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JohnHodgman_2008-_漫谈时光流逝_
You all know this story. 你们都知道这个故事.
In the summer of 1950, 在1950年的夏天,
Enrico Fermi, the Italian-American physicist and atomic pile builder , went to lunch at Los Alamos National Laboratory and joined some colleagues there, and asked them a question: "Where is everybody?" Enrico Fermi, 美籍意大利心理学家 和原子堆创造者 在Los Alamos国家实验室和一些同事们共进午餐, 问他们一些问题: 大家都在哪里?
physicist:n.物理学家;物理学研究者; atomic:adj.原子的,原子能的;微粒子的; pile:n.桩;堆;摞;桩柱;v.堆放;摞起;叠放;放置; builder:n.建筑者;建立者; Alamos:n.偶氮磷; Laboratory:n.实验室,研究室; colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
This confused his colleagues, obviously, because they were sitting right there with him. 很显然,这句话把大家整蒙了. 因为他们正跟他坐在一起.
confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
And then he had to clarify that he wasn't talking about them. 当时他不得不解释说他不是在跟他们讲话.
clarify:v.澄清;阐明;得到澄清;得到净化;
He was talking about the space aliens. 他当时正和太空外星人讲话.
You see, this was only a few years after the supposed flying saucer crash at Roswell, New Mexico. 你看,这件事发生在 新墨西哥州的罗斯威尔 飞碟坠毁事件的几年之后.
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式) flying saucer:n.飞碟;
And even though that turned out to be nothing, nothing at all -- 虽然结果是什么都没有, 什么都没有--
(Laughter) (笑声)
merely a downed weather balloon piloted by small hairless men with slits for mouths. 仅仅是天上掉下来的一个气象气球, 一个张着大嘴的秃子 驾驶的气球.
merely:adv.仅仅,只不过;只是; weather balloon:n.气象气球; hairless:adj.无毛的;秃顶的; slits:n.裂缝(slit的复数);[光]狭缝;v.使成狭缝;撕裂(slit的三单形式);
Still, America had gone saucer-mad, even famous scientists who were eating lunch. 然而, 美国人已经对飞碟过敏了, 即使是正在吃饭的 著名科学家.
Fermi's reasoning, if I may paraphrase badly, is that the universe is so vast that it stands to reason there should be other intelligent life out there. Fermi的推论, 恕我诠释的不好, 这宇宙是如此的宽广 顺理成章 会有其它睿智的生命存在于宇宙中.
paraphrase:n.释义;解释;意译;vt.释义; stands to reason:合乎道理;我们来论理; intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的
And the universe is so old that unless that unless we were the very first civilization ever to evolve , we should have some evidence of their existence by now. 而且宇宙是如此的古老 除非我们是第一个进化的文明, 我们现在应该有一些外星人存在的证据.
civilization:n.文明;文明社会;文明世界;(特定时期和地区的)社会文明; evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明;
And yet, to the best of our knowledge, we are alone. 然而, 据我们所知, 我们是孤独的.
'"Where is everybody?" asked Fermi, and his colleagues had no answer. 大家都在哪里? Fermi问, 他和他的同事都没法回答.
Fermi then went on with the same blunt logic to disprove fairies , Fermi之后就继续用这种愚笨的逻辑 去反驳童话,还有
blunt:adj.钝的,不锋利的;生硬的;直率的;v.使迟钝; logic:n.逻辑;逻辑学;逻辑性;adj.逻辑的; disprove:vt.反驳,证明…是虚假的; fairies:n.精灵(fairy的复数);瓶之仙女;
Sasquatch , God, the possibility of love -- and thereafter , as you know, 大脚野人, 上帝, 真爱的可能性-- 再后来, 你也知道,
Sasquatch:n.萨斯科奇人;大脚野人;北美野人; thereafter:adv.其后;从那时以后;
Enrico Fermi ate alone. Enrico Fermi自此独自用餐.
(Laughter) (笑声)
Now, 现在,
I am not a scientist. 我不是一名科学家.
I have never built an atomic pile. 我从来没创造过原子堆.
Although, I might argue that, technically, every pile is atomic. 虽然, 我很可能会争论,技术上讲. 任何一个堆都是由原子构成的.
(Laughter) (笑声)
However, with respect , I might point out two possibilities that Enrico Fermi perhaps did not consider. 无论如何, 带着景仰, 我要指出Enrico Fermi也许 没有考虑到的两种可能.
with respect:怀有敬意;
One is that the aliens might be very far away. 一种是外星人也许 非常非常远.
Perhaps, I dare say , even on other planets. 大概吧, 我敢说, 甚至在其它的行星上.
