So why do you continue to be involved with these people? Why do you tolerate them? On the contrary, the real question is what would you do without them. Without Friends You Love to Hate, there would be nothing to talk about with your other friends. Their problems and their irritating stunts provide a reliable source of conversation for everyone they know.

　　那么你又为什么继续和他们打交道呢？为什么要容忍他们呢？反过来说，真正的问题是：没有他们你行吗？没有这些你宁可去憎恨的朋友，你和你别的朋友也就无话可说了。他们的缺陷和他们恼人的噱头，为他们认识的每一个人都提供了源源不断的谈资。

　　What’s more, Friends You Love to Hate make you feel good about yourself, since you are obviously in so much better shape than they are. No matter what these people do, you will never get rid of them. As much as they need you, you need them, too.

　　此外，他们还能使你对自己感觉良好，因为你的状况显然比他们好得太多。不管他们做出什么事情来，你绝对不愿摆脱他们。你对他们的需要，和他们对你的需要可谓不相上下呢。

　　At the other end of the spectrum are Hero Friends. These people are better than the rest of us, that’s all there is to it. Their career is something you wanted to be when you grew up — painter, forest ranger, tireless doer of good.

　　与此相反的另一个极端则是那些令人艳羡的朋友。他们比我们这些人都更出色，有这一点就够了。他们的事业就是你长大后的追求——画家、护林人，不知疲倦的行善者。

　　They have beautiful homes filled with special handmade things presented to them by villagers in the remote areas they have visited in their extensive travels. Yet they are modest. They never gossip. They are always helping others, especially those who have suffered a death in the family or an illness. You would think people like this would just make you sick, but somehow they don’t.　　他们拥有漂亮的房子，里面满是手工做的奇特玩意儿，都是他们周游世界时到过的边远地区的村民总送给他们的。可他们依旧待人谦和。他们从不饶舌。他们总是去帮助别人，特别是那些遭受丧失亲人之痛或疾病折磨的人。你会认为这种人只能让你厌倦，可他们偏偏不是那样。

　　A new friend is a tonic unlike any other. Say you meet her at a party. In your bowling league. At a Japanese conversation class, perhaps. Wherever, whenever, there’s that spark of recognition. The first time you talk, you can’t believe how much you have in common. Suddenly, your life story is interesting again, your insights fresh, your opinion valued. Your various shortcomings are as yet completely invisible.

　　新的朋友是一剂无可比拟的良药。也许你是在一次聚会上结识她的，也许是在保龄球俱乐部里，也许是日语会话课上。无论何处，无论何时，只因为擦出了那钟惺惺相惜的火花。你简直无法相信你们有这么多共同点，而且只是第一次交谈。突然间，你的经历又变得有趣了，你的见识不同凡响，你的意见也倍受重视。你各式各样的缺点一时间也完全消失不见了