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0What is the likelihood of you having someone who looks just like you? Would it be a good thing? And if you did have one, would you want to meet them?
遇到和你长得一模一样的人的可能性有多大?这是一件好事吗？如果真有这个人，你会想见见他们吗?
Consider how often your facial features are used to identify you. Your passport, ID card and driving licence all bare your face. To enter your workplace, you likely need to be recognisable. You may need your face to unlock your smartphone and possibly even need it to exclude you from being present at a crime scene.
想想你的面部特征被用来识别你的频率。你的护照、身份证和驾驶执照都需露出你的脸。要进入你的工作场所，你可能需要被认出来。你可能需要你的脸来解锁你的智能手机，甚至可能需要它来排除你出现在犯罪现场。
The word 'doppelganger' refers to a person who looks the same as you, essentially sharing your features; those that you thought were unique to you and your identity. Not an identical twin, as a doppelganger has no relation to you. The idea originated in German folklore. A doppelganger was said to be a spirit-double that replicated every human and beast on earth.
“二重身”这个词指的是一个和你长得一模一样的人，基本上和你有相同的特征；那些你认为是你和你的身份所独有的特征。二重身不是同卵双胞胎，因为二重身与你没有任何关系。二重身的概念起源于德国民间传说。据说，二重身是一个复制了地球上所有人类和野兽的灵魂替身。
So, let's get real. What are the chances of you having one in the first place? There's said to be a one in 135 chance of an absolute dead ringer for you existing anywhere in the world, so the chances are pretty low, despite folk wisdom promising you otherwise. And the chances of meeting? The mathematical certainty of finding this particular person is supposedly less than one in a trillion!
那么，让我们面对现实吧。首先，你拥有一个二重身的几率有多大？据说在世界上任何地方都只有 135 分之一的几率会出现和你一模一样的人，所以几率非常低，尽管民间智慧不这么认为。那相遇的几率呢？据说找到这个人的数学确定性不到万亿分之一！
That said, these statistics may be a good thing. Historically, having a double hasn't always been a positive. Back in 1999, an innocent American man, indistinguishable from the real criminal, was sent to prison for robbery, where he stayed for 19 years. In the end, it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. In a different case, a woman in New York was accused of trying to poison her doppelganger with deadly cheesecake so that she could steal her identity!
尽管如此，这些数据可能是件好事。从历史上看，有二重身并不总是一件好事。早在 1999 年，一名与真正罪犯毫无区别的无辜美国男子因抢劫罪被送进监狱，在那里一呆就是 19 年。最后，事实证明这是一起认错人的案件。在另一起案件中，纽约的一名妇女被指控试图用致命的芝士蛋糕毒死她的二重身，以便盗用她的身份！
And, why are people interested in finding their possible doppelganger anyway? It may be helpful to look to the past when facial resemblance indicated kinship. Maybe one day you'll meet your lookalike, but we understand that, after this, you possibly don't want to!
那么，人们为什么会对寻找自己可能的二重身感兴趣呢？可能是因为往往，长相相似就意味着亲属关系。也许有一天，你会遇到与你长相相似的人，但我们知道，看了这篇文之后，你可能并不想遇见了！
词汇表
facial features 面部特征
recognisable 可认出的
exclude 排除…，认为…不可能
unique 独一无二的
identity 身份
identical twin 同卵双胞胎
folklore 民间传说
replicate 复制
a dead ringer 酷似…的人，相像之人/物
mathematical certainty 数学准确性
a double 一模一样的人
indistinguishable 难以分辨的，无法识别的
mistaken identity 认错人，身份错认
resemblance 相似
kinship 亲属关系
lookalike 长得极像…的人
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