I dare say:我敢肯定！;
The other possibility -- 另一种可能性 --
(Laughter) (笑声)
is, perhaps, Enrico Fermi himself was an alien. 就是, 有可能 Enrico Fermi本人 就是一个外星人.
(Laughter) (笑声)
Think about it. 想像一下.
Isn't it a little convenient that in the midst of the World War, out of nowhere , suddenly an Italian scientist showed up with an amazing new technology that would transform everything in the world and darken our history of the human species forever after? 在世界大战期间, 一个不知道哪里来的意大利科学家 突然带着一种可以改变世界的 令人吃惊的新技术 出现在世界面前, 并且自此改变了人类历史. 这是不是太轻松了?
convenient:adj.实用的;便利的;方便的; midst:n.当中,中间;prep.在…中间(等于amidst); nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; transform:v.使改变;使改观;使转换;n.[数]变换式;[化]反式; darken:vt.使变暗;使模糊;vi.变黑;变得模糊; species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
And isn't it a little strange that he required no payment for this? 并且是不是有点奇怪 他并不要求任何报酬?
payment:n.付款;支付;收款;款项;报答;
That he asked for only one thing: a gift of two healthy sperm whales? 他只要求一件事: 要两个健康的抹香鲸作为礼物?
sperm:n.精子;精液;鲸蜡油;
That's -- that's not true. 当然, 那并不是真的.
But it is strange. 不过太怪异了.
(Laughter) (笑声)
And if Enrico Fermi was indeed a space alien, wouldn't he be the first to have tried to convince his fellow scientists that the space aliens are not already here? 并且如果 Enrico Fermi 当时真是一个外星人, 他为什么不先去 尝试说服他身边的科学家 外星人还没有来过?
convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说;
For it is given in certain UFO-ology or UFOlogy circles, that the aliens are already here and have been for millennia . 对于发表的飞碟学说 或者不明飞行物学说, 他们认为外星人曾经来访并且千年之前就曾来过.
UFOlogy:n.飞碟学;不明飞行物学; millennia:n.千年期(millennium的复数);一千年;千年庆典;太平盛世;
That they have walked among us in disguise , observing us, guiding our evolution from ape to man -- if you believe in that sort of thing. 他们带着伪装跟我们一起生活, 观察我们, 引导我们进化 从猿到人 -- 如果你相信这种东西的话.
disguise:v.掩饰;假装;隐瞒;n.伪装;假装;用作伪装的东西; observing:adj.观察的;注意的;观察力敏锐的;v.观察;遵守(observe的现在分词); evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进; ape:n.[脊椎]猿;傻瓜;模仿者;vt.模仿;抢台词;adj.狂热的;
And occasionally , kidnapping us in their flying saucers and taking us away to have sex with us in pyramids. 并且, 他们偶然把我们绑架到他们的飞碟 并把我们带到金字塔里发生性关系.
occasionally:adv.偶尔;有时候;偶然; saucers:(放茶杯的)浅碟;茶托;茶碟(saucer的复数);
(Laughter) (笑声)
It's a difficult theory to discount , 这是一个没有人相信的深奥的理论,
discount:n.折扣;vt.低估;打折扣;打折出售
I think you'll agree. 我想你也这么认为的.
(Laughter) (笑声)
For even in my own life, there are memories I have that are difficult to explain -- happenings that are so odd and unaccountably weird , that it is difficult to imagine they were not the result of prolonged and frequent contact with aliens throughout my life. 即使在我的生活中 也有些回忆是我很难 能够解释的通的 -- 有些事情就那么非常神奇的,莫明奇妙的发生了. 所以很难想像 我们的一生中, 他们始终坚持并且频繁的联系外星人
odd:adj.古怪的;奇数的;n.奇数; unaccountably:adv.不能说明地;不可解释地;无责任的; weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神; prolonged:adj.长期的;持久的;v.延长(prolong的过去分词和过去式); frequent:adj.频繁的;经常发生的;v.常到(某处); contact:n.接触,联系;v.使接触,联系; throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及;
For how else will you explain the amazing and absolutely true close encounters that I had and will describe to you now? 对于其它你要说的 那些我亲身经历的 令人吃惊并且绝对真实的遭遇 我现在就告诉你.
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; encounters:v.遭遇(encounter的第三人称单数);邂逅;n.遭遇战(encounter的复数);相见; describe:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形;
Encounter One: Ocean City, New Jersey, 1980. 遭遇一: 1980年 新泽西的欧欣城.
This was the summer when the special edition of of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was released . 那是个夏天, 正好赶上《第三类接触》的 特别版发布.
released:v.释放;使免除;已发布;(release的过去分词和过去式)
And I went on vacation with my parents to the Jersey shore. 我和父母一起去新泽西的滨海度假.
