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「...そんなはずがあるか」と信じてくれなかった。
...Is such a thing to be expected? He didn't believe me.
I'm used to くれる being used to express the idea that the verb was done for the benefit of the speaker. I don't see how that pattern works here. Can some one please explain why くれる is needed in this sentence. I've not used the verb 信じる before. Thanks.
I might suggest a slightly different nuance in understanding the [補助動詞]{ほじょどうし} くれる.
In question forms, it asks whether someone would do something for the speaker.
In the past tense, it expresses when the speaker's judgment that he received some benefit from the action of the main verb.
Thus,
アイスを買ってくれた。
is not merely "he bought ice cream" , but he bought ice cream for me. Or he bought me an ice cream.
So while you're translating:
「...そんなはずがあるか」と信じてくれなかった。
to
...Is such a thing to be expected? He didn't believe me.
You're stripping the くれる nuance out.
In a negated form, くれなかった means that the speaker judges that they did not receive the benefit of the main verb.
For the last part, I might suggest:
He wasn't willing to believe me.
OR
He didn't want to believe me.
For the earlier part, depending on context, I might go with:
"Is that really the reason why?"
and pull them together,
He said "is that really the reason why?" and wasn't willing to believe me.
When someone believes you, they are giving you their belief. English has a similar phrase, "to give the benefit of the doubt." くれる, もらう, and so on are not restricted to physical gifts; they are quite flexible.
Why is くれる needed in this sentence? I don't think it is needed exactly, but it provides context and flavor by implying that the speaker was the one who was not believed.
