。随着时间的流逝，幸存者们习惯了流血杀戮，一个反复出现的问题又再次被提及：谁才是真正的怪物?
Each time they compromise their values in the name of survival, the human characters are pushed closer to something their former selves would have seen as inhuman.
每当以生存的名义向自身的价值观妥协时，人性就渐渐向此前人们认为的残忍的一面发展。
Rick, for example, used to be a man who upheld law and order before the zombie outbreak. In the firstepisode of Season One, when he has to pull the trigger on a legless zombie, he says “I’m sorry”. But at the conclusion of Season Two, he fatally stabs his former partner and best friend since high school. We see a man who has been changed by his nightmarish circumstances.
就拿瑞克为例，在丧尸危机爆发之前，他担当者捍卫法律和秩序的角色。在第一季的第一集中，当准备对一个无腿的丧尸扣动扳机时，他说了句“对不起”。但当第二季结束时，他刺死了前搭档兼高中以来的挚友。我们看到了一个人是怎样被恐怖的境遇所改变的。
A profound story of humanity aside, the show also harbors its appeal by featuring characters we can easily relate to – the pizza delivery boy, the abused woman, the old man who loves to give advice, the father and his son. They make us feel like a zombie apocalypse could hit us any moment.
除讲述了一个有关人性的意味深长的故事外，该剧更是凭借一些能够引起我们共鸣的人物角色增添了感染力——送披萨的男孩、受虐待的女人、爱给人出主意的老人、父亲与儿子。这些人让我们觉得丧尸危机随时可能在我们身边爆发。
“We must keep watching to reassure ourselves that, if faced with a global meltdown, zombie-virus-related or otherwise, we could survive,” said Jen Chaney of The Washington Post.
“我们必须一直追剧，以便安慰自己，如果面对全球危机，僵尸病毒或者其他不幸时，我们也能够活下来。。
以上文章内容选自《21世纪英文报》