Within 12 hours, I was horribly sunburned , just like Richard Dreyfuss in the movie. 我在12个小时内被严重的晒伤, 严重的就像电影里的Richard Dreyfuss.
horribly:adv.可怕地;让人吃惊 sunburned:adj.晒黑的;日灼的;v.晒伤(sunburn的过去分词);晒黑;
(Laughter) (笑声)
And so I spent the rest of the vacation largely sitting outside our little rental house at night, the sidewalk still warm from the sun, watching the skies for UFOs. 所以我剩余的假期, 基本上只能在晚上坐在我们租来的小房子外面, 享受人行道残存的太阳余温, 寻找着天空的不明飞行物.
largely:adv.主要地;大部分;大量地; rental:n.租金收入,租金;租赁;adj.租赁的;收取租金的; sidewalk:n.人行道;
What did I see? Stars, satellites, blinking airplanes -- typical sky junk. 我都是看到了什么? 星星, 人造卫星, 闪砾的飞机 -- 典型的天空垃圾.
blinking:adv.讨厌,可恶;v.眨眼睛;闪烁;(blink的现在分词) airplanes:n.(美)[航]飞机(airplane的复数); typical:adj.典型的;特有的;象征性的;
Occasionally, kids would come and join me and watch, but their necks soon got sore , and they would go off to the boardwalk to play video games and mingle with humans. 小朋友们偶尔会过来, 加入我一起观察, 他们的脖子很快就酸了, 所以他们离开人行道 去玩游戏机或找别人玩.
sore:n.疮;痛处;伤处;adj.(发炎)疼痛的;酸痛的;气恼;愤慨; boardwalk:n.木板路; mingle:v.(使)与…结合;相交往,混杂其中;
I was pretty good at the video games. I was not very good at the other part, so I stayed alone with the cosmos . 我曾很擅长游戏机. 但我不擅长别的, 所以我还是一个人跟宇宙呆着吧.
cosmos:n.宇宙;和谐;秩序;大波斯菊;
And that's when it happened. 就是在这时发生的,
An elderly couple came walking down the street. 一对老夫妇在街上溜达.
elderly:adj.上了年纪的;过了中年的;稍老的;
I would say they were in their late seventies, and I would say that they were on a date, because he was wearing a very neat little suit with a yellow tie, brown suit. 我觉得他们有七十多了, 还觉得他们在约会, 因为他穿着很整洁的套装 棕色套装里还打着黄领带.
neat:adj.整洁的;整齐的;有序的;有条理的;
And she was wearing a cardigan , because it was now fully night now, and a chill was coming in off the ocean. 因为并不是深夜, 女士穿了一件羊毛上衣, 凉风从海面上吹过来.
cardigan:n.羊毛衫,开襟羊毛衫(等于cardigansweater); chill:n.寒冷; adj.寒冷的; v.冷冻,冷藏;
I remember, for some reason, that they were exactly the same height. 我记得, 出于某种原因, 他们身高相同.
And then they stopped, and the man turned to me and said, "What are you looking for, flying saucers?" 然后他们停住了, 这个男人转向身 问我, 你在看什么呢? 飞碟?
(Laughter) (笑声)
You have to admit, that's a pretty boss piece of detective work for an old man on a date. 你不得不承认, 这个老男人在约会时 非常像一名侦探.
detective:n.侦探;警探;私人侦探;adj.侦查(用)的
But what was stranger still -- and even I realized it at the time, as a nine-year-old child -- was that they stopped at all. 但还有很奇怪的是 -- 我意识到了在那个时间, 作为一个九岁的小孩 -- 他们停下来
That this old man would interrupt his moonlight stroll with his sweetheart with the precise reason of making fun of a child. 这个老男人在跟他女朋友在月光下停下来 用一个准确的问题 去跟一个小孩看玩笑.
interrupt:v.中断;打断;插嘴;妨碍;n.中断; stroll:n.漫步;闲逛;巡回演出;v.散步;闲逛;巡回演出; sweetheart:n.亲爱的;甜心;爱人;心上人 precise:adj.准确的;确切的;精确的;明确的;
'"Oh," he said, "little green men." 哦. 他说, 小绅士.
And then his girlfriend joined in, too. 这时, 他女朋友也加入进来.
'"There's no such thing as space men," she said. 外星人根本不存在, 她说.
'"There's no such thing." 没那种东西.
And then they both laughed. Ha, ha, ha. 然后他们同时哈哈一笑.
I looked around. 我环顾四周.
The street was entirely empty. 街道已经全空了.
I had stopped hearing the sound of the ocean. 我听不到大海的声音.
It was as though time had stopped. 仿佛时间停止了.
I did not know why they were teasing me. 我不知道他们为什么逗我.
teasing:adj.开玩笑的;n.取笑;挑逗;v.取笑;戏弄;招惹;(tease的现在分词)
I looked into their strangely angry faces, and I remember wondering, are they wearing rubber masks? 我观察他们陌生的脸孔, 并且我感觉很奇怪 他们是不是带的橡胶面具?
strangely:adv.奇怪地;奇妙地;不可思议地; rubber:n.橡胶;橡皮;v.涂橡胶于…;
(Laughter) (笑声)
And what would be behind those rubber masks, if they were? 躲在面具后面的是什么?
Giant almond-shaped , unblinking eyes? 他们是不是有一双巨大的, 一眨不眨的杏仁一样的双眼?
Giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 almond-shaped:杏仁形的; unblinking:adj.不眨眼的;坚定的,不动摇的;
Slits for mouths? 裂缝一样的嘴巴?
The old man crooked his finger as though he were firing a gun, and then he made laser sounds. 这个做了一个开枪的手势, 并且他发出激光枪的声音,
crooked:adj.扭曲的;弯曲的;不直的;v.(手指或手臂)弯曲;(crook的过去分词和过去式)
Kew, kew, kew -- "Watch out." 咻,咻,咻-- 小心!
And they turned at once and walked away. 然后他们转身接着散步.
The old man reached out his knobbly claw for the woman's hand, and found it, and left me alone. 那个老男人伸出 他年迈粗糙的手 拉住女人的手, 然后留下我一个人.
knobbly:adj.有节的;多疙瘩的;流行的;棘手的(等于knobby); claw:n.爪;螯,钳;爪形器具;v.用爪抓(或挖);
Now, you could describe this as a simple misunderstanding -- a strange encounter among humans. 现在, 你可以把这个当成一次简单的误会 -- 一个人类之间的奇怪的邂逅.
misunderstanding:n.误解;误会;意见不一;v.误解;误会(misunderstand的现在分词)
Maybe it was swamp gas, but -- 也许它只是浮云, 但是 --
swamp:v.淹没;使不堪承受;使疲于应对;使应接不暇;n.沼泽(地);
(Laughter) (笑声)
I know what I saw. 我知道我看到了什么.
Close Encounter Two: Brookline , Massachusetts, 1984. 遭遇二: 1984年马萨诸塞的布鲁克林
Brookline:n.布鲁克莱恩(美国城市);
I went to see the movie " Dune ," 我去那里看电影 沙丘
Dune:n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘;
and a girl talked to me. Now, on its face -- 一个女孩跟我搭讪, 从表面上看 --
(Laughter) (笑声)
this is impossible on its face, I realize -- but it is absolutely true. 我意识到,这从表面上看是不可能的 -- 但它确实是真的.
It was opening night , naturally . 当时是首场演出. 自然地.
opening night:n.(戏剧的)首夜演出;(电影的)首夜放映; naturally:adv.自然地;自然而然地;轻而易举;天生地;大方地;
I went with my friend Tim McGonigal, who sat on my left. 我跟我的朋友Tim McGonigal一起去看的, 他坐我左边.
On my right was the girl in question. 我右边是问我问题的女孩儿.
She had long, curly black hair, a blue jean jacket. 她有长长的,卷曲的头发, 蓝色的工服.
I remember, she had some sort of injury to her ankle, an Ace bandage, and she had crutches . 我记得,她的脚有点受伤, 有绑带和拐杖.
injury:n.伤害,损害;受伤处; crutches:n.拐杖,支撑物;叉状架(crutch复数);
She was very tall, I would say. 我认为她很高,
I was starting high school at the time. I would say she was a junior , but I had never seen her before. She didn't go to my school. 我那时是高年级学员. 我觉得她应该是低年级的, 但我从来没有见到过他. 她也不去我们学校.
junior:n.青少年;职位较低者;adj.青少年的;地位低下的;
I didn't know her name, and I never will. 我不知道她的名字, 知道也白搭.
She was sitting with someone who I presume was her mother, and they were talking about the novel , "Dune." 她跟一个像她妈妈一样的人一起坐着, 她们正在讨论小说<沙丘>
presume:v.假定;推测;擅自;意味着; novel:adj.新奇的;异常的;n.小说;
They were both big fans, mother and daughter -- very unusual. 她们都是爱好者, 妈妈和女儿 -- 这不常见.
They were talking about how their favorite characters were the giant sandworms . 她们正在讨论最喜欢的角色 是那个巨大的沙虫.
sandworms:n.沙虫;
And then it got stranger. 这时, 事情变的更怪了.
That's when she turned to me and said, "Are you looking forward to seeing the movie?" 那时, 她转向我并问道, 你期待看这部电影吗?
(Laughter) (笑声)
First of all , I was embarrassed because I had not read the novel "Dune" at that time. 刚开始, 我很尴尬 因为我从来没读过小说<沙丘>.
First of all:adv.首先; embarrassed:adj.尴尬的;窘迫的;v.使...局促不安;(embarrass的过去分词和过去式)
I was merely a connoisseur of movies featuring desert planets, as I still am. 我仅仅一个沙漠行星主演电影的 一个影片鉴赏家, 现在也是.
connoisseur:n.鉴赏家;内行;
(Laughter) (笑声)
But it was also the tone of how she asked the question: apropos of nothing, like she didn't even care about the answer, as though she just wanted to talk to me. 但她还是问了很多的问题: 没什么实质的东西, 就像她根本不介意答案一样, 仿佛她只是想跟我聊天一样.
tone:n.语气:风格:特色:声音信号:v.使更结实:与…协调: apropos:adj.恰好的;适当的;adv.恰好地;适当地;恰当地;prep.关于;
I did not know what to say. I said, "Yes." 我不知道要说什么. 我只说 是的.
I did not even turn my head. 我甚至都不转过头来.
The movie began. 电影开始了.
I need not remind you that this was David Lynch's version of "Dune," 我不需要提醒你那部电影是David Lynch版本,
remind:v.提醒;使想起;
in which all of the characters were sexy and deformed at the same time . 在所有的角色里, 畸形和性感同时存在.
deformed:adj.畸形的; v.使...残缺,使...变形(deform的过去式和过去分词形式); at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时;
(Laughter) (笑声)
There was a character called the Third-Stage Guild Navigator , which was a kind of giant, floating fetus creature that lived in a giant tank with this orange mist of psychedelic spice swirling around him, allowing him to bend space and time. 有一个字符称为剧场版航海家, 这是一个巨大的池塘,她孕育着生命 这个巨大的池塘散发着香橙的 迷幻味道 环绕着他, 让他有能力扭曲时间与空间.
Guild:n.协会,行会;同业公会; Navigator:n.航海家;领航员;驾驶员; fetus:n.胎儿,胎; creature:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人; mist:n.薄雾; v.(使)结满雾气(模糊不清); psychedelic:adj.引起幻觉的;n.迷幻剂; spice:v.在…中加香料; n.(调味)香料; swirling:v.(使)打旋,旋动,起旋涡;(swirl的现在分词)
He could never leave the tank or interact with the outside world. 并永远不能离开这个池塘 或者说与外界有任何联系.
interact:v.互相影响;互相作用;n.幕间剧;幕间休息;
He'd become, in his isolation, so deformed and so sexy, that he had to talk through a kind of old-timey radio to the outside world, and could never touch them. 他认为,在他的世界, 丑陋与性感是并存的, 他通过一种老式的电台 向外界传播,但是永远触及不到他们.
old-timey:adj.过去的,旧时的;古色古香的;激起怀旧情怀的;
I mean, I liked him a lot better than the sandworms. 我是说,我喜欢他们胜过沙虫.
The sandworms were fine, but your favorite character? 沙虫固然好,但你认为它是我的菜?
Please. 不是吧.
When the movie ended, everyone seemed very happy to get up and get out of the theatre as soon as possible. 当影片结束, 每个人洋溢着笑容 都匆忙的走出了影院.
as soon as:一…就;
Except for the girl. 除了一个女孩.
As I walked out, her pace slowed. 当我走过她身边,她放缓步伐.
Perhaps it was the crutches, but it seemed -- 也许她拄着拐杖, 假装是这样--
(Laughter) (笑声)
it seemed as though she might want to talk to me again. 看来她还想和我搭讪.
When I say it out loud, it sounds so ridiculous , but I can only come to the conclusion that it was what in the alien abductee community they call a "screen memory." 当我说出来,听起来却很滑稽, 我只能得出这样的结论 这是一个外星球社区 他们称之为 萤幕记忆.
ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的; conclusion:n.结论;结局;推论; abductee:n.被绑架者; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
A ridiculous false recollection designed by their brain to cover up some trauma -- say, of being kidnapped and flown off to a sex pyramid. 大脑给他们一个可笑错误的记忆 去掩盖一些创伤--被外星人绑架后 飞往金字塔发生性关系.
recollection:n.回忆;回忆起的事物; trauma:n.[外科]创伤(由心理创伤造成精神上的异常);外伤;
(Laughter) (笑声)
And so I sure am glad 我当然很高兴
I did not slow down to talk to her. 所以我并没有慢下脚步跟她说话.
