The plunge¹ in Chinese stock markets has created widespread uncertainty² and losses for millions of investors³ who only recently had enjoyed remarkable⁴ gains. The drop-offs have been so steep that many shares stopped trading after their declines hit the maximum 10 percent daily limit

中国股市的暴跌带来了广泛不确定性，致使数百万最近才收益颇丰的投资者遭受损失。由于股市大幅下跌，很多股票在跌幅达到了每日10%的跌停限度后停止交易。

But one market has boomed amid the gloom: gallows⁵ humor. On social media the market routs⁶ and fumbling⁷ government efforts to stop them have triggered an explosion of jokes, as Chinese investors try to find ways to ease the pain.

但有一个市场在黑暗中蓬勃发展： 残酷幽默。股市大跌和政府笨拙的救市举措在社交媒体上引发了戏谑浪潮，中国投资者试图寻找缓解痛苦的方法。

“Actual record of the Chinese government’s market rescue,” reads one Twitter post that accompanies a clip of a tow truck righting a flipped⁸ car, only for the car to roll off the road.

一条推文称这是“中国政府救市实录”，文字下方配的动图显示一辆拖车扶正倾覆的汽车，结果汽车却冲出马路。

One joke, posted by Song Ma, looks at what sort of securities could soldier on in such a negative market:

“11:10 a.m. on July 7, 2015 was a dark moment that will inevitably⁹ be written into the history of the A shares market, not because the Growth Enterprise Index was down 5.71 percent, but because 51 out of 100 stocks on the index halted trading, and 48 were stopped because they dropped the maximum allowed. Only Lepu Medical, which was down 8.97 percent, hasn’t stopped trading. Only a company that treats mental illness hasn’t stopped trading….”

Several jokes on Sina Weibo tried to explain the sudden turnaround from boom to bust¹⁰.

Song Ma转的一个笑话指出了哪种证券能在这么消极的市场中坚持下去：“2015年7月7日上午11:10，必将写入A股历史的一个黑暗时刻，不是因为创业板指数下跌5.71%，而是因为该指数的100只成份股中有51只停牌、48只跌停，只有乐普医疗跌8.97%，成为唯一没有跌停的股票。就剩一个治疗神经病的没跌停了……”

“Last month, when the market was rising, the dog ate the same as what I ate,” went one. “Last week, when the market fell, I ate the same as the dog ate. This week I might eat the dog.”

新浪微博上的几则笑话则试图说明这种从涨到跌的突然转变。

Another joke chronicled the violent ride through the progression of an investor’s reading list:

“Securities Investment Studies,” “Trusts and Leases,” “Study of Financial Markets,” “Logic¹¹ of Securities Analysis” ….

“上个月股票涨的时候我吃什么狗吃什么，”一条帖子写道。“上个星期股票跌的时候狗吃什么我吃什么…………………这个星期可能要吃狗了！”

“How the Steel Was Tempered,” “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind,” “Buddhist¹² Sutras,” “Lao-tze” ….

另一则笑话通过投资者的书单记录了这种突变： 《证券投资学》 《信托与租赁》 《金融市场学》 《证券分析逻辑》 《钢铁是怎样炼成的》 《演员的自我修养》《禅的初心》《佛经》 《老子》 《颈椎康复指南》 《腰椎间盘突出日常护理》 《脂肪肝预防与自疗》 《高血压降压宝典》 《精神病症状学》 《活着》……

“Guide to Treating Neck Conditions,” “Daily Therapy for Slipped Disks,” “Guide to Lowering High-Blood Pressure” ….

银冠资产管理(Silvercrest Asset Management)常务董事程志宇(Patrick Chovanec)在Twitter上传的图片显示了整个转变过程，从周一上午政府宣布计划称券商将购买主要公司的股票后，那段美好的、有些虚幻的短暂飙升，到周三当局似乎已经无力维持稳定。

“To Live” …. Images tweeted by Patrick Chovanec, the managing director at Silvercrest Asset Management, show the turnabout from the halcyon¹³, somewhat hallucinatory feel of Monday morning, when markets shot up briefly¹⁴ following the announcement of a government plan for brokerages to buy shares of key companies, to Wednesday, when the authorities seemed to lose any ability to foster stability.

事情什么时候会出现转机？一张安妮·海瑟薇(Anne Hathaway)和马修·麦康纳(Matthew McConaughey)在科幻电影《星际穿越》(Interstellar)里的图片给出了猜测：

When will things turn around? An image of Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey from the science fiction movie “Interstellar” takes a guess:

“Gravity is so great here that one hour is like seven years on Earth,” she says.

“这里的地心引力太大了，一个小时相当于地球上的七年，”她说。

“Great,” he replies. “Let’s just wait here for the next bull market.”

“棒极了，”他回答称。“就在这儿等待下一个牛市吧。”