Antics of virtual star cause a Net storm

She strips in a hotel room to woo her new boyfriend in front of her pal; she rolls on the ground in hysterics; and later throws up at lunch. But it’s all outrageous, attention-seeking behavior.
在酒店房间里，她竟然当着朋友的面向新男友脱衣示爱，并在地板上竭斯底里地打滚；随后的午餐上，她又吃了吐，吐了吃。不过她的一切骇人举动只是为了哗众取宠。

Yes, she’s an exhibitionist. But, strangely enough, people can’t get enough of her.
她是一个实实在在的暴露狂，但最令人瞠目结舌的是，人们竟然对她着迷。

Her name is Xiao Yueyue, or Little Moon, and she is arguably a fictional figure created in a post on Tianya.cn at 11:45 am on October 5.
“小月月”可以说是一个虚构人物（尽管这尚有争议），出自10月5日上午11点45分在天涯社区发表的一个帖子。

A Shanghai-based writer, alias Rongrong, grumbles about how her holiday was ruined by the eccentric behavior of her friend, Xiao Yueyue, who spent two days at the Expo.
帖子的作者蓉荣（化名）住在上海，作为东道主，她接待朋友小月月游览世博。然而小月月在这两天中的怪癖举动，让蓉荣哭诉自己的假期就这么给毁了。

Full of weirdness and obscenities, the diary-style post got over 30 million hits and 80,000 comments within five days.
短短5天时间，这篇充斥着怪异与猥亵的日记帖，点击率超过3000万，网友评论多达8万余条。

Special discussion groups, a fan base, comic strips and Xiao Yueyue inspired goods soon spun off from the online frenzy around a woman whose identity is still obscure.
尽管小月月的身份还未得到证实，网上讨论小组，“拜月教”，漫画以及“小月月”衍生品已经迅速蹿红网络，掀起一阵狂潮。

The heartthrob, 150 cm tall and weighing 80 kg, is undeniable proof of the Internet’s power to create instant celebrity. But compared to previous online sensations, namely Sister Lotus and Sister Phoenix, Xiao Yueyue has challenged the public’s tolerance for ugliness and gross behavior.
身高150cm，体重 80公斤的“万人迷”小月月无疑再次验证了网络一夜成名的力量。但与之前的网络红人芙蓉姐姐与凤姐相比，小月月再度挑战了人们的审丑能力。

Gao Yingjun, the chief entertainment editor of Tianya.cn said: “The reason Xiao Yueyue has become a sensation is that she is really shabby and indecent.
天涯社区娱乐版主编高英俊（音译）表示：“小月月之所以在网络上引起如此大的轰动，是因为她真的够丑陋、够恶俗。”

“The writer vividly describes her in a way which arouses netizens’ curiosity about privacy and profanity.”
作者用网络语言极为生动地把小月月的极品行为展示在读者面前，激起了读者对于他人隐私以及亵渎行为的窥探欲。

Tianya.cn has launched a survey, asking “if Xiao Yueyue was a drop-dead beauty, would you still love the story?”
天涯社区发起一项调查：如果小月月是一个倾国倾城的大美女，你还会如此对这个故事如此疯狂吗？

Most respondents said no, according to Gao.
高英俊称，调查结果显示大部分网民选择了不会。

“We feel pressure everywhere. We need something to amuse us,” said Fan Chaowen, 27, a sales manager in a trade company in Shanghai. He has been following the post since the holiday.
27岁的方超文（音译）是上海一家贸易公司的销售经理。他表示：“生活充斥着压力，我们需要一些消遣。”自打国庆假期以来，他一直在网上关注着小月月事件的发展。

However, fans might suddenly find that their fantasy girl doesn’t exist. Nosey netizens, as usual, have launched a search for the lady.
然而，“拜月一族”或许有天会突然发现他们的“月神”根本就纯属虚构。喜欢刨根问底的网民像往常一样，已经开始对小月月进行人肉搜索了。

People began to doubt the stories’ credibility. But the author insists they are true in an online interview on Sunday.
尽管人们开始质疑该事件的真实性，但就在上周日，帖子作者在接受网上采访时，坚称确有此人，确有此事。

Insiders of online star-making say Xiao Yueyue is obviously just cleverly choreographed hype. “No matter whether she is real or not, Xiao Yueyue has already become famous. Bad news has wings,” said Li Shuang, a Beijing-based online star promoter. “On the Internet, extremely nasty individuals are more likely to become famous than nice people.”
据知情的网络炒手透露，很显然，这次的小月月事件又是一次精心策划的炒作。北京某网站的网络推手李爽（音译）表示：“不管小月月是否真实存在，她已经名声大噪。真所谓是好事不出门，坏事传千里。在网络世界里，越是恶俗的人物越容易走红。”

In a survey on Tianya.cn, 68.5 percent of netizens said they simply enjoyed watching entertaining and amusing things.
天涯社区的一项调查显示：68.5%的网民表示他们只是是单纯地热衷于围观看热闹。

“In normal circumstances Xiao Yueyue would be a loser. People get the same enjoyment reading about her abnormal behavior as they do watching Charlie Chaplin comedies,” said Jing Tiankui, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
中国社科院社会学研究院研究员景天逵（音译）说：“按照常理，小月月绝对不会取得成功。人们在阅读她雷人行为时，获得了与观看查理•卓别林喜剧时同样的乐趣。”

“Online sensations like Xiao Yueyue offend viewers’ sensibilities to the extent that they are provoked into condemning her behavior, calling her names and feeling morally superior,” Jing said.
景天逵（音译）说：“像小月月这样的网络轰动事件对看客们产生了很大的刺激，以致激发了人们批判小月月的雷人行径，谈论她的名字，确实获得了一种优越感。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪英文报》，详情请见《21世纪英文报》875期