I sure am glad I never saw her again. 我很高兴从那时起我再没见过她.
Close Encounter Three: Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , 1989. 遭遇三:宾夕法尼亚州的费城, 1989年
Philadelphia:n.费城(美国宾夕法尼亚州东南部港市); Pennsylvania:n.宾夕法尼亚州(美国州名);
In the late -- mid- to late-eighties, the novelist Whitley Strieber wrote a book called " Communion ," 八十世纪末, 小说家Whitley Strieber写了本自传<交流>,
novelist:n.小说家; Communion:n.共享;恳谈;宗教团体;圣餐仪式;
in which he described his own lifelong experiences being abducted by aliens. 自传中他描述了 被外星人绑架的经历.
described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式) abducted:v.诱拐;劫持;绑架(abduct的过去分词和过去式)
And he also described the phenomenon known in this community as "lost time," 还有一些奇怪的现象 称之为 间接性失忆
phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
where Whitley Strieber would suddenly become aware that he could not remember the previous ten minutes, or the previous ten hours, or the previous ten days. Whitley Strieber突然意识到 他不记得十分钟以前发生的事, 甚至十小时,十天.
previous:adj.以前的;早先的;过早的;adv.在先;在…以前;
And would come to the conclusion that that was when the aliens were taking him and giving him rectal probes . 得出的结论是,当外星人 抓住他后给他做直肠探头.
rectal:adj.直肠的; probes:n.探索; v.探查;
(Laughter) (笑声)
This book became, naturally, an enormous best-seller. 这本书成为史上最牛的畅销书籍.
enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
This image by Ted Joseph was from that book, and was his, sort of, police sketch of what the creatures looked like that Whitley Strieber described to him. 图片是由Ted Joseph提供, 图片从某种意义上 像警方示意图 Whitley Strieber说到.
Joseph:n.连帽大氅; sketch:n.素描;草图;速写;概述;v.概述;简述;画素描;画速写; creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数)
And it was so successful that they made it into a movie. 这是一个非常棒的电影题材.
And in 1989, the way I remember it, 记得在1989年,
I was in Philadelphia with -- visiting my girlfriend, and we decided, apropos of nothing, to go see this movie. 我去费城-- 看望我女朋友,我们临时决定, 去看电影.
And the way I remember it, the movie featured these details. 我记得,电影展现了许多细节.
One: Whitley Strieber was played by Christopher Walken. 一:Whitley Strieber 由Christopher Walken扮演.
Two: The alien was played by a rubber puppet . 二:外星人的扮演者是橡胶面具.
puppet:n.木偶;傀儡;
(Laughter) (笑声)
Three: There was a surprisingly long sequence of the film in which the rubber puppet gives Christopher Walken a rectal probe. 三:有一个出乎意料的 长序列橡胶面具电影 给Christopher Walken做直肠探头.
surprisingly:adv.令人惊讶地;出乎意料地 sequence:n.顺序; v.按顺序排列;
Four: This was being shown in a regular movie theater in center city Philadelphia. 四:影片正在上映 在费城的各大影院.
movie theater:n.电影院;
Five: All of which is to say, they made a movie out of the book, "Communion," 五:所有人都说, 电影是由 交流 改编.
and it starred Christopher Walken. 主角是 Christopher Walken.
Does something seem strange about this to you? 是哪里出了问题?
Something odd? Something off? Something wrong with this picture? 灵异事件？虚构事物？照片的毛病？
Think about it. Yes. The answer is: 想一想,是的。答案是:
I had a girlfriend. What? 我曾经有个女朋友.疯了么?
(Laughter) (笑声)
How did this happen? When did this happen? 这是如何发生的?什么时候发生的?
I remember walking out of the theater and becoming suddenly aware of this fact, as we walked hand in hand , and pondering these very same questions. 我记得我走出影院 并突然意识到这是真的, 正如我们手牵手漫步, 却思考着同样的问题.
hand in hand:adj.并进的;手拉手的;亲密的; pondering:v.沉思;考虑;琢磨;(ponder的现在分词)
And to this day , I have no answer for you. 至今,我都无法回答.
to this day:至今; answer for:因…而受罚;对…负责;
Close Encounter Four: The Algarve, 遭遇四: 阿尔加瓦
Portugal, 1991. 葡萄牙,1991.
