一日一成语【108】Catch-22

Catch-22 意为『互相抵触之规律或条件所造成的无法脱身的困窘；不合逻辑的或矛盾的问题、情况；会妨碍、阻挠问题之解决的规章法令』等，它来源於1961 年美国作家 Joseph Heller 写作的一部同名小说，中文译作『第二十二条军规』。其中有这样一段对话：

Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. "Is Orr crazy?"
"He sure is," Doc Daneeka said.
"Can you ground him?"
"I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule."
"Then why doesn't he ask you to?"
"Because he's crazy," Doc Daneeka said. "He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to."
"That's all he has to do to be grounded?"
"That's all. Let him ask me."
"And then you can ground him?" Yossarian asked.
"No. Then I can't ground him."
"You mean there's a catch?"
"Sure there's a catch," Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy."

此时摆在他们面前的只有一个相互抵触和矛盾的前提条件，那就是 Catch-22，具体地说，在现实和立即就要发生的灾难面前，人的第一本能和理智的反应就是逃避危险珍惜生命。如果 Orr 真的神志不清，他完全可以不去执行这次飞行任务。此时他所要做的就是提出停飞申请；但一旦他真的提出申请，也就表明他并未神志不清，他必须去执行这次飞行任务。如果 Orr 真的神志不清，他就会去执行更多的飞行任务；而如果他是清醒的，他肯定不会这样做，但如果他是清醒的，他又必须去执行这次飞行任务。如果他愿意去执行飞行任务，就表明他神志不清，此时他根本无须去执行飞行任务；但如果他不愿意去执行飞行任务，就表明他的神志是清醒的，此时他就必须去执行这次飞行任务。就是这麽简单而又荒唐的逻辑。

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

Heller 开始给他的书取名为 Catch-18，但因为此前另一作家 Leon Uris 刚刚出版了一本叫 Mila-18 的书，为了避免读者的误会，他接受了出版商的建议将书名改为现在的 Catch-22。