Some years later, I and this woman -- we'll call her "Catherine Fletcher" -- 许多年过后,我和这个女人-- 我们将称她为“Catherine Fletcher”-
(Laughter) (笑声)
went traveling through the south of Portugal together. 我们穿越葡萄牙南部去旅行.
We stayed in old, crumbling , walled cities, in tiny little hotels, and we would climb up to the roof and drink Vinho Verde and watch the sun set and play checkers . 我们住在古老的摇摇欲坠的围城里. 在小旅馆里, 我们爬到屋顶喝着葡萄牙清酒 看日落玩跳棋.
crumbling:v.(使)破碎,成碎屑;坍塌;损坏;崩裂;(crumble的现在分词) checkers:n.收银员;检查程序;检验员;审核员;(checker的第三人称单数和复数)
What? Did we do this? Really? Does anyone do this? 什么?我们做了这些么?真的么?有人会做这样的事情么?
We went to some topless beaches. 我们去了沙滩边.
topless:adj.袒胸的;上空的;无顶的;n.上空装;
Excuse me? No, not in my life. 醒醒?我不是在做梦吧.
For what it's worth, we went to Sagres, which was considered, at the time, to be the end of the world. 不论真伪.我们去了葡萄牙, 这被认为是,世界末日.
And there I was chased by a pack of feral dogs on the dock , and the lead dog bit me on the ass, requiring me to go to a strange Portuguese clinic and receive an ass shot. 在那里我被野狗追咬, 最后领头的狗咬了我的屁股, 他们带我去一个陌生的葡萄牙诊所 接受屁股的治疗.
feral:adj.野生的;凶猛的;阴郁的; dock:n.码头;船坞;被告席;尾巴的骨肉部分;vt.使靠码头;剪短;vi.入船坞; Portuguese:adj.葡萄牙的;葡萄牙人的;葡萄牙语的;n.葡萄牙人;葡萄牙语; clinic:n.诊所;临床实习;(医院的)门诊部;门诊时间;
Make of that what you will. 你可以合理的遐想一下.
(Laughter) (笑声)
Our last day in Portugal, we were in the district capital of Faro, and Catherine decided that she wanted to go to the beach one last time. 在葡萄牙的最后一天, 我们在葡萄牙的首府, Catherine想去海滩转一圈 最后一圈.
Now, Faro is a bustling little city, and to get to the beach, she explained, you would have to take a bus and then a boat. Faro是个热闹的小城市, 她说去海边要乘公交车 再换乘个小船.
bustling:adj.熙熙攘攘的;忙乱的;
And did I want to come with? 你愿意跟我一起去么?
But I was exhausted and dog-bitten, and so I said, "No." 我摸着被咬坏的屁股已经筋疲力尽了,我说 我不去了.
exhausted:adj.筋疲力尽的; v.使筋疲力尽; (exhaust的过去分词和过去式)
I remember what she looked like before she left. 至今我还记得她黯然离开时失望的眼神.
The freckles had grown and multiplied on her face and shoulders, clustering into a kind of a tan. 这个雀斑女已经长大 雀斑在她的脸庞和肩头上倍增, 汇聚成一种巧克力色.
freckles:n.雀斑;小斑点;v.(使)生雀斑;(freckle的第三人称单数和复数) multiplied:v.乘;乘以;成倍增加;(使)繁殖,增殖;(multiply的过去分词和过去式) clustering:n.聚集,收集;分类归并;v.使成群(cluster的现在分词);
A tan, we were both tan. 结果我们皮肤都晒成了巧克力色.
Is this true? 这是真的吗?
Her eyes were extra bright and extra blue, as a result . 她的眼睛是蓝色的格外的亮,最后.
extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外: as a result:结果;
She was smiling. 她笑了.
She was a single woman about to go alone into a country, not even speaking the language, to travel alone by bus and boat to go to a beach she did not know or had never seen. 一个单身女人独自到一个陌生的国家, 甚至没有相通的语言, 独自乘着公车和小船去旅行 去一个连她自己都不知道在哪的海滩 或者她从未见过.
I loved her, and then she went out into that strange, alien land. 我爱她,当她走到那个奇怪的 外星人领域.
It took me some time to come to my senses. 我重新整理了我的思绪.
I had my own "lost time" moment, where I woke up and suddenly realized it was very late in the day, almost dinnertime , and she had not come back. 我有属于我的 失忆时段 , 我突然醒了,意识到 时间已经不早了,差不多到了晚饭时间, 但她还没回来
dinnertime:na.正餐时间;n.正餐时间;
Nervous, I went down to the street to look for her. 我感到不安,于是上街去找她.
Now, I did not speak Portuguese. 现在,我不会葡萄牙语.
I did not know where the beach was. 我也不知道沙滩在哪?
I could not call her on a cell phone because this was 1991, and the aliens had not given us that technology yet. 我同样不能打电话给她因为那是1991年, 那时外星人也没给我们这项技术.
(Laughter) (笑声)
I realized that the day would only have two possible outcomes : either Catherine would come back to the hotel or she would never come back to the hotel. 我意识到这一天只有 只有两种可能的结果: Catherine 自己回到小旅馆 或者她再也不回来了.
outcomes:n.结果;成果;后果;出路;(outcome的复数)
And so I sat down to wait. 我只能坐下来等.
I did not watch the skies, but the very end of the street where the buses and cars and pedestrians and little scooters were moving along. 我没有注视着天空,而是盯着街道的尽头 那里的公车汽车和行人 和小踏板车在前行着.
pedestrians:n.行人(pedestrian的复数); scooters:n.踏板车;小轮摩托车;滑行艇(scooter的复数);
And I watched those constellations shift , hoping that they would part and I would see her face. 我看着那些星球的转变, 多希望他们能让我看到你的脸.
constellations:n.[天]星座(constellation的复数); shift:n.移动;变化;手段;轮班;v.移动;转变;转换;
It was at that moment, in that very small town of 30,000 or so, that I truly appreciated the vastness of the universe and the searching we might do in it. 就在那一刻, 在一个容纳30000人的小镇上, 我真正欣赏到宇宙的浩瀚 搜寻我们想要的.
appreciated:v.欣赏;感激;理解;(appreciate的过去分词和过去式) vastness:n.巨大;广大;广漠;
And that's when the Liberians came along. 那时利比里亚人走了过来.
Five young men -- all laughing, happy, traveling together, coming back to this hotel where they were staying. 5个年轻人--他们都开心的笑着同行, 回到他们的住所.
One of them was named Joseph, and he asked me what was I doing, and I explained. 其中一个名叫Joseph,他问我我来做什么, 我向他解释.
And he said, "Don't worry." He was sure that Catherine would be safe. 他说, 不要担心, 他确信Catherine是安全的.
But he did not seem so very sure, for he sat down to wait with me. 但他看起来不太确信, 因为他跟我一起坐下来.
And for the next two hours, they all waited with me: taking turns, going up to their room, coming back, telling me jokes, distracting me. 接下来的两个小时,他们和我一起等待. 他们轮流来我房间 讲笑话安慰我,分散我的注意力.
distracting:adj.令人分心的; v.转移(注意力); (distract的现在分词)
Two hours, they gave me a message. 两小时后,他们给我捎口信.
We are not alone. 我们并不孤独.
And then, in the middle of a sentence, at the very birth of twilight , 这时,字里行间之中让人感到暮光的开始.
twilight:n.黎明,黄昏;薄暮;衰退期;朦胧状态;adj.昏暗的,微明的;暮年的;
I turned and looked down the street. 我转过身来,看着街上.
The stars aligned , and she came back. 星星排成一排,她回来了.
aligned:adj.对齐的;均衡的;v.结盟(align的过去式);使成一直线;
She was smiling. She did not understand why I was so worried. 她笑着,她并不知道我为何而难过.
Neither did the Liberians, although there was a huge amount of relief in their laughter as they clapped us on the back, and went back up to their room and left us alone in the street, holding hands. 利比里亚人也不理解, 他们的笑声里有着很多的宽慰. 他们在心底为我们鼓掌,默默回到房间 让我们独自在街上,手牵手.
relief:n.救济;减轻,解除;安慰;浮雕; clapped:v.鼓掌,拍手;拍(手);击(掌);(clap的过去分词和过去式)
An event like this leaves a scar on the memory, much like a piece of alien technology that has been inserted into your buttocks by a "Portuguese doctor." 这像记忆中的伤痛, 被一个叫做 葡萄牙的医生 的人 把一块外星人的高科技 植入到你的臀部.
buttocks:n.臀部; v.用过背摔摔出对手(buttock的第三人称单数);
(Laughter) (笑声)
And even now, a decade and a half later, even now that we are married, 即使到现在,15年以后, 我们结婚了,
I look for her still whenever she is not in the room. 我随时找她时她仍不在房间.
And even though I think you'll agree, it is probable that during the time she was away, she was kidnapped and replaced by an alien clone , 我认为你也同意, 很可能是在她外出时, 被外星人绑架甚至克隆,
probable:adj.很可能的;可信的;n.很可能的事;大有希望的候选者; clone:v.克隆; n.克隆动物(或植物);
I love her and wait for her still. 但我会一直爱她,等着她.
Thank you for your kind attention. 感谢您的关注.
(Applause) (